Question

What is literature? How can we know when something we are reading rises to the level of a "literary work"? What are the features a work must have to be considered literature? What about some of the very popular works we have encountered in the past years like the Harry Potter Series? Is Harry literature? What about Game of Thrones?

Answer 1

Literature can be defined as any artistic written work. A literary work is considered to be an intelligent piece of work where the use of language, emotions, and expressions is different from the way it is usually used.
Anything that we read rises to a literary work when we can differentiate the content of work. We can see the difference in use of language and also the intellectual concepts.
The major features that literature must have are:
- Use of similes, metaphors, irony, etc.
- the concept is a fiction which is influenced by reality
- It has the main idea based on which the whole plot revolves.

If we talk about Harry Potter - it is a series of fantasy novels. Fantasy is different from fiction. Fantasy is based on a supernatural theme, on imagination. Whereas fiction is influenced by the reality that is described in creative writing. The same is with the Game of Thrones. It is a television series which is a fantasy drama.