# Outline of literature

Literature :
Oral literature :
Folklore
fable
fairy tale
folk play
folksong
heroic epic
legend
myth
proverb
Oration
Performance
audiobook
spoken word
Saying :
Major written forms :
Prose genres :
Poetry genres :
Dramatic genres :
Comedy
Libretto
Play
historical
moral
Satire
Script
Tragedy
Tragicomedy :
History :
Ancient
Classical
Medieval
Modernist
Postmodern :
Lists and outlines :
Outline
Glossary
Books
Writers
Movements
Cycles
Literary awards
poetry
Short story collection
Lost literary work
Lacuna :
Theory and criticism :
Sociology
Magazines
Composition
Language
Narrative
Feud
Estate :
Literature portal :
vte :
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to literature:
Literature – prose, written or oral, including fiction and non-fiction, drama, and poetry.
    See also the Outline of poetry.

## 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 –

## Forms of literature
### Oral literary genres

Oral literature
* Oral poetry –
** Epic poetry –
*** Legend –
*** Mythology –
*** Ballad –
* Folktale –
* Oral Narrative –
** Oral History –
** Urban legend –

### Written literary genres

* Cordel Literature
* Children's literature –
* Constrained writing –
* Erotic literature –
* Electronic literature – Literary fiction and poetry that uses the capabilities of computers and networks
** Digital poetry –
** Interactive fiction –
** Hypertext fiction – literary fiction written with hypertextual links
** Fan fiction
** Cell phone novel
* 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 more than 7,000 of them.
** Haiku – form of short Japanese poetry consisting of three lines.
** Instapoetry
** Tanka – classical Japanese poetry of five lines.
** 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 –
* Self-Help –
* Spiritual autobiography –
* Travel literature –

#### Fiction genres

Fiction
* Manga –
* Adventure novel –
* Airport novels –
* Comedy –
* Parody –
* Satire –
* Crime fiction –
** Detective fiction –
*** Hardboiled –
*** Whodunit –
** Newgate novel –
* Erotica –
* Fable –
* Fairy tale –
* Family saga –
* Gothic –
** Southern Gothic –
* Historical fiction –
* Inspirational fiction –
* Invasion literature –
* Mystery –
* Philosophical literature –
    Inspirational fiction (religious literature) –
* Psychological fiction –
* 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 –

## Literature by region and country
### Asia

* East Asian literature
** Chinese literature
** Japanese literature
** Korean literature
** Mongolian literature
** Taiwanese literature
* South Asian literature
** Bangladeshi literature
** Bhutanese literature
** Indian literature
*** Assamese literature
*** Bengali literature
*** Bhojpuri language#Bhojpuri literature
*** Indian English literature
*** Gujarati literature
*** Hindi literature
*** Kannada literature
*** Kashmiri literature
*** Konkani literature
*** Malayalam literature
*** Maithili literature
*** Meitei literature
*** Marathi literature
*** Mizo literature
*** Nepali literature
*** Odia literature
*** Punjabi literature
*** Rajasthani literature
*** Sanskrit literature
*** Sindhi literature
*** Tamil literature
*** Telugu literature
*** Urdu literature
** Maldivian literature
** Nepalese literature
** Pakistani literature
** Sri Lankan literature
* Southeast Asian literature
** Brunei literature
** Burmese literature
** Cambodian literature
** Indonesian literature
** Laotian literature
** Malaysian literature
** Philippine literature
** Singaporean literature
** Thai literature
** Timoran literature
** Vietnamese literature
* Central Asian literature
** Kazakh literature
** Kyrgyz literature
** Tajik literature
** Turkmen literature
** Uzbek literature

### Europe

** Albanian literature
** Andorran literature
** Armenian literature
** Aromanian literature
** Austrian literature
** Azerbaijani literature
** Basque literature
** Belarusian literature
** Belgian literature
*** Flemish literature
** Bosnian literature
** Bulgarian literature
** British literature
*** Cornish literature
*** English literature
*** Manx literature
*** Jèrriais literature
*** Scottish literature
**** Scots-language literature
**** Scottish Gaelic literature
*** Ulster literature
*** Welsh literature in English
*** Welsh-language literature
** Croatian literature
** Cypriot literature
*** Turkish Cypriot literature
** Czech literature
** Danish literature
*** Faroese literature
*** Greenlandic literature
** Dutch literature
*** Frisian literature
** Esperanto literature
** Estonian literature
** Finnish literature
*** Åland literature
** French literature - also Francophone literature
*** Breton literature
*** Occitan literature
** Georgian literature
*** Abkhaz literature
*** Chechen literature
*** Ossetian literature
** German literature
** Greek literature
** Hungarian literature
** Icelandic literature
** Irish literature
*** Gaelic literature
*** Literature of Northern Ireland
** Italian literature
*** Friulian literature
*** Sardinian literature
*** Venetian literature
*** Western Lombard literature
** Kazakh literature
** Kosovar literature
** Latvian literature
** Liechtensteiner literature
** Lithuanian literature
** Luxembourg literature
** Macedonian literature
** Maltese literature
** Moldovan literature
** Monégasque literature
** Montenegrin literature
** Norwegian literature
** Polish literature
** Portuguese literature
** Romanian literature
** Russian literature
** Sammarinese literature
** Serbian literature
** Slovak literature
** Slovene literature
** Spanish literature
*** Aragonese literature
*** Asturian literature
*** Catalan literature
*** Galician-language literature
** Swedish literature
** Swiss literature
** Turkish literature
** Ukrainian literature
** Yiddish literature

### Middle East and North Africa

** Afghan literature
** Algerian literature
** Arabic literature
** Bahraini literature
** Egyptian literature
** Ethiopian literature
** Emirati literature
** Iranian literature
** Iraqi literature
** Israeli literature
** Jordanian literature
** Kuwaiti literature
** Kurdish literature
** Lebanese literature
** Libyan literature
** Moroccan literature
** Oman literature
** Pakistani literature
** Palestinian literature
** Persian literature
** Qatari literature
** Saudi literature
** Syrian literature
** Tunisian literature
** Turkish literature
** Yemeni literature

### North and South America

* North American literature
** American literature
*** African American literature
*** Native American literature
*** Southern literature
*** Deaf American literature
** Canadian literature
*** Quebec literature
** Mexican literature
* Caribbean literature
** Cuban literature
** Dominican Republic literature
** Guadeloupean Literature
** Haitian literature
** Jamaican literature
** Martinican Literature
** Puerto Rican literature
** Barthélemois literature
** Trinidad and Tobago literature
* Central American literature
** Costa Rican literature
** Salvadoran literature
** Guatemalan literature
** Honduran literature
** Nicaraguan literature
** Panamanian literature
* South American literature
** Argentine literature
** Bolivian literature
** Brazilian literature
** Chilean literature
** Colombian literature
** Ecuadorean literature
** Guyanese literature
** Paraguayan literature
** Peruvian literature
** Uruguayan literature
** Venezuelan literature

### Oceania

* Oceanian literature
** Australian literature
** Fijian literature
** Kiribati literature
** Marshall Islands literature
** Micronesian literature
** Nauran literature
** New Zealand literature
** Papua New Guinean literature
** Palau literature
** Samoan literature
** Solomon Islands literature
** Tongan literature
** Tuvalan literature
** Vanuatu literature

### Sub-Saharan Africa

* East African literature
** Burundian literature
** Comorian literature
** Djibouti literature
** Eritrean literature
** Kenyan literature
** Madagascar literature
** Malawian literature
** Mauritian literature
** Mozambique literature
** Réunion literature
** Rwandan literature
** Seychelles literature
** Somalian literature
** Somaliland literature
** South Sudanese literature
** Sudanese literature
** Tanzanian literature
** Ugandan literature
** Zambian literature
** Zimbabwean literature
* Central African literature
** Angolan literature
** Cameroonian literature
** Literature of Central African Republic
** Chadian literature
** Congolese literature
** Equatorial Guinea literature
** Gabonese literature
** São Tomé and Príncipe literature
* Southern African literature
** Botswanan literature
** Swazi literature
** Lesotho literature
** Namibian literature
** South African literature
*** Afrikaans literature
* West African literature
** Beninese literature
** Burkina Faso literature
** Literature of Cape Verde
** Gambian literature
** Ghanaian literature
** Guinean literature
** Guinea-Bissau literature
** Ivory Coast literature
** Liberian literature
** Malian literature
** Mauritanian literature
** Literature of Niger
** Nigerian literature
*** Yoruba literature
** Senegalese literature
** Sierra Leonean literature
** Togo literature

## History of literature

History of literature
* History of the book
* History of theater
* History of science fiction
* History of ideas
* Intellectual history

### Literature by written language

* Bronze Age literature
** Sumerian
** Ancient Egyptian
** Akkadian
* Classical literature
** Avestan
** Chinese
** Greek
** Hebrew
** Latin
** Pali
** Prakrit
** Sanskrit
** Syriac
** Sangam literature
** Middle Persian literature
* Medieval literature
** Medieval Dutch literature
** Medieval French literature
** Byzantine literature
** Medieval Bulgarian literature
** Old English literature
** Middle English literature
** Medieval German literature
** Old Irish literature
** Old Norse literature
** Georgian literature
** Catalan literature
** Medieval Welsh literature
** Renaissance literature
** Early Modern literature
** Baroque
** English literature
** French literature
** German literature
** Italian literature
** Spanish literature
** Bengali literature
** Hindi literature
** Kannada literature
** Newari literature
** Telugu literature
** Chinese literature
** Japanese literature
** Korean literature
** Arabic literature
** Persian literature
** Armenian literature
** Turkish literature

#### Literature by century

* Ancient literature - until the 6th century CE
* Early medieval literature - 6th through 9th centuries
* 10th century in literature
* 11th century in literature
* 12th century in literature
* 13th century in literature
* 14th century in literature
* 15th century in literature
* 16th century in literature
* 17th century in literature
* 18th century in literature
* 19th century in literature
* 20th century in literature
* 21st century in literature

#### Literature by year

* List of years in literature
* Table of years in literature

## 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 –
** Hypertext fiction –
** 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
** 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
* Writer

## Literature distribution

* Publishing
* Library
* Bookselling
* Magazine