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.
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Featured content, October 26, 2024
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!
Why Do We Say “A Pair of Pants”?
Well, there are more than a pair of answers.
5 Good Books That Inspired Bad Deeds
Words gone wild.
Turkish literature
Turkish literature, the body of written works in the Turkish language. The Orhon inscriptions represent some of the earliest...
South Asian arts
South Asian arts, the literary, performing, and visual arts of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. Despite a history...
Spanish literature
Spanish literature, the body of literary works produced in Spain. Such works fall into three major language divisions: Castilian,...
Polish literature
Polish literature, body of writings in Polish, one of the Slavic languages. The Polish national literature holds an exceptional...
Literature Quizzes
Literature Videos
Literature Subcategories
Folk Literature & Fable
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
- heroic poetry
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Jean de La Fontaine
French poet
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vampire
legendary creature
Fictional Characters
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.
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Robin
fictional character
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Hercule Poirot
fictional character
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Iron Man
Marvel superhero
Journalism
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.
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Amy Goodman
American journalist, columnist, and author
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Barbara Walters
American journalist
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Walter Cronkite
American journalist
Libraries & Reference Works
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.
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E.O. Wilson
American biologist
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Georges-Louis Leclerc, count de Buffon
French naturalist
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Pliny the Elder
Roman scholar
Literatures of the World
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
Literary Criticism
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.
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George Bernard Shaw
Irish dramatist and critic
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T.S. Eliot
American-English poet, playwright, and literary critic
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Roland Barthes
French critic
Literary Terms
Want to be able to distinguish your limericks from your haikus and your paeans from your panegyrics? Dive deep into literary terms and forms.
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novel
literature
- nonfictional prose
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tragedy
literature
Nonfiction
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.
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Unsafe at Any Speed
work by Nader
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autobiography
literature
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Silent Spring
work by Carson
Novels & Short Stories
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.
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The War of the Worlds
novel by Wells
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The Fall of the House of Usher
story by Poe
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The Catcher in the Rye
novel by Salinger
Oratory
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.
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Meister Eckhart
German theologian and mystic
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Winston Churchill
prime minister of United Kingdom
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Demosthenes
Greek statesman and orator
Plays
; 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.
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Hamlet
work by Shakespeare
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Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
play by Albee
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Henry IV, Part 1
work by Shakespeare
Poetry
; sonnets, haikus, nursery rhymes, epics, and more are included.
Articles
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rondeau
poetry and music
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ballade
poetry and song
- light verse