Where can i find a critic's definition of "nonfiction"?

Answer 1

I think I know what you're looking for. A scholarly definition of nonfiction that does more than tells what it is NOT...but rather defines what it is in positive terms. Yes, the ordinary dictionary will tell you that nonfiction is non fiction...that it is anything that is not fiction. But I haven't found a precise definition on the internet yet. I've had courses in nonfiction for young adults that gave a working definition and explanation, but I can't find my notes at the moment. You might be looking for something more complicated than a definition from a textbook about children's and young adult literature.

This website was the closest I could come to a "critical" perspective on the definition.

http://www.chsbs.cmich.edu/Robert_Root/Background/Variations.htm

Another website that might help you find your answer is:

http://www.creativenonfiction.org/

A publication devoted exclusively to the nonfiction genre, it is aimed at writers of and about nonfiction. Any given issue includes new nonfiction, essays about the nature of the genre, interviews with authors, conference announcements and job openings.

Answer 2

Nonfiction is a slippery term in writing and elicits many discussions and debates over its definition and characteristics.

The best source would be a handbook of terminology, like Holman & Harmon's A Handbook to Literature, now in its 10th edition. Other good handbooks include the Bedford Glossary of Literary and Critical Terms (2nd edition).

A website that uses Holman & Harmon (but doesn't cite them specifically) is http://www.nde.state.ne.us/READ/FRAMEWORK/glossary/general_k-o.html
The site defines nonfiction as "prose designed primarily to explain, argue, or describe rather than to entertain; specifically, a type of prose other than fiction but including biography and autobiography."

A fuller set of definitions is at http://www.chsbs.cmich.edu/Robert_Root/Background/Defining.htm
The site includes these explanations:
1. the written expression of, reflection upon, and/or interpretation of observed, perceived, or recollected experience;
2. a genre of literature made up of such writing which includes such subgenres as personal essay, memoir, narrative reportage, and expressive critical writing and whose borders with other genres and forms (such as journalism, criticism, history, etc.) are fluid and malleable;
3. the expressive, transactional, and poetic prose texts generated by students in college composition courses;
4. (obsolete) not fiction.

Good luck! Your definition is probably as good as any critic's attempt.

Answer 3

isn't the general definition of nonfiction FACT?

Answer 4

If you expect any critic to give you a different definition than the Oxford Dictionary, he himself should be criticised. It is prose or writing which is not fictitious. It is fact..........

Answer 5

nonfiction is real