ABSTRACT
Chapter 1, “What Is Literature? What Is a Text?” lays the groundwork for the subsequent chapters of An Introduction to Literary Studies. It explores definitions and commonly agreed-upon assumptions about literature and text. It differentiates between text type, discourse, and genre, as well as primary and secondary literature. It provides a first glance at the concepts of interpretation and exegesis. Secondary literature is subdivided into monographs, essays, and reviews, at the same time explaining its formal features including footnotes, bibliographies, paraphrases, and citations, as well as paratexts and epitexts. The chapter is ideal for acquiring a first general overview of the entire field of literary studies and its pertinent textual manifestations, media, and formal aspects—all of which will receive in-depth treatment in the other chapters of An Introduction to Literary Studies.
