INTRODUCTION TO LITERATURE
Literature can
be defined as follows.
Literature is
the work of art which uses language to convey a message to the society.
Or
Is the piece of
writing that are valued as works of art, especially novels, plays and poems
which are in contrast to technical books and news papers, magazines etc.(Oxford
dictionary (2005)
But generally
literature can be defined as the work of art which uses language to reflect
social realities in the society. This means that Literature always exists from
the society because it is the society which provides raw materials to the field
of literature. There fore an artist can not present a work of literature out of
his society because he or she is influenced by the culture, tradition,
believes, philosophies or ideologies that are persisting in the society. This
work can be in written or spoken form.
ROLES OR IMPORTANCE OF LITERATURE
Literature has
many roles to the society because it always focuses on the society. There for
literature have many things to do with the society. The following are some of
the roles of the society;
- Literature educates the society.
- Literature entertains the society.
- To preserve the history of the society.
- It helps to develop language.
- Liberates the society.
Qualities of literature
Literature has
the following qualities
- Artistic quality; literature has an artistic quality that means it express the life of people in forms of truth and beauty.
- Suggestive quality; always literature suggests something to the audience. It is not so much what it says as it awakens in us that constitutes its charm. The province of all art is not to instruct but to delights; and only as literature delights us causing each reader to build in his own soul.
- Permanent; literary works are permanent that means they have a very long time to survive in the society.
Literature and language
Literature and language are inseparable
things since literature depends more on language so as to send an intended
message to the audience. There fore we can say that no language no literature
because an artist uses language
artistically that means it should be moulded with proverbs, idioms, Figures of
speech, sayings etc. language as the medium of communication is used in
literature in the following works;
- To criticize the society; artists uses language in literary works so as correct their society/criticize wrongs.
- To educate; language is used in literary works to educate an audience in different ways.
- To entertain; artists uses language to entertain their audience since the literary language should be moulded so as to attract the intended audience.
- Language is used to present messages to the audience; artists use language to send their messages to the society so this language should be the one with proverbs, idioms and other wise sayings.
Literature has divided into two types, which are;
1.
Oral
literature
2.
Written
literature.
Oral literature
Oral literature
is the literary work which is presented in the word of mouth or in oral form.
It is the first literature to exist before written literature. It is believed
that it raised soon after 5the Neolithic revolution.
TYPES OF ORAL LITERATURE
I.
Folk tales are stories handed down from generation to generation
explaining about the passed common people like kings, princes etc.
II.
Proverbs are the wise sayings whose intention is to educate and criticise the
society. For example;
a) Beautiful is in the eye of the beholder-meaning
‘People always have different ideas about what is beautiful’.
b) He who hesitates is lost-meaning ‘if you delay in
doing something you may loose a good opportunity.
III. Idiom is a group of words whose meaning is different from the meaning of
individual words. Or is the group of words whose meaning is hidden. For
Example;
“Don’t let the cat out
of the bag” To mean ‘don’t reveal the secret’
“Be burning in the same
boat- means to be in the same difficult situation or unfortunate situation.
When the cat is a’ way
mice will play.
I Myths are stories attempt to answer
philosophical questions like “Where human beings come from or why people are
dying or why people are working etc.
L Legends are stories that explain over royal
people like king princes and events that ever passed in the society.
VI. Songs refers to the pies of music which can be sung.
VII. Riddles are puzzling questions, statements or descriptions given out or asked to
test the wisdom or the cleverness of those wishing to solve them.
VIII. Fable refers to the animal tales. Or refers to stories that explain about
animals.
Written literature
Written
literature is the type of literature which is presented in a written form. It
is always on paper or other writable materials. Written literature has divided
into three major genres which are the following
1)
Novels
2)
Plays/
drama
3)
Poetry.
