Can we make a clear distinction between ¡¥literature¡¦ and other creative and artistic forms of English language use such as songs and advertisements?
...ers to the artistic and everyday language use other than literature. Form the above definitions, literature can be described as a subcategory of art. ¡¥Literature¡¦ and ¡¥art¡¦ are not correlative terms; it is logical to say that all literature is art, but not all art is literature. After all, language is a form of communication, and literature and art are made up of language, but not all language is art. Thus, it is a must to point out the main features of all literary works in order to make a clear distinction with other discourses. However, it is impossible to find out the common property to the things we call literary works. As New (1999) suggested, ¡¥we had better ask what is it in each case that justifies our calling something a literary discourse¡K.to attampt a ¡¥family resemblance¡¦ characterisation of literature¡¦ (New, 1999, p.35) Besides, there are so many similarities between literary language and other everyday discourses, such as songs and advertisements. First, both the language in literature such as poetry and other artistic langauge use like songs and advertisements are similar linguistically. Jeffries (1996) once said, ¡¥¡Kliterary language is different from everyday language because it draws attention to some property of the language itself and foreground it with regular controlled patterns of rhythm, rhyme and repetition¡¦ (Jeffries, 1996, p.163) For example, the songs in the Sixties and Seventies have all these patterns. Besides, poetic figures like similes and metaphors can also be found. Like the song ¡¥Born Free¡¦, the sentences ¡¥as free as the wind blows¡¦ and ¡¥as free as the grass grows¡¦ are good examples of simile. Creativeness is not the unique feature of ¡¥literature¡¦. As Cook (1996) pointed out, ¡¥literary language is often described as creative. It general imaginative fictional worlds, ¡K skilfully manipulates language to create pattern and new usages. Yet English ¡K used creatively in other ¡K daily discourses¡¦(Cook, 1996, p.198). Will the a famous brand name car advertisement get the same level of fame that Shakespeare¡¦s plays enjoy if one were to include it in an anthology of literature? Most likely not. However, one may appreciate the creativeness of the advertisement and group it into modern literature. Both of the literature world and the other artistic language use consist of similar practices: composing, publishing, reading, hearing and criticising. Interpretation is welcomed. As soon as a writer publishes an article, he/she invites interpretation from readers. For a song writer and a advertisement designer, they also need the audience for appreciation. In fact, they all intended to cause people to scratch their heads and imagine. It is important for us to see how we treat an author¡¦s product, not the features of the product. Therefore, songs and advertisements can also be counted as modern literature. Besides, both songs and advertisements provide us with space for imagination. It is likely to have different feelings every time we listen the same song or see the same advertisement. Culturally speaking, both literature and other artistic language use serve as tools that we can use to explain the world to ourselves and to others in different places and times. They are produced by the culture in which it is situated. As New (1999) proposed that ¡¥A literary work¡K should be understood with refer...