An Analytical Survey of the Views of Theorists, Philosophers, and & on Literature and Literary Works

There have been controversies over the definition and nature of literature, its role in life as well as its domains and practical applications since ancient times. Some scholars have applied the term in a moral sense; whereas, some others have used it in a literary sense and still others have used it in both senses. However, today literature has achieved great importance through developing ties with new sciences such as psychology, linguistics and literary criticism. A brief review of the Western literary notions and theories and the study of literary views of Plato, Aristotle, Sidney, Dryden, Johnson, Coleridge and others reveals that: Firstly, the literary movement initiated by Aristotle and lived up to the time of Coleridge was in line with the European culture, that is to say, if at the beginning their views on moral instructions had a special sense and function, in the literary domain it would lose its influence through the ages and the theme of "moral instructions" would be substituted by the theme of "enjoyment". Secondly, in defining poetry and literature we face problems and shortcomings which make it difficult to generalize the view to great literary works throughout the world. This article reviews and elaborates on the Western literary theories and the way in which they shifted from a theme of "moral teachings" to "enjoyment" and from "enlightenment" to "ambiguity". By drawing upon the theories of Khaje Nasir, Kroche, and the concept of "intuition", efforts have been made to offer a comprehensive and more functional definition of literature in order to settle most of our literary and scientific controversies.