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What Is Literature? ما الأدب?

Since the dawn of civilization, many men and women have felt a vital need to communicate their thoughts and feelings to a wider world beyond their immediate circle of family, friends and acquaintances. Thanks to the invention of writing and printing, they have been able to hand down to successive generations a priceless treasury of manus and books.

منذ بزوغ الحضارة, شعر العديد من الرجال والنساء بحاجة ماسة لنقل أفكارهم ومشاعرهم الى عالم أوسع يتجاوز دائرة عائلاتهم القريبة وأصدقائهم ومعارفهم. والشكر يعود الى اختراع الكتابة والطباعة اللتان كانتا قادرتين على ايصال كنز ثمين من المخطوطات والكتب الى الأجيال المتعاقبة.‏
Literature is generally taken to mean those pieces of writing which despite the passing of years even of the centuries, still inspire admiration, reflection and emotion in readers.‏
يُفهم الأدب عادة على أنه يعني تلك الأجزاء المكتوبة, التي وعلى الرغم من مرور السنين وحتى القرون, لا تزال تثير الاعجاب والتفكير والعاطفة عند القراء.‏
Poems, plays, novels and short stories in a given language that have stood the test of time collectively make up a national literature.‏
فالقصائد الشعرية والمسرحيات والروايات والقصص القصيرة في لغة معينة والتي تحدت الزمن تشكل بمجموعها الأدب القومي أو الوطني.‏
This does not mean, however, that only older works can be called literature. Today, millions of books are produced every year, but only some of them find their way into literary magazines or into the literary of newspapers.‏
على أية حال, هذا لا يعني أنه فقط الأعمال القديمة يمكن أن تسمى أدباً. فاليوم, ملايين الكتب تقدم الى الجمهور كل عام لكن فقط بعضها يجد طريقاً الى المجلات الأدبية أو صفحات الجرائد الأدبية.‏
In these cases, it is the critics and not time that decide what is and what is not to be regarded as literature. Whether their choices are appropriate or not will be a matter for future generations to decide.‏
في هذه الحالات, النقاد وحدهم, وليس الزمن, هم من يقر ما يمكن اعتباره أو لا يمكن اعتباره أدباً. وسواء كانت اختياراتهم مناسبة أولا سيكون ذلك قضية تقررها أجيال المستقبل.‏
It is impossible to formulate a totally comprehensive and all-encompassing definition of literature because literature is never static.‏
فمن المستحيل صياغة تعريف شامل وكلي ومنجز للأدب لأن الأدب لا يكون جامداً أو متحجراً.‏
Writers, genres and styles of writing have fallen in and out of favour throughout history.‏
فالمؤلفون وأساليب وأنواع الكتابة نالت الاستحسان والاعجاب عبر التاريخ.‏
Even today, arguments rage about whether more popular forms of fiction such as detective stories should be considered literature.‏
وحتى هذه الأيام, تحتدم السجالات فيما إذا كانت أشكال النثر الشعبية كالقصص البوليسية يجب أن تعد صنفاً أدبياً.‏
These disputes can be left to the critics because, for the reader, literature is simply beautiful, meaningful writing.‏
هذه النقاشات يمكن أن تترك الى النقاد, لأنه بالنسبة للقارئ, فإن الأدب هو كتابة مبسطة وجميلة وذات مغزى.‏

Definition of Literature

Literature

Learning; acquaintance with letters or books.

The collective body of literary productions, embracing the entire results of knowledge and fancy preserved in writing; also, the whole body of literary productions or writings upon a given subject, or in reference to a particular science or branch of knowledge, or of a given country or period; as, the literature of Biblical criticism; the literature of chemistry.

The class of writings distinguished for beauty of style or expression, as poetry, essays, or history, in distinction from scientific treatises and works which contain positive knowledge; belles-lettres.

The occupation, profession, or business of doing literary work

Definition: What is literature? Why do we read it? Why is literature important?

Literature is a term used to describe written or spoken material. Broadly speaking, "literature" is used to describe anything from creative writing to more technical or scientific works, but the term is most commonly used to refer to works of the creative imagination, including works of poetry, drama, fiction, and nonfiction.

Why do we read literature?

Literature represents a language or a people: culture and tradition. But, literature is more important than just a historical or cultural artifact. Literature introduces us to new worlds of experience. We learn about books and literature; we enjoy the comedies and the tragedies of poems, stories, and plays; and we may even grow and evolve through our literary journey with books.

Ultimately, we may discover meaning in literature by looking at what the author says and how he/she says it. We may interpret the author's message. In academic circles, this decoding of the text is often carried out through the use of literary theory, using a mythological, sociological, psychological, historical, or other approach.

Whatever critical paradigm we use to discuss and analyze literature, there is still an artistic quality to the works. Literature is important to us because it speaks to us, it is universal, and it affects us. Even when it is ugly, literature is beautiful.
Also Known As: Classics, learning, erudition, belles-lettres, lit, literary works, written work, writings, books