ABSTRACT
Some written works—textbooks in accountancy and motorcar maintenance manuals, for example—are never included in the category of “literature.” Conversely, some works are almost always included: for instance, Shakespeare’s plays, Tolstoy’s novels, Baudelaire’s poetry. What makes these “literature”? A conceptual answer to this question requires an evidential base, and thus some reference to a traditional literary “canon.” The concept of a “canon,” however, has come under intense scrutiny in recent decades. This chapter seeks to throw light on the concept of literature first by reflecting on the paradigm case of “canon”—namely, the gradual inclusion of Hebrew and Christian texts into a single Bible—and then by tracing the emergence of “literature” as an academic subject.
