08-18-2012, 06:33 AM
Lemme just chuck in the Oxford Dictionary definition here:
So according to this, it has to be written. In that definition alone you can say that neither movies nor video games are really literature. The script of a movie, maybe. The text of the dialogue in a game, maybe. But not the complete movie or game.
But if we're talking that specifically, books aren't literature either. The words on the pages might be, but the cover probably isn't a "written work of superior or lasting artistic value", and thus the entire book isn't literature.
That being said, literature nowadays isn't used as the official definition anyway. From what I see, people use literature as, basically, "art in words". Therefore anything that has words is eligible for trying to be literature. Movies and video games have words, so they're qualified. Now you have to decide if the writing is artistic, then you can decide whether a movie or video game is literature.
This is where the confusion comes in. Art is hugely, largely, almost completely opinion. An art "expert" can show me a painting of a guy stroking a tree, and he might find it the most artistic painting ever. I might not. Whenever I go to art museums, half the things I see aren't artistic to me. I mean the fact that they're in art museums make them "artistic", but I won't see what's so great or elegant about it. There's no specified requirements for something to be art, it's all opinion.
The Oxford definition of art means "the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power". See that word "beauty" there? Opinion.
Therefore literature is also opinion. If something is literature depends on how artistic you find it.
But in the end we're talking about if movies and video games can be literature. Yes they can. But that depends on what you find artistic. They qualify for it, as long as they have words (which is pretty much always), and the final decision if a game is or isn't literature is your opinion. One person says it is, the other says it isn't, they're both right.
Oxford Online Dictionary Wrote:written works, especially those considered of superior or lasting artistic merit:
a great work of literature
- books and writings published on a particular subject:
the literature on environmental epidemiology
- leaflets and other printed matter used to advertise products or give advice:
advertising and promotional literature
So according to this, it has to be written. In that definition alone you can say that neither movies nor video games are really literature. The script of a movie, maybe. The text of the dialogue in a game, maybe. But not the complete movie or game.
But if we're talking that specifically, books aren't literature either. The words on the pages might be, but the cover probably isn't a "written work of superior or lasting artistic value", and thus the entire book isn't literature.
That being said, literature nowadays isn't used as the official definition anyway. From what I see, people use literature as, basically, "art in words". Therefore anything that has words is eligible for trying to be literature. Movies and video games have words, so they're qualified. Now you have to decide if the writing is artistic, then you can decide whether a movie or video game is literature.
This is where the confusion comes in. Art is hugely, largely, almost completely opinion. An art "expert" can show me a painting of a guy stroking a tree, and he might find it the most artistic painting ever. I might not. Whenever I go to art museums, half the things I see aren't artistic to me. I mean the fact that they're in art museums make them "artistic", but I won't see what's so great or elegant about it. There's no specified requirements for something to be art, it's all opinion.
The Oxford definition of art means "the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power". See that word "beauty" there? Opinion.
Therefore literature is also opinion. If something is literature depends on how artistic you find it.
But in the end we're talking about if movies and video games can be literature. Yes they can. But that depends on what you find artistic. They qualify for it, as long as they have words (which is pretty much always), and the final decision if a game is or isn't literature is your opinion. One person says it is, the other says it isn't, they're both right.