WHAT IS LITERATURE?

INTRODUCTION TO
LITERATURE
Instructor : Salirick S. Andres
Course : Literatures of the World
Objectives
 To define what literature is
 To appreciate the importance of literature
 To identify the different literary standards
 To determine various literary approaches
What is Literature?

 Comes from the Latin word “Litera”

which literally means an
“acquaintance with letters”
 It is a body of work, either written,
oral, or visual, containing
imaginative language that
realistically portrays thoughtd,
emotions, and experiences of the
human condition.
What is Literature?
(continued…)
 is a product of particular culture that
concretizes man’s array of values,
emotions, actions and ideas.
 It is therefore a creation of human
experiences that tells about people
and their world.
What is Literature?
(continued…)
 Literature is an art that reflects the
works of imagination, aesthetics
and creative writing which are
distinguished for the beauty of style
or expression.
 “Literature raises life to a new level
of meaning and understanding, and
in the process restores sanity and
justice in an insane and unjust
world.” – Cirilo F. Bautista
 “Literature is life.” - Unknown
Importance of Literature

 Studying literature is like looking at the

mirror of life where man’s experiences,
his innermost feelings and thoughts are
reflected.
 Through literature, we learn the culture
of people across time and space.
 We understand not only the past life of
a nation but also its present.
 Moreover, we become familiar not only
with the culture of neighboring countries
but also with that of others living very
far from us.
Importance of Literature
(continued..)
“Perhaps what makes literature a more delightful
and enriching study than the rest that deal with
the past is its potential of making readers identify
with what they read through values learned.” –
JF Loria
 According to her, “when one reads literature, life

unreels itself in its many dimensions-belief,

emotions, pains, joys, anguish, glories and the
like that make up the litany of earthly endeavors.
The all too familiar words heard everyday come
back in deeper meanings and newer light.”
Literary Standards
1. Universality – Literature appeals to
everyone, regardless of culture, race,
gender, and time
2. Artistry – Literature has an aesthetic
appeal and thus possess a sense of
beauty
3. Intellectual Value – Literature
stimulates critical thinking that enriches
mental processes of abstraction and
reasoning, making man realize the
fundamental thruths of life and its
nature.
4. Suggestiveness – Literature unravels
and conjures man’s emotional power to
define symbolisms,
Literary Standards
(continued…)
... nuances, implied meanings, images, and
messages, giving and evoking visions above and
beyond the plane of ordinary life and experience.
5. Spiritual Value – Literature elevates the spirit
and the soul and thus has the power to motivate
and inspire, drawn from the suggested morals or
lessons of the different literary genres.
6. Permanence – Literature endures across time
and drwas out the time factor: timeliness
(occuring at a particular time) and timelessness
(remaining invariable throughout time).
Literary Standards
(continued…)
7. Style – Literature presents peculiar way/s on
how man sees life as evidenced by the
formation of his ideas, forms, structures, and
expressions which are marked by their
memorable substance.
Literary Approaches

1. Formalistic or Literary Approach

 Literature is viewed intrinsically,
independent of the author, age, or
any other extrinsic factor. The study
of the selection is more or less
based on the so-called “literary
elements”.
Literary Approaches
(continued…)
2. Moral or Humanistic Approach
 Literature is viewed to discuss man and its
nature. It presents man as essentially rational;
that is, endowed with intellect and free will; or
that the piece does not misinterpret the true
nature of man. The approach is close to the
“morality” of literature, to questions of ethical
goodness or badness.
Literary Approaches
(continued…)
3. Historical Approach
 Literature is seen both as a reflection and
product of the times and circumstances in
which it was written. It operas on the premise
that the history of a nation has telling effects
on its literature and that the piece can be
better understood and appreciated if one
knows the times surrounding its creation.
Literary Approaches
(continued…)
4. Sociological Approach
 Literature is viewed as the expression of man
within a given social situation which is reduced to
discussions on economic, in which men are
somewhat simplistically divided into haves and
haves not, thus passing into the “proletarian
approach” hitch tends to underscore the conflict
between the two classes. The sociological
approach stresses on social “relevance”, social
“commitment,” contemporaneity, and it deems
communication with the reader important.
Literary Approaches
(continued…)
5. Cultural Approach
 Literature is seen as one of the manifestations
and vehicles of a nation’s or race’s culture and
tradition. It includes the entire compels of what
goes under “culture” – the technological, artistic,
sociological, ideological aspects; and considers
the literary piece in the total cultural milieu in
which it was born.
 The thrust is to make full use of the reciprocal
function between culture and literature. The
approach is one of the richest ways to arrive at
the culture of people and one of the most
pleasurable ways of appreciating the literature of
people.
Literary Approaches
(continued…)
6. Psychological Approach
 Literature is viewed as the expression of
“personality,” of “inner drives” or “neurosis”. It
includes the psychology of the author, of the
characters, and even the psychology of
creation.
 It has resulted in an almost exhausting and
exhaustive “psychological analysis” of
characters, of symbols and images, of
recurrent themes, and others.
Literary Approaches
(continued…)
7. Impressionistic Approach
 Literature is viewed to elucidate “reacting-
response” which is considered as something
very personal, relative and fruitful.
Unconditioned by explanations and often
taking the impact of the piece as a whole, it
seeks to see how the piece has
communicated.