literature

n. writings having lasting artistic value (i.e. poems, novels, essays, etc.); body of writing from a particular country (or time period, etc.); body of writing dealing with a certain subject; literary work; any printed material; profession of a writer

Literature literally "acquaintance with letters" (from Latin littera letter) as in the first sense given in the Oxford English Dictionary, or works of art, which in Western culture are mainly prose, both fiction and non-fiction, drama and poetry. In much of, if not all, the world texts can be oral as well and include such genres as epic, legend, myth, ballad, plus other forms of oral poetry, and folktale.
See more at Wikipedia.org...

Noun
1. creative writing of recognized artistic value
(hypernym) writing, written material, piece of writing
(hyponym) Sanskrit literature
(class) carved, carven
2. the humanistic study of a body of literature; "he took a course in Russian lit"
(synonym) lit
(hypernym) literary study
3. published writings in a particular style on a particular subject; "the technical literature"; "one aspect of Waterloo has not yet been treated in the literature"
(hypernym) writing, written material, piece of writing
4. the profession or art of a writer; "her place in literature is secure"
(hypernym) profession

n. literature

(n.)
The occupation, profession, or business of doing literary work.
  

(n.)
The collective body of literary productions, embracing the entire results of knowledge and fancy preserved in writing; also, the whole body of literary productions or writings upon a given subject, or in reference to a particular science or branch of knowledge, or of a given country or period; as, the literature of Biblical criticism; the literature of chemistry.
  

(n.)
The class of writings distinguished for beauty of style or expression, as poetry, essays, or history, in distinction from scientific treatises and works which contain positive knowledge; belles-lettres.
  

(n.)
Learning; acquaintance with letters or books.