Literature Definition

What is Literature?

A Definition Based on Prototypes
Jim Meyer

Most definitions of literature have been criterial definitions, definitions based on a list of
criteria which all literary works must meet. However, more current theories of meaning
take the view that definitions are based on prototypes: there is broad agreement about
good examples that meet all of the prototypical characteristics, and other examples are
related to the prototypes by family resemblance. For literary works, prototypical
characteristics include careful use of language, being written in a literary genre (poetry,
prose fiction, or drama), being read aesthetically, and containing many weak
implicatures.