Literature
With the development of language, the human imagination has found a way to create and communicate through the written word. A literary work can transport us into a fictional, fantastic new world, describe a fleeting feeling, or simply give us a picture of the past through novels, poems, tragedies, epic works, and other genres. Through literature, communication becomes an art, and it can bridge and bond people and cultures of different languages and backgrounds.
Browse Subcategories
Featured content, July 20, 2024
Where Does the Concept of a “Grim Reaper” Come From?
Harvester of souls since when?
What Did Shakespeare Sound Like?
“Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice.”
What did Sir Walter Scott write?
What did Sir Walter Scott write?
7 Everyday English Idioms and Where They Come From
How did the proof get in the pudding? Britannica spills the beans on some of the most common idioms!
Persian literature
Persian literature, body of writings in New Persian (also called Modern Persian), the form of the Persian language written...
Japanese literature
Japanese literature, the body of written works produced by Japanese authors in Japanese or, in its earliest beginnings, at...
African American literature
African American literature, body of literature written by Americans of African descent. Beginning in the pre-Revolutionary...
American literature
American literature, the body of written works produced in the English language in the United States. Like other national...
Literature Quizzes
Literature Videos
Literature Subcategories
![subcategory placeholder](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.britannica.com/mendel/resources/encyclopedia-placeholder.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop)
Step into the world of folklore, fables, legends, tall tales, and epics, in which heroes are known to undertake arduous journeys and dragons, fairies, and giants abound. Stories such as these circulated long before systems of writing were developed; ballads, folktales, poems, and the like were transmitted exclusively by word of mouth before written languages took over, and they continue to captivate listeners and readers to this day.
Articles
-
African American folktale
literature
-
trickster tale
folklore
- riddle
![Fantastic Four](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.britannica.com/38/182838-050-F71E4278/image-Fantastic-Four.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop)
Here you'll find some of your favorite fictional characters from literature, film, television, and the like, whether it's the analytical mastermind Sherlock Holmes and his endearing associate Dr. Watson or the menacing and helmeted Darth Vader, the ill-tempered Donald Duck, or the teenage sleuth Nancy Drew.
Articles
-
the Avengers
fictional superhero team
-
Robin
fictional character
-
Hercule Poirot
fictional character
![subcategory placeholder](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.britannica.com/mendel/resources/encyclopedia-placeholder.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop)
Extra, extra! Although the content and style of journalism and the medium through which it is delivered have varied significantly over the years, journalism has always given us a way to keep up with current events, so that we always have our fingers on the pulse.
Articles
-
Amy Goodman
American journalist, columnist, and author
-
Barbara Walters
American journalist
-
Walter Cronkite
American journalist
![E.O. Wilson](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.britannica.com/75/116775-050-D926A56E/Edward-O-Wilson-2007.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop)
Looking to impress your friends with your expansive knowledge of historical events, philosophical concepts, obscure words, and more? We may be biased, but it seems fair enough to say that reference works such as dictionaries, encyclopedias, and textbooks have provided such a service for years (in some cases, hundreds or even thousands of years). You can look for them at your local public library, which likely stores books, manuscripts, journals, CDs, movies, and other sources of information and entertainment.
Articles
-
John James Audubon
American artist
-
Athanasius Kircher
German Jesuit priest and scholar
-
al-Bīrūnī
Persian scholar and scientist
![wine bottle](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.britannica.com/98/136198-050-C1956D88/wine-bottle-fritware-half-Iran-Los-Angeles.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop)
Literature knows no geographical bounds; authors can be found in nearly all corners of the globe. Find out more about regional literary styles and forms.
Articles
![subcategory placeholder](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.britannica.com/mendel/resources/encyclopedia-placeholder.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop)
Everyone's a critic. But not all literary criticism involves judging the quality of a text; it can also focus on interpreting the meaning of a work or evaluating an author's place in literary history.
Articles
-
Helen Archibald Clarke and Charlotte Endymion Porter
American writers
-
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
British poet and critic
-
Northrop Frye
Canadian literary critic
![To the Lighthouse](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.britannica.com/20/99420-050-A8C679CA/Dust-jacket-edition-Vanessa-Bell-Virginia-Woolf-1927.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop)
Want to be able to distinguish your limericks from your haikus and your paeans from your panegyrics? Dive deep into literary terms and forms.
Articles
-
epic
literary genre
-
epistolary novel
literature
- literature
![subcategory placeholder](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.britannica.com/mendel/resources/encyclopedia-placeholder.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop)
The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth! Or that's the idea, at least. Nonfiction works center on facts and real events. Although there is some debate about which kinds of literature qualify as nonfiction, the genre typically includes books in the categories of biography, memoir, science, history, self-help, cooking, health and fitness, business, and more.
Articles
- journalism
-
The Feminine Mystique
work by Friedan
-
The Diary of a Young Girl
work by Frank
![The War of the Worlds](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.britannica.com/27/178727-050-2AFD7411/Ann-Robinson-Gene-Barry-The-War-of.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop)
novels and short stories have been enchanting and transporting readers for a great many years. There's a little something for everyone: within these two genres of literature, a wealth of types and styles can be found, including historical, epistolary, romantic, Gothic, and realist works, along with many more.
Articles
-
The War of the Worlds
novel by Wells
-
The Fall of the House of Usher
story by Poe
-
The Catcher in the Rye
novel by Salinger
![Justus of Ghent: Saint Augustine](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.britannica.com/07/121107-050-65C4CC92/Saint-Augustine-oil-wood-panel-Joos-Ghent.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop)
speech and Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, quoted above, are two iconic examples of successful oratory, as are Elizabeth I's speech to the troops at Tilbury and Winston Churchill's first speech as prime minister to the House of Commons.
Articles
-
Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet
French bishop
-
Honoré-Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau
French politician and orator
-
Daniel Webster
American politician
![Hamlet (1996)](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.britannica.com/66/7266-004-50AA9C58/Kenneth-Branagh-Hamlet-Gertrude-film-version-Julie-1996.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop)
; and the stage is where you'll find performances of works by such famed playwrights as Anton Chekhov, Eugene O'Neill, and the Bard himself, among many others.
Articles
-
The Cherry Orchard
play by Chekhov
-
Death of a Salesman
play by Miller
-
Faust
play by Goethe
![subcategory placeholder](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.britannica.com/mendel/resources/encyclopedia-placeholder.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop)
; sonnets, haikus, nursery rhymes, epics, and more are included.
Articles
-
Howl
poem by Ginsberg
-
The Lady of Shalott
poem by Tennyson
-
The Divine Comedy
work by Dante