What is literature?

 Literature is any piece of writing that is valued as work of art. Literature is the total of preserved writings belonging to a given language or people. Literature is a term used to describe written and sometimes spoken material. Derived from the Latin word literature meaning "writing formed with letters," literature most commonly refers to works of the creative imagination, including poetry, drama, fiction, nonfiction, and in some instances, journalism, and song.

“Literature is an expression of life

through the medium of language.”

-W.H.HUDSON 

Literature is basically a way to communicate, teach and learn Literature in its simplest version can be defined as an expression of the culture of the human being and appears in different times and places. During the period of Classical Antiquity, in the Greek and Roman literature reference works were created that would mark the subsequent literary production. Literature is divided into what are known as literary genres that are the classifications of literary works according to their content. The traditional classification of literary genres establishes three major types, which are Lyric, which includes the elegy, the hymn, the ode, the epilogue, the satire. It is characterized by being written in short verses, epic or narrative that includes among others the epic the songs of a deed the story and the novel. Its content is narrated in long verses or prose. Dramatic are the plays, tragedy, comedy, farce. Sometimes other genres are included, such as oratory and didactics. Literary Studies is the study of written works of the imagination, of which poetry, drama and narrative fiction constitute today the most familiar types or genres.