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Literature is prose, written or oral, including fiction and non-fiction, drama and poetry. See also: outline of poetry.

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

[edit] Essence of literature

• Composition
• Writing

[edit] Forms of literature

[edit] Oral literary genres

Epic poetry - Legend - Mythology - Ballad - other forms of oral poetry - Folktale - Oral Narrative (Oral History) - Urban legend

[edit] Written literary genres

• Children's literature
• Constrained writing
• Erotic literature
• Poetry (see that article for an extensive list of sub-genres and types)

Aubade - Clerihew - Epic - Haiku - Lied - Lyric - Ode - |Rhapsody - Song - Limerick - Sonnet - Speculative poetry

• Prison literature
• Rhymed prose

Saj' (Maqama) - Fu (literature) - Rayok

[edit] Non-fiction

Autobiography - Biography - Diaries and Journals - Essay - Frame Narrative - In Medias Res - Literary criticism - Memoir - Outdoor literature - Spiritual autobiography - Travel literature

[edit] Fiction genres

• 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

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

[edit] History of literature

History of the book - History of theater - History of science fiction - History of ideas - Intellectual history - Literature by country

[edit] General literature concepts

• Literature
• 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

• Literary criticism

• Rhetoric

Metaphor - Metonymy - Symbol - Allegory

• Basic procedural knowledge

Poetry analysis - effective reasoning in argument writing

• Techniques and conceits

False document - Frame tale - Anecdote - Point of view

• Varieties of literary criticism (applications of Literary theory)

Marxist literary criticism - Semiotic literary interpretation - Psychoanalytic literary interpretation - Feminist literary interpretation - New historicism - Queer literary interpretation

[edit] Literary scholars and literary critics

See also Category:Literary critics

[edit] Literature lists

List of basic literature topics - List of authors - List of books - List of literary awards - List of literary terms - List of prizes, medals, and awards for literary prizes - List of women writers - List of writers - List of literary genres

[edit] See also

Literature portal

• List of literature topics
• Literature
• English studies
• History of literature
• History of modern literature
• World literature

[edit] External links

Find more about Literature on Wikipedia's sister projects:

Definitions from Wiktionary
Textbooks from Wikibooks
Quotations from Wikiquote
Source texts from Wikisource
Images and media from Commons
News stories from Wikinews
Learning resources from Wikiversity

• Yahoo! Directory listing for Literature
• The Internet Public Library listing for Literature
• Nobel Prize in Literature