ABSTRACT
The basic materials in literary study are texts, primary and secondary sources. This Chapter explains the most basic formal characteristics of literature, and of its main sub-genres. The cutting edge in writing about literature, therefore, is usually to be found in journals. There are journals that have a particular interdisciplinary focus, such as Literature and Law, Philosophy and Literature or Literature and Medicine. There are also journals devoted to particular genres, such as poetry, the novel, or science fiction; and many devoted to theatre, film, and performance studies in general. Articles on the same authors, as well as slightly less high-profile ones, may also be found in much more comprehensive journals, such as English Literary Renaissance, American Literature, The Journal of Victorian Culture or Post-colonial Studies. The chapter also focuses on books of literary criticism and the theory that exist in two main forms: multi-author anthologies and single-author monographs.
