The power of Words

"Literature, in its widest sense, embraces all compositions in writing or print which preserve the results of observation, thought, or fancy ..." says Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary in its definition "... It is often confined, however, to belles-lettres, or works of taste and sentiment, as poetry, eloquence, history, etc., excluding abstract discussions and mere erudition. "

Literature can be defined by listing criteria which literary works have fully or partially to satisfy. Criteria defining the syntacical and semantical structure. But there is an empirical approach as well, managed unconsciously by most readers: they build up a reference system of literary works. Authors or better their writings function as thresholds by which others get classified into literature und non-literature.

Each reader - though highly influenced by his educational upbringing and other factors - develops his or her own reference system and as a consequence there can never be a total agreement on the borderline between "good" und "bad" literature.

There are irrevocable monuments in literature which can't be criticized without being treated as illiterate. Shakespeare and James Joyce, just to name two, are beyond all doubt.

If you are looking for literature on the web, Project Gutenberg is a great place to start with. It is the Internet's oldest producer of free electronic books (eBooks or etexts).

If you want to look for newer literature, which hasn't made its way into the "reference system", you can have a look at Autoren heute

Please see my other site at Bernd Klein Net