Western literature - encyclopedia article about Western literature.

Western literature refers to the literature of the Indo-European languages, as well as several languages geographically or historically related to the Indo-European languages (Basque, Hungarian, and so forth). Western literature is considered one of the defining elements of Western civilization.

The best of Western literature is considered to be the Western Canon. The list of works in the Western Canon varies according to the critic's opinions on Western culture and the relative importance of its defining characteristics.

Western literature includes literature in many languages; among the most important are:

Please consult the separate entries for more specifics on literature in each language.

Literature literally "acquaintance with letters" (from Latin littera letter) as in the first sense given in the Oxford English Dictionary, or works of art, which in Western culture are mainly prose, both fiction and non-fiction, drama and poetry.
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Indo-European languages comprise a family of several hundred related languages and dialects ^[1], including most of the major languages of Europe, the northern Indian subcontinent (South Asia), the Iranian plateau (Southwest Asia), and much of Central Asia.
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Western culture or Western civilization is a term used to generally refer to most of the cultures of European origin and most of their descendants. It comprises the broad, geographically based, heritage of social norms, ethical values, traditional customs (such as religious
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Western canon is a term used to denote a of books, and, more widely, music and art, that has been the most influential in shaping Western culture. It asserts a compendium of the greatest Work of art of artistic merit.
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The term English literature refers to literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; Joseph Conrad was Polish, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe
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German literature comprises those literary texts written in the German language.

Periodization is not an exact science, but the following list contains movements or time periods typically used in discussing German literature.
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Polish literature is the literary tradition of Poland. The majority of Polish literature was written in the Polish language, though other languages used in Poland over the centuries (including Latin, Yiddish, Lithuanian, Ukrainian, Belarusian and German) have also
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French literature is, generally speaking, literature written in the French language, particularly by citizens of France; it may also refer to literature written by people living in France who speak other traditional non-French languages.
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Greek literature refers to those writings autochthonic to the areas of Greeks|Greek]influence, typically though not necessarily in one of the Greek dialects, throughout the whole period in which the Greeks|Greek-speaking peoples have existed.
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Italian literature is literature written in the Italian language, particularly by citizens of Italy. It may also refer to literature written by people living in Italy who speak other languages. The collective works have a long, influential history.
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Latin literature, the body of written works in the Latin language, remains an enduring legacy of the culture of ancient Rome. The Romans produced many works of poetry, comedy, tragedy, satire, history, and rhetoric, drawing heavily on the traditions of other cultures and
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Russian literature refers to the literature of Russia or its émigrés, and to the Russian-language literature of several independent nations once a part of what was historically Russia or the Soviet Union.
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This is a survey of Portuguese literature.

The Portuguese language was developed gradually from the Vulgar language (i.e. Vulgar Latin) spoken in the countries which formed part of the Roman Empire and, both in morphology and syntax, it represents an organic transformation
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Notable Danish authors

Hans Christian Andersen
Herman Bang
Karen Blixen (Isak Dinesen)
Georg Brandes
Henrik Pontoppidan
Karl Gjellerup
Jens Fink-Jensen
Jens Peter Jacobsen
Peter Høeg
Johannes Vilhelm Jensen
Søren Kierkegaard

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