What is literature? Why do we study literature?

Answer 1

1. The body of written works of a language, period, or culture.
2. Imaginative or creative writing, especially of recognized artistic value: "Literature must be an analysis of experience and a synthesis of the findings into a unity" (Rebecca West).
3. The art or occupation of a literary writer.
4. The body of written work produced by scholars or researchers in a given field: medical literature.
5. Printed material: collected all the available literature on the subject.
6. Music All the compositions of a certain kind or for a specific instrument or ensemble: the symphonic literature.

Answer 2

Literature is the study of the writing of a country, ethinic group, writer, time period or genre. Because literature reflects not only the author but the society in which he created the work, it is history and a reflection of the human condition.