Outline of literature

Written works of art

Literature

Oral literature

* Folklore
* fable
* fairy tale
* folk play
* folksong
* heroic epic
* legend
* myth
* proverb
* Oration
* Performance
* audiobook
* spoken word
* Saying

Major written forms

* Book
* Drama
* closet drama
* Poetry
* lyric
* narrative
* Prose
* Nonsense
* verse
* Ergodic
* Electronic

|  Long prose fiction

* Anthology
* Serial
* Novel/romance

Short prose fiction

* Novella
* Novelette
* Short story
* Drabble
* Sketch
* Flash fiction
* Parable
* Religious
* Wisdom

Prose genres
|  Fiction

* Children's
* Encyclopedic
* Genre
* action
* adventure
* coming-of-age
* crime
* erotic
* fantasy
* horror
* military
* paranormal
* romance
* science fiction
* supernatural
* western
* Historical
* Realist
* Speculative

Non-fiction

* Academic
* history
* philosophy
* Anecdote
* Epistle
* Essay
* Journalism
* Letter
* Life
* Nature
* Persuasive
* Travelogue

Poetry genres
|  Narrative

* Children
* Epic
* Dramatic
* Verse novel
* National

Lyric

* Ballad
* Elegy
* Epigram
* Ghazal
* Haiku
* Hymn
* Limerick
* Ode
* Qasida
* Sonnet
* Villanelle

Lists

* Epic
* Groups and movements
* Poets

Dramatic genres

* Comedy
* Libretto
* Play
* historical
* moral
* Satire
* Script
* Tragedy
* Tragicomedy

History

* Ancient
* Classical
* Medieval
* Modernist
* Postmodern

Lists and outlines

* Outline
* Glossary
* Books
* Writers
* Movements
* Cycles
* Literary awards
* poetry
* Short story collection
* Lost literary work
* Lacuna

Theory and criticism

* Sociology
* Magazines
* Composition
* Language
* Narrative
* Feud
* Estate

Literature portal

* v
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* e

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to literature:

Literature - prose, written or oral, including fiction and non-fiction, drama, and poetry.

See also the Outline of poetry.

## What type of thing is literature?

[edit]

Literature can be described as all of the following:

* Communication - activity of conveying information. Communication requires a sender, a message, and an intended recipient, although the receiver need not be present or aware of the sender's intent to communicate at the time of communication; thus communication can occur across vast distances in time and space.
* Written communication (writing) - representation of language in a textual medium through the use of a set of signs or symbols (known as a writing system).[1]
* Subdivision of culture - shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution, organization, or group.
* One of the arts - imaginative, creative, or nonscientific branch of knowledge, especially as studied academically.[2]

## Essence of literature

[edit]

* Composition -
* World literature -

## Forms of literature

[edit]

See also: Literary genre

### Oral literary genres

[edit]

Oral literature

* Oral poetry -
* Epic poetry -
* Legend -
* Mythology -
* Ballad -
* Folktale -
* Oral Narrative -
* Oral History -
* Urban legend -

### Written literary genres

[edit]

Main articles: Poetry and Prose

* Cordel Literature
* Children's literature -
* Constrained writing -
* Erotic literature -
* Electronic literature – Literary fiction and poetry that uses the capabilities of computers and networks
* Digital poetry –
* Interactive fiction –
* Hypertext fiction – literary fiction written with hypertextual links
* Fan fiction
* Cell phone novel
* Poetry (see that article for an extensive list of subgenres and types)
* Aubade -
* Clerihew -
* Epic -
* Grook - form of short aphoristic poem invented by the Danish poet and scientist Piet Hein, who wrote more than 7,000 of them.
* Haiku - form of short Japanese poetry consisting of three lines.
* Instapoetry
* Tanka - classical Japanese poetry of five lines.
* Lied -
* Limerick - a kind of a witty, humorous, or nonsense poem,[3] especially one in five-line anapestic or amphibrachic meter with a strict rhyme scheme (aabba), which is sometimes obscene with humorous intent.
* Lyric -
* Ode -
* Rhapsody -
* Song -
* Sonnet -
* Speculative poetry -
* Prison literature -
* Rhymed prose -
* Saj'
* Maqama
* Fu (literature)
* Rayok

#### Non-fiction

[edit]

Non-fiction

* Autobiography -
* Biography -
* Diaries and Journals -
* Essay -
* Literary criticism -
* Memoir -
* Outdoor literature -
* Self-Help -
* Spiritual autobiography -
* Travel literature -

#### Fiction genres

[edit]

Fiction

* Manga -
* Adventure novel -
* Airport novels -
* Comedy -
* Parody -
* Satire -
* Crime fiction -
* Detective fiction -
* Hardboiled -
* Whodunit -
* Newgate novel -
* Erotica -
* Fable -
* Fairy tale -
* Family saga -
* Gothic -
* Southern Gothic -
* Historical fiction -
* Inspirational fiction -
* Invasion literature -
* Mystery -
* Philosophical literature -

Inspirational fiction (religious literature) -

* Psychological fiction -
* Psychological thriller -
* Romance (heroic literature) -
* Romance -
* Historical romance -
* Regency romance -
* Inspirational romance -
* Paranormal romance -
* Saga -
* Speculative fiction -
* Alternate history -
* Fantasy - (for more details see Fantasy subgenres, fantasy literature)
* Epic fantasy -
* Science fantasy -
* Steampunk -
* Urban fantasy -
* Weird fantasy -
* Horror -
* Lovecraftian horror -
* Weird menace -
* Science fiction - (for more details see Science fiction genres and related topics
* Cyberpunk -
* Hard science fiction -
* Space opera -
* Supernatural fiction -
* Sensation novel -
* Slave narrative -
* Thriller -
* Conspiracy fiction -
* Legal thriller -
* Spy fiction/Political thriller -
* Techno-thriller -
* Western fiction -

## Literature by region and country

[edit]

### Asia

[edit]

* East Asian literature
* Chinese literature
* Japanese literature
* Korean literature
* Mongolian literature
* Taiwanese literature
* South Asian literature
* Bangladeshi literature
* Bhutanese literature
* Indian literature
* Assamese literature
* Bengali literature
* Bhojpuri language#Bhojpuri literature
* Indian English literature
* Gujarati literature
* Hindi literature
* Kannada literature
* Kashmiri literature
* Konkani literature
* Malayalam literature
* Maithili literature
* Meitei literature
* Marathi literature
* Mizo literature
* Nepali literature
* Odia literature
* Punjabi literature
* Rajasthani literature
* Sanskrit literature
* Sindhi literature
* Tamil literature
* Telugu literature
* Urdu literature
* Maldivian literature
* Nepalese literature
* Pakistani literature
* Sri Lankan literature
* Southeast Asian literature
* Brunei literature
* Burmese literature
* Cambodian literature
* Indonesian literature
* Laotian literature
* Malaysian literature
* Philippine literature
* Singaporean literature
* Thai literature
* Timoran literature
* Vietnamese literature
* Central Asian literature
* Kazakh literature
* Kyrgyz literature
* Tajik literature
* Turkmen literature
* Uzbek literature

### Europe

[edit]

See also: Western literature

*     * Albanian literature
* Andorran literature
* Armenian literature
* Aromanian literature
* Austrian literature
* Azerbaijani literature
* Basque literature
* Belarusian literature
* Belgian literature
* Flemish literature
* Bosnian literature
* Bulgarian literature
* British literature
* Cornish literature
* English literature
* Manx literature
* Jèrriais literature
* Scottish literature
* Scots-language literature
* Scottish Gaelic literature
* Ulster literature
* Welsh literature in English
* Welsh-language literature
* Croatian literature
* Cypriot literature
* Turkish Cypriot literature
* Czech literature
* Danish literature
* Faroese literature
* Greenlandic literature
* Dutch literature
* Frisian literature
* Esperanto literature
* Estonian literature
* Finnish literature
* Åland literature
* French literature \- also Francophone literature
* Breton literature
* Occitan literature
* Georgian literature
* Abkhaz literature
* Chechen literature
* Ossetian literature
* German literature
* Greek literature
* Hungarian literature
* Icelandic literature
* Irish literature
* Gaelic literature
* Literature of Northern Ireland
* Italian literature
* Friulian literature
* Sardinian literature
* Venetian literature
* Western Lombard literature
* Kazakh literature
* Kosovar literature
* Latvian literature
* Liechtensteiner literature
* Lithuanian literature
* Luxembourg literature
* Macedonian literature
* Maltese literature
* Moldovan literature
* Monégasque literature
* Montenegrin literature
* Norwegian literature
* Polish literature
* Portuguese literature
* Romanian literature
* Russian literature
* Sammarinese literature
* Serbian literature
* Slovak literature
* Slovene literature
* Spanish literature
* Aragonese literature
* Asturian literature
* Catalan literature
* Galician-language literature
* Swedish literature
* Swiss literature
* Turkish literature
* Ukrainian literature
* Yiddish literature

### Middle East and North Africa

[edit]

*     * Afghan literature
* Algerian literature
* Arabic literature
* Bahraini literature
* Egyptian literature
* Ethiopian literature
* Emirati literature
* Iranian literature
* Iraqi literature
* Israeli literature
* Jordanian literature
* Kuwaiti literature
* Kurdish literature
* Lebanese literature
* Libyan literature
* Moroccan literature
* Oman literature
* Pakistani literature
* Palestinian literature
* Persian literature
* Qatari literature
* Saudi literature
* Syrian literature
* Tunisian literature
* Turkish literature
* Yemeni literature

### North and South America

[edit]

* North American literature
* American literature
* African American literature
* Native American literature
* Southern literature
* Deaf American literature
* Canadian literature
* Quebec literature
* Mexican literature
* Caribbean literature
* Cuban literature
* Dominican Republic literature
* Guadeloupean Literature
* Haitian literature
* Jamaican literature
* Martinican Literature
* Puerto Rican literature
* Barthélemois literature
* Trinidad and Tobago literature
* Central American literature
* Costa Rican literature
* Salvadoran literature
* Guatemalan literature
* Honduran literature
* Nicaraguan literature
* Panamanian literature
* South American literature
* Argentine literature
* Bolivian literature
* Brazilian literature
* Chilean literature
* Colombian literature
* Ecuadorean literature
* Guyanese literature
* Paraguayan literature
* Peruvian literature
* Uruguayan literature
* Venezuelan literature

### Oceania

[edit]

* Oceanian literature
* Australian literature
* Fijian literature
* Kiribati literature
* Marshall Islands literature
* Micronesian literature
* Nauran literature
* New Zealand literature
* Papua New Guinean literature
* Palau literature
* Samoan literature
* Solomon Islands literature
* Tongan literature
* Tuvalan literature
* Vanuatu literature

### Sub-Saharan Africa

[edit]

See also: African literature

* East African literature
* Burundian literature
* Comorian literature
* Djibouti literature
* Eritrean literature
* Kenyan literature
* Madagascar literature
* Malawian literature
* Mauritian literature
* Mozambique literature
* Réunion literature
* Rwandan literature
* Seychelles literature
* Somalian literature
* Somaliland literature
* South Sudanese literature
* Sudanese literature
* Tanzanian literature
* Ugandan literature
* Zambian literature
* Zimbabwean literature
* Central African literature
* Angolan literature
* Cameroonian literature
* Literature of Central African Republic
* Chadian literature
* Congolese literature
* Equatorial Guinea literature
* Gabonese literature
* São Tomé and Príncipe literature
* Southern African literature
* Botswanan literature
* Swazi literature
* Lesotho literature
* Namibian literature
* South African literature
* Afrikaans literature
* West African literature
* Beninese literature
* Burkina Faso literature
* Literature of Cape Verde
* Gambian literature
* Ghanaian literature
* Guinean literature
* Guinea-Bissau literature
* Ivory Coast literature
* Liberian literature
* Malian literature
* Mauritanian literature
* Literature of Niger
* Nigerian literature
* Yoruba literature
* Senegalese literature
* Sierra Leonean literature
* Togo literature

## History of literature

[edit]

History of literature

* History of the book
* History of theater
* History of science fiction
* History of ideas
* Intellectual history

### Literature by written language

[edit]

* Bronze Age literature
* Sumerian
* Ancient Egyptian
* Akkadian
* Classical literature
* Avestan
* Chinese
* Greek
* Hebrew
* Latin
* Pali
* Prakrit
* Sanskrit
* Syriac
* Sangam literature
* Middle Persian literature
* Medieval literature
* Medieval Dutch literature
* Medieval French literature
* Byzantine literature
* Medieval Bulgarian literature
* Old English literature
* Middle English literature
* Medieval German literature
* Old Irish literature
* Old Norse literature
* Georgian literature
* Catalan literature
* Medieval Welsh literature
* Renaissance literature
* Early Modern literature
* Baroque
* English literature
* French literature
* German literature
* Italian literature
* Spanish literature
* Bengali literature
* Hindi literature
* Kannada literature
* Newari literature
* Telugu literature
* Chinese literature
* Japanese literature
* Korean literature
* Arabic literature
* Persian literature
* Armenian literature
* Turkish literature

#### Literature by century

[edit]

* Ancient literature \- until the 6th century CE
* Early medieval literature \- 6th through 9th centuries
* 10th century in literature
* 11th century in literature
* 12th century in literature
* 13th century in literature
* 14th century in literature
* 15th century in literature
* 16th century in literature
* 17th century in literature
* 18th century in literature
* 19th century in literature
* 20th century in literature
* 21st century in literature

#### Literature by year

[edit]

* List of years in literature
* Table of years in literature

## General literature concepts

[edit]

See also: Index of literary terms and Glossary of poetry terms

* Book
* Western canon -
* Teaching of writing:
* Composition -
* Rhetoric -
* Poetry -
* Prosody -
* Meter -
* Scansion -
* Constrained writing -
* Poetics -
* Villanelle -
* Sonnet -
* Sestina -
* Ghazal -
* Ballad -
* Blank verse -
* Free verse -
* Epic poetry -
* Prose -
* Fiction -
* Non-fiction -
* Biography -
* Prose genres -
* Essay -
* Flash prose -
* Hypertext fiction –
* Journalism -
* Novel -
* Novella -
* Short story -
* Theater -
* History of theater -
* Rhetoric -
* Metaphor -
* Metonymy -
* Symbol -
* Allegory -
* Basic procedural knowledge
* Poetry analysis -
* effective reasoning in argument writing
* Narratology
* Frame tale -
* Anecdote -
* In Medias Res -
* Point of view -
* Literary criticism - an application of literary theory
* Marxist literary criticism -
* Semiotic literary interpretation -
* Psychoanalytic literary interpretation -
* Feminist literary interpretation -
* New historicism -
* Queer literary interpretation -

## Literary awards

[edit]

* List of literary awards
* List of poetry awards

## Persons influential in the field of literature

[edit]

* List of authors
* Category:Literary critics
* List of writers
* List of women writers

## Literature creation

[edit]

* Author
* Publisher
* Editor
* Copy editor
* Writer

## Literature distribution

[edit]

* Publishing
* Library
* Bookselling
* Magazine

## See also

[edit]

* Literature portal

* Index of literature articles
* Lists of books
* English studies
* List of poems
* List of poetry collections

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Peter T. Daniels, "The Study of Writing Systems", in The World's Writing Systems, ed. Bright and Daniels, p. 3
2. ^ the arts. CollinsDictionary.com. Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 11th Edition. Retrieved October 25, 2012.
3. ^ Oxford English Dictionary (2d edition, 1989), s.v. Limerick.
Vaughn, Stanton. Limerick Lyrics. 1900. Retrieved from [1].

## External links

[edit]

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