Outline of literature

What type of thing is literature?

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).

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.

Essence of literature

Composition –

World literature –

Oral literary genres

Oral poetry –

Epic poetry –

Legend –

Mythology –

Ballad –

Folktale –

Oral Narrative –

Oral History –

Urban legend –

Written literary genres

Children's literature –

Constrained writing –

Erotic literature –

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 over 7,000 of them.

Haiku –

Lied –

Limerick – a kind of a witty, humorous, or nonsense poem, 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

Non-fiction

Autobiography –

Biography –

Diaries and Journals –

Essay –

Literary criticism –

Memoir –

Outdoor literature –

Spiritual autobiography –

Travel literature –

Fiction genres

Fiction

Adventure novel –

Airport novels –

Comedy –

Parody –

Satire –

Crime fiction –

Detective fiction –

Hardboiled –

Whodunit –

Newgate novel –

Erotica –

Fable –

Fairy tale –

Family saga –

Frame story –

Gothic –

Southern Gothic –

Historical fiction –

Inspirational fiction –

Invasion literature –

Mystery –

Philosophical literature –

Inspirational fiction (religious literature) –

Psychological novel –

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 –

History of literature

History of literature

History of the book

History of theater

History of modern literature

History of science fiction

History of ideas

Intellectual history

General literature concepts

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 –

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

False document –

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

List of literary awards

List of poetry awards

Persons influential in the field of literature

List of authors

Category:Literary critics

List of writers

List of women writers

Literature Creation

Author

Publisher

Editor

Copy Editor

Literature Distribution

Publishing

Library

Bookselling

Magazine