Most definitions of literature have been criterial definitions, definitions based on a list of
criteria which all literary works must meet. However, more current theories of meaning
take the view that definitions are based on prototypes: there is broad agreement about
good examples that meet all of the prototypical characteristics, and other examples are
related to the prototypes by family resemblance. For literary works, prototypical
characteristics include careful use of language, being written in a literary genre (poetry,
Understanding exactly what literature is has always been a challenge; pinning down a
definition has proven to be quite difficult. In fact, at times one seems to be reduced to saying, “I
know it when I see it,” or perhaps, “Anything is literature if you want to read it that way.”
Sometimes the motivation for a particular definition seems like the work of copyright lawyers,
aimed primarily at stopping people from using the word ‘literature’ for works which have not
been licensed as literature by…well, by The Critics, by the keepers of the tradition, by “all high
school English teachers
prose fiction, or drama), being read aesthetically, and containing many weak
implicatures.3must be met by each example, but on an established
A different approach to the meaning of words, generally called the prototype approach,
focuses not on a list of criteria which
prototype, a particularly good example of the word, to which other examples of the word bear
some resemblance. This approach is generally credited to the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein,
although he did not use the word ‘prototype’. In the classic passage on this topic, Wittgenstein
addressed the word ‘game’ and argued that, instead of a list of criteria, we find a family
resemblance:
must be met by each example, but on an established
A different approach to the meaning of words, generally called the prototype approach,
focuses not on a list of criteria which
prototype, a particularly good example of the word, to which other examples of the word bear
some resemblance. This approach is generally credited to the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein,
although he did not use the word ‘prototype’. In the classic passage on this topic, Wittgenstein
addressed the word ‘game’ and argued that, instead of a list of criteria, we find a family
resemblance:
must be met by each example, but on an established
A different approach to the meaning of words, generally called the prototype approach,
focuses not on a list of criteria which
prototype, a particularly good example of the word, to which other examples of the word bear
some resemblance. This approach is generally credited to the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein,
although he did not use the word ‘prototype’. In the classic passage on this topic, Wittgenstein
addressed the word ‘game’ and argued that, instead of a list of criteria, we find a family
resemblance:
must be met by each example, but on an established
A different approach to the meaning of words, generally called the prototype approach,
focuses not on a list of criteria which
prototype, a particularly good example of the word, to which other examples of the word bear
some resemblance. This approach is generally credited to the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein,
although he did not use the word ‘prototype’. In the classic passage on this topic, Wittgenstein
addressed the word ‘game’ and argued that, instead of a list of criteria, we find a family
resemblance:
must be met by each example, but on an established
A different approach to the meaning of words, generally called the prototype approach,
focuses not on a list of criteria which
prototype, a particularly good example of the word, to which other examples of the word bear
some resemblance. This approach is generally credited to the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein,
although he did not use the word ‘prototype’. In the classic passage on this topic, Wittgenstein
addressed the word ‘game’ and argued that, instead of a list of criteria, we find a family
resemblance:
must be met by each example, but on an established
A different approach to the meaning of words, generally called the prototype approach,
focuses not on a list of criteria which
prototype, a particularly good example of the word, to which other examples of the word bear
some resemblance. This approach is generally credited to the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein,
although he did not use the word ‘prototype’. In the classic passage on this topic, Wittgenstein
addressed the word ‘game’ and argued that, instead of a list of criteria, we find a family
resemblance:
