FREE! Click here to Join FunTrivia. Thousands of games, quizzes, and lots more!
Fun Trivia
Home: Questions and Answers Forum
Answers to 100,000 Fascinating Questions
Welcome to FunTrivia's Question & Answer forum!

Search All Questions


Please cite any factual claims with citation links or references from authoritative sources. Editors continuously recheck submissions and claims.

Archived Questions

Goto Qn #


What does 'literary' mean and what makes something literary?

Question #77527. Asked by emilytyrrell.
Last updated Jun 12 2021.

Related Trivia Topics: Vocabulary  
skysmom65
Answer has 7 votes
skysmom65
19 year member
1504 replies

Answer has 7 votes.
The adjective literary has 3 meanings:

Meaning #1: of or relating to or dealing with good literature
Pertains to noun: literature (meaning #1)

Meaning #2: knowledgeable about literature
Synonym: well-written

Meaning #3: appropriate to literature rather than everyday speech or writing

link https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/literary

Response last updated by satguru on Jun 12 2021.
Mar 20 2007, 9:05 AM
avatar
lanfranco
Answer has 9 votes
Currently Best Answer
lanfranco
19 year member
4407 replies avatar

Answer has 9 votes.

Currently voted the best answer.
Strictly speaking, "literary" means only "of or having to do with literature." The question then becomes, What constitutes "literature?"

Any body of written work can be called "literature" -- you can reasonably refer to the "literature" on just about any subject. However, we tend to use the word to refer to elevated, serious, written material, most often fiction, produced for an educated, informed audience by professional authors dedicated to the craft of writing well. (That's a very narrow definition, but I think it addresses the question you're asking.) This means that the word "literary" is most likely to be applied to a written work that meets that definition.

So, for example, a book by Joyce Carol Oates will be called "literary," but a book by Danielle Steele will not be. They are both professional writers and both are naturally concerned with selling books, but Steele's books are directed to a popular mass market and Oates' are not; the quality and type of writing in their books is quite different.

I hope that makes sense.

link https://www.quora.com/What-does-literary-fiction-mean-today

Response last updated by postcards2go on Aug 22 2016.
Mar 20 2007, 9:13 AM
free email trivia FREE! Get a new mixed Fun Trivia quiz each day in your email. It's a fun way to start your day!


arrow Your Email Address:

Sign in or Create Free User ID to participate in the discussion

Related FunTrivia Quizzes

play quiz Literary Allusions in Literary Titles
(Literary Titles)
play quiz Literary Before & After
(Before and After for Experts)
play quiz Literary "LXG"
(Literature Before 1900)

Return to FunTrivia
"Ask FunTrivia" strives to offer the best answers possible to trivia questions. We ask our submitters to thoroughly research questions and provide sources where possible. Feel free to post corrections or additions. This is server B184.