Concept of literature

There is no single definition of literature. Two approaches are used to define it:

1. Criteria approach: This approach attempts to provide criteria that all texts must meet to be considered literature.
2. Prototypical approach: This approach focuses on a particular good example of literature, with other examples resembling it.

Prototypical literary works are:

1. Written texts.
2. Marked by careful use of language, including features such as metaphors, well-turned phrases, elegant syntax, rhyme, alliteration, and meter.
3. Belong to a literary genre (poetry, prose, fiction, or drama).
4. Read aesthetically.
5. Intended to be read aesthetically.
6. Contain many weak implicatures.
7. Are deliberately open to interpretation.

The criteria approach:

1. Defines a word by providing a list of criteria that must be met.
2. Example: A bird is defined as an animal with feathers, wings, and that lays eggs. If an animal meets all these criteria, it is a bird; if not, it isn't.
3. In the context of literature, this approach means that literature includes texts worthy of being taught by literature teachers, forming a canon that helps a community define itself throughout history.
4. It includes works with artistic qualities as a primary focus and aesthetic qualities as a secondary focus.

The prototypical approach:

1. Focuses not on a list of criteria but on an established prototype, a good example of the word to which other examples resemble.
2. Literature may be defined as an oral or written art form that uses language creatively to produce meaning.
3. It involves the careful choice of words to create specific features such as figures of speech, well-turned phrases, rhyme, alliteration, meter, and other literary techniques.
4. Literature requires interpretation to understand its meaning, which is often presented implicitly.
5. The main genres of literature are poetry, prose fiction, and drama.