Portal:Literature
Introduction
Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose, fiction, drama, poetry, and including both print and digital writing. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include oral literature, much of which has been transcribed. Literature is a method of recording, preserving, and transmitting knowledge and entertainment, and can also have a social, psychological, spiritual, or political role.
Literature, as an art form, can also include works in various non-fiction genres, such as biography, diaries, memoir, letters, and essays. Within its broad definition, literature includes non-fictional books, articles or other written information on a particular subject. (Full article...)
General images -
Letters Written During a Short Residence in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark (1796) is a personal travel narrative by the eighteenth-century British feminist writer Mary Wollstonecraft. The twenty-five letters cover a wide range of topics, from sociological reflections on Scandinavia and its peoples to philosophical questions regarding identity. Published by Wollstonecraft's career-long publisher, Joseph Johnson, it was the last work issued during her lifetime.
Wollstonecraft undertook her tour of Sweden, Norway, and Denmark in order to retrieve a stolen treasure ship for her lover, Gilbert Imlay. Believing that the journey would restore their strained relationship, she eagerly set off. However, over the course of the three months she spent in Scandinavia, she realized that Imlay had no intention of renewing the relationship. The letters, which constitute the text, drawn from her journal and from missives she sent to Imlay, reflect her anger and melancholy over his repeated betrayals. Letters Written in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark is therefore both a travel narrative and an autobiographical memoir.
Using the rhetoric of the sublime, Wollstonecraft explores the relationship between self and society in the text. She values subjective experience, particularly in relation to nature; champions the liberation and education of women; and illustrates the detrimental effects of commerce on society.
Selected excerpt
An 1890 recording of Walt Whitman reading the opening four lines of his poem "America", from his collection Leaves of Grass
More Did you know
- ... that Begum Akhtar Riazuddin, the first woman to write modern Urdu travelogues, was one of the 1000 PeaceWomen nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005?
- ... that Danilo Kiš's final work, the 1983 collection The Encyclopedia of the Dead, helped make him one of the most important figures for the post-Yugoslav generation of writers?
- ... that Joe D'Cruz won the Sahitya Akademi Award for his novel Korkai, which is based on history and the lives of Parathavars?
- ... that the satirical novel Er ist wieder da was priced at €19.33, a deliberate reference to Hitler's ascent to power in that year?
- ... that although Maya Angelou is best known for her autobiographies, she has also been successful as a poet?
Selected illustration
Did you know (auto-generated) -
- ... that Gunhild Bergh was the second woman in Sweden to be awarded a PhD in literary history?
- ... that the North-Western Regional Committee of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) ran an underground network to distribute literature to German soldiers in occupied areas?
- ... that the cultural scholar Hermann Bausinger wrote a book about the history of literature from Swabia from the 18th century to the present, published for his 90th birthday?
- ... that the bridge from which James Bond leapt in No Time to Die is actually an aqueduct?
- ... that the exclusive secret society Hamilton House from the television show Gossip Girl was based on St. Anthony Hall, a social and literary fraternity?
- ... that The Man Without Talent is an I-novel, a genre of semi-autobiographical confessional literature that has been popular in Japan since the early twentieth century?
Today in literature
- 1785 - John Wilson, Scottish writer born
- 1897 - Dracula, a novel by Irish author Bram Stoker is published.
- 1944 - W. G. Sebald, German-born writer born
- 1952 - Diane Duane, American writer born
- 1981 - William Saroyan, American author died
Topics
Literature: | History of literature · History of the book · Literary criticism · Literary theory · Publishing |
By genre: | Biography · Comedy · Drama · Epic · Erotic · Fable · Fantasy · Historical fiction · Horror · Mystery · Narrative nonfiction · Nonsense · Lyric · Mythopoeia · Poetry · Romance · Satire · Science fiction · Tragedy · Tragicomedy · more... |
By region: | African literature · Asian · European · Latin American · North American · Oceanic |
By era: | Ancient literature · Early medieval · Medieval · Renaissance · Early Modern · Modern |
By century: | 10th century in literature · 11th · 12th · 13th · 14th · 15th · 16th · 17th · 18th · 19th · 20th · 21st |
Recent: | 2018 in literature· 2017 · 2016 · 2015 · 2014 · 2013 · 2012 · 2011 · 2010 · 2009 · 2008 · 2007 · more... |
Categories
Related portals
Concepts: | |
Genres: | |
Religions: |
Things you can do
Related WikiProjects
WikiProjects related to literature:
Concepts: | Biographies · Books · Comics · Magazines · Manga · Novels · Poetry · Short stories · Translation studies |
Genres: | Alternate history · Children's literature · Crime · Fantasy · Horror · Mythology · Romance · Science fiction |
Authors: | Honoré de Balzac · Roald Dahl · William Shakespeare |
Series: | Artemis Fowl · Chronicles of Narnia · Discworld · Harry Potter · His Dark Materials · Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy · Inheritance Cycle · James Bond · King Arthur · Middle-earth · Percy Jackson · Redwall · A Series of Unfortunate Events · Shannara · Sherlock Holmes · A Song of Ice and Fire · Star Wars · Sword of Truth · Twilight · Warriors · Water Margin · Wizard of Oz |
Regions: | Australian literature · Indian literature · Persian literature |
Associated Wikimedia
The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:
-
Commons
Free media repository -
Wikibooks
Free textbooks and manuals -
Wikidata
Free knowledge base -
Wikinews
Free-content news -
Wikiquote
Collection of quotations -
Wikisource
Free-content library -
Wikiversity
Free learning tools -
Wiktionary
Dictionary and thesaurus