Literature is a body of written works, wherein the name is often applied to those imaginative works of poetry and prose distinguished by the intentions of their authors and the excellence of their execution. Literature may be classified according to a variety of systems, including language, national origin, historical period, genre, and subject matter. The current meaning generally attached to the term literature--a body of writing by a people or by peoples using the same language is a relatively modern one. The term itself, derived from the Latin word littera ("letter of the alphabet"; litterae, "letters"), is ancient enough; but in ancient times literature tended to be considered separately in terms of kinds of writing, or genres as they came to be called in the 18th century when the term literature took on its modern meaning.In preliterate societies oral literature was widely shared; it saturated the society and was as much a part of living as food, clothing, shelter, or religion. In barbaric societies, the minstrel might be a courtier of the king or chieftain, and the poet who composed liturgies might be a priest. But the oral performance itself was accessible to the whole community. As society evolved its various social layers, or classes, an "elite" literature began to be distinguishable from the "folk" literature of the people. With the invention of writing this separation was accelerated until finally literature was being experienced individually by the elite (reading a book), while folklore and folk song were experienced orally and more or less collectively by the illiterate common people. From this alone, it is already evident that a class-divided society did exist during those times, in the context of Eagleton's observations of literature as an ideology. For me, Literature brought about some semblance of order in the midst of possible chaos, which was starting to ensue between the working class (masses) and the dominant ...
