大作家們無疑很能把文學的美學品質與作品要傳達的思想緊密地聯係起來，使用令人愉悅的社會習俗來提高和傳達他們的主題。
2.4 Literature is aesthetic object
The aesthetic property of literature lies in its aesthetic function of language. For Immanuel Kant，the primary theorist of modern Western aesthetics， the aesthetic is the name of the attempt to bridge thegap between the material and the spiritual world， between a world of forces and magnitudes and a worldof concepts. Aesthetic objects， such as works of literature， music and paintings， with their combinationof sensuous form (languages， sounds， colours) and spiritual content (ideas)， illustrate the possibility ofbringing together the material and the spiritual. A literary work is an aesthetic object because， with othercommunicative functions initially bracketed or suspended， it engages readers to consider the interrelationbetween form and content. Aesthetic objects have a“purposiveness without purpose”. There is apurposiveness to their construction： they are made so that their parts will work together towards some end.
But the end is the work of art itself， pleasure in the work or pleasure occasioned by the work. The pleasure weget from literature can be found in the way authors use literary techniques， such as metaphor， plot， character，symbolism， irony， suspense， theme， and rhythmic language. All such literary elements combine together toform an organic coherence of artistic beauty. Moreover， while experiencing beauty of literature， we can tracethe profound meanings in literature. Great authors are undoubtedly very competent to make the aestheticqualities of literature inextricably bound up with the ideas conveyed by their works. They use pleasurableconventions to enhance and communicate their themes.
2.5 文學的類型
文學的類型不能認為是固定的標簽，但可看成是具體曆史、文化和意識形態的產物或構建，是不斷變化的過程或繁複交錯的流動。一般說來，文學分為四大類型：詩歌、戲劇、小說和散文。
如果說散文是語言使用的擴展，詩歌則力求簡潔。詩歌用高濃縮的句法，向讀者呈現出思想、感情、反思、感覺的製高點。詩歌常常表達人類最強烈、最深刻的感覺。很多優美的詩歌成了我們終生的朋友，我們反複讀誦，以求對人生的平和反思、理解和頓悟。詩歌又分成抒情詩（包括頌歌、民謠、十四行詩等）、史詩（即敘事詩）和戲劇詩。
戲劇是通過演員為觀眾好和為觀眾高興而在舞台上或影視中表演的文學類型。戲劇的本質是通過言語和行為來塑造人物和發展劇情。盡管現代劇使用的是散文對話，原則上戲劇語言應像日常用語一樣，但很多過去的戲劇用的是詩歌形式。戲劇又分為悲劇、喜劇、悲喜劇、家庭劇和傳奇劇。
小說，或叫散文小說，從廣義來說，是用散文或韻文形式寫的任何文學記事；從狹義來說，小說隻指用散文寫的記事，並且有時簡直用作“（長篇）小說”的同義詞。它通常有情節、人物、活動和對話。有時故事是“真的”，但更多時候不是。有的小說，如曆史小說或自傳小說，可能集中在真人上， 並且情節可能依托的是真實事件，但人物間的互動方式和情節如何展開就是作者自己的創造了。散文小說的本質就是敘事，敘述相連的一連串事件和活動。小說通常集中敘述一個或幾個人物，如何處理與其他人物間的關係，如何試圖解決他們間的問題，其結果也敘述了他們是如何變化和成長的。小說又可分成曆史小說、心理小說、社會風俗小說、自然主義小說、現實主義小說、超現實主義小說、魔幻現實小說、後現代小說等。
散文指任何非虛構性文章，並且近來它又叫做創作性非虛構作品。它是所有文學形式中最靈活、最適應的一種。散文包括隨筆、傳記、自傳、遊記、回憶錄、自然景觀、人物特寫、新聞報道、特寫文章、曆史著作之類的東西。散文的主要目的是陳述事實並對曆史、科學、時事的真實世界給出符合邏輯的結論。
2.5 Literary Classifications
Literary genres can not be considered as fixed labels but can be considered as histotical， cultural andideological specifics or construct， ever changing processes or interlacing fluid. Generally speaking， literaturemay be classified into four categories or genres： poetry， drama， prose fiction and nonfiction prose.
Poetry strives towards brevity if prose is expansive in the use of language. It offers the reader highpoints of emotion， reflection， thought and feeling with highly compacted syntax. Very often， poetry expressesthe most powerful and deeply felt experiences of human beings. Many exquisite poems become our lifelongfriends， and we visit them over and over again for insight， understanding， and peaceful reflection about ourlife. Poetry may be subclassified into lyric (including ode， ballad &； sonnet)， epic poetry (i.e. narrative poetry)and dramatic poetry.
Drama is literature designed for stage or film presentation by actors for the benefit and delight of theaudience. The essence of drama is the development of character and situation through speech and action.
Although most modern plays use prose dialogue， on the principle that the language of drama should resemblethe language of everyday speech， many plays from the past are in poetic form. Drama may be subclassifiedinto tragedy， comedy， tragicomedy， domestic drama and melodrama.
Fiction， or prose fiction， in an inclusive sense， is any literary narrative， whether in prose or verse. Ina narrower sense， fiction denotes only narratives that are written in prose and sometimes it is used simplyas a synonym for“novel.”It normally has a plot， characters， action and dialogue. Sometimes the storiesare“true”， but more often they are not. Some fiction， for instance， historical or autobiographical fiction，may focus on real people and the plot may be grounded in actual events， but the way characters interact andhow the plot unfolds are the author’s own invention. The essence of prose fiction is narration， the relating of asequence of events or actions. Fictional works usually focus on one or a few major characters who change andgrow as a result of how they deal with other characters and how they attempt to solve their problems. Prosefiction may be subclassified into historical novel， psychological novel， novel of manners， naturalistic novel，realist novel， surrealist novel， magical realist novels， postmodern fiction， etc.
Nonfiction prose refers to any piece of non-fiction writing. And recently， it is also called CreativeNonfiction. It is one of the most flexible and adaptable of all literary forms. It consists of essays， biography，autobiography， travels， memoir， natural landscape， figure profile， news reports， feature articles， historicalworks， etc. The main purpose of nonfiction prose is to present truths and make logical conclusions about thefactual world of history， science， and current events.
3．結論
綜上所述，我們得出多數人的結論。在學術界，大學教授們盡管喜好不同，但大都同意下述說法：大學文學課堂裏討論什麼， 什麼就是文學。從各種文本的文學性來看，文學可以下列方式定義：從廣義來說，文學指在一個國家或在世界範圍內，在一段時期或在整個曆史時期內，用一種語言或多種語言寫作的一切文章；從狹義來講，文學指“世界上表達出來的最佳思想和言論”（馬修·安諾德）。從人文主義觀點來看，文學就是人生的呈現，文學就是人生的精髓。
3．Conclusion
To sum up what is discussed above， we’ve come to the conclusion of the majority. In academic circles，university professors， though having different favorites， most of them agree to the following statement：
Literature is what is discussed in university literary classes. From the literariness of texts of all sorts， literaturemay be defined in the following ways： In a broad sense， literature refers to all the literary compositions writtenin one or many languages， of one country or of the world， in one period or of the whole history. In the narrowsense， literature refers to“the best that has been thought and said in the world”(Matthew Arnold). From ahumanistic point of view， literature is the representation of human life. Literature is the essence of life.