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What does 'literary' mean and what makes something literary?

Question #77527. Asked by emilytyrrell.
Last updated Jun 14 2024.

Related Trivia Topics: Vocabulary  
skysmom65
Answer has 7 votes
skysmom65
19 year member
1504 replies

Answer has 7 votes.
The adjective literary has 3 meanings:

  • Meaning #1: of or relating to or dealing with good literature
    Pertains to noun: literature (meaning #1)
  • Meaning #2: knowledgeable about literature
    Synonym: well-written
  • Meaning #3: appropriate to literature rather than everyday speech or writing
link https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/literary


Response last updated by gtho4 on Jun 14 2024.
Mar 20 2007, 9:05 AM
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lanfranco
Answer has 9 votes
Currently Best Answer
lanfranco
20 year member
4170 replies avatar

Answer has 9 votes.

Currently voted the best answer.
Strictly speaking, "literary" means only "of or having to do with literature." The question then becomes, What constitutes "literature?"

Any body of written work can be called "literature" -- you can reasonably refer to the "literature" on just about any subject. However, we tend to use the word to refer to elevated, serious, written material, most often fiction, produced for an educated, informed audience by professional authors dedicated to the craft of writing well. (That's a very narrow definition, but I think it addresses the question you're asking.) This means that the word "literary" is most likely to be applied to a written work that meets that definition.

So, for example, a book by Joyce Carol Oates will be called "literary," but a book by Danielle Steele will not be. They are both professional writers and both are naturally concerned with selling books, but Steele's books are directed to a popular mass market and Oates' are not; the quality and type of writing in their books is quite different.

I hope that makes sense.

link https://www.quora.com/What-does-literary-fiction-mean-today

Response last updated by postcards2go on Aug 22 2016.
Mar 20 2007, 9:13 AM
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