NAQUITA, ANGELICA A.

SEPTEMBER 29, 2022

BS IN CRIMINOLOGY/ 4TH YEAR WORLD LITERATURE

The Nature of Literature

Literature can be defined as an expression of human feelings, thoughts, and
ideas whose medium is language, oral and written. Literature is not only about human
ideas, thoughts, and feelings but also about the experiences of the authors. Literature
can be medium for humans to communicate what they feel, think, and experience to the
readers. 

There are many ways to define the term ‘literature’ based on different point of
views such as literature is art, literature is language, literature is aesthetic, literature is
fictional, literature is expressive, and literature is affective. Literature is everything in
print. It means any writing can be categorized as literature. Another way of defining
literature is to limit it to ‘great books’ which are ‘notable for literary form or expression’.
Ellis (1989:30) defines literature as the verbal expression of human imagination and one
of the primaries means by which a culture transmits itself. Based otheseus definition the
s, literature contains universal ideas, human imagination, and human interest that
written in any writings and use language as medium to express human’s ideas and
feelings.

In conjunction with literature as art form, it is broken down into imaginative

literature and non-imaginative literature. Imaginative literature and non-imaginative
literature are distinguished based on the particular use made of language in literature.
Language of imaginative literature is highly ‘connotative’ and language of non-
imaginative literature is purely ‘denotative’. The connotative meaning means words that
used in literary works have feeling and shades of meaning that words to tend to evoke
while denotative meaning means that the words refer to meaning in dictionary. 

The language that is used by literature differ from ordinary spoken or written
language. Literature uses special words, structures, and characteristics. Primarily the
language of literature differs from ordinary language in three ways: (1) language is
concentrated and meaningful, (2) its purpose is not simply to explain, argue, or make a
point but rather to give a sense of pleasure in the discovery of a new experience, and
(3) it demands intense concentration from the readers. It indicates that the language of
literature has originality, quality, creativity, and pleasure.

In this case, to differentiate between the literary texts and non-literary texts
(imaginative and non-imaginative), Kleden (2004:7-8) states that literature can be
differentiate based on the kind of meanings that exist in a text. Literary text consists of
textual meaning and referential meaning and non-literary text only consists of referential
meaning. The textual meaning is the meaning that is produced by the relationship of
text itself. While referential meaning is meaning that is produced by the relationship
between internal text and external text (world beyond the text). 

From the use of language and the existence of meaning in literary works, it can
be concluded that poetry, prose and drama are put in literary works article, journalism,
news, bibliography, memoir, and so on can be categorized as non-literary works. 
NAQUITA, ANGELICA A. SEPTEMBER 29, 2022
BS IN CRIMINOLOGY/ 4TH YEAR WORLD LITERATURE

The Literary Canon

Originating from the Greek term “kanon,” canon means “a yardstick,” or “a

measuring rod.” Generally, the term canon is used with three different meanings. First, it
is defined as a traditional collection of writings, against which other writings are
evaluated. In other words, it means “a long list of works taken as authentic.” For
example, the Bible – both written in Hebrew and even translated versions. This sense of
the term makes canon opposite to “Apocrypha,” which means “written works having
anonymous authors.” The Bible was considered a yardstick to evaluate other literary
pieces, according to a certain criterion.

Secondly, students of literature use it to refer to the writings included

in anthologies, or textbooks under certain genres, and thus are evaluated according to
the genre under which they are placed. This meaning covers the entire literature
generally thought of as suitable for aesthetic admiration and academic use.

The third definition of the term indicates the literary writings of a particular author,
which are considered by scholars and critics in general to be the genuine creations of
that particular author. This is based on some already deduced rules intended to be
applied to future pieces in the same genre. The term “canon” is also confused with the
homonym “cannon,” which means “a military weapon.”

Canon is a literary rule that is used to evaluate books and writings against certain
models, such as plays are evaluated against Oedipus The King by Sophocles,
where Oedipus the King is a yardstick that has set canons for plays. Taken from The
Plowman’s Tale, these lines exemplify the third definition of canon. Chaucer’s canon
includes “The Canterbury Tales”, for instance, but it does not include the apocryphal
work, “The Plowman’s Tale,” which has been mistakenly attributed to him in the past.
The canon is the use of archaic language that Chaucer used in his works but not used
in this part. Next Example Authors Who Made Extraordinary Contributions to Literature.
In the history of literature, a number of authors and poets have made such extraordinary
contributions that their literary works are considered yardsticks to have set canons to
evaluate other works. Their literary works obtain themselves the position of literary
canon which the successive writers use as a touchstone to compare their creations
with. For example:
 Greek Poet Homer, for a very long time the world considered the Greek epics of
Homer, the Iliad, and Odyssey, as the most sublime examples of literature. However,
we have no idea whether the popular and well-known author was a genuine person.
Homer, and the other writers inspired by him, have made their way to the list of the
greatest literary brains of the world since antiquity – only by following the literary canons
of writing.
English Writer William Shakespeare, William Shakespeare wrote
both tragedies and comedies for Elizabethan audiences, throughout the late 16th, and
early 17th centuries. However, Shakespeare’s earned appreciation for these works
became a yardstick by which other writers to judge their places in literature. For many
decades, English writers compared themselves with Shakespeare. This approach of
looking at, and following a writer’s work for measuring literary excellence and success
is, in fact, called a “Shakespearean canon.”
English Novelist Jane Austen is one of those female writers who came to the
limelight by breaking all the traditional and conventional shackles. She wrote mild and
smiling romantic novels, such as Pride and Prejudice and Emma, setting them in
England, and making marriage her subject to be explored. As she used round
characters in her novels, uniquely different from her counterparts, this became her style,
and finally, a canon against which other female writers would be evaluated.
The function of a Canon has always raised confusion and complexity. The works,
traditionally considered as following a certain canon, belong to writers who have long
been dead. Moreover, only the white and male writers of antiquity have been given
membership in this exclusive club. Women, minorities, and non-Western writers were
kept out of this kind of arbitrary practice for a long time – until they won recognition such
as the writers of the Harlem Renaissance.
Furthermore, philosophical and political biases also resulted in disputes over literary
canons. Hence, a number of critical circles suggest that the idea of having specific
canons for specific genres needs to be abandoned. On the contrary, some other critics
advocate the expansion of canons by including the extended range of sampling to
broaden the horizon of literary canons.