Initsmodernformtheconceptof“literature”didnotemergeearlierthantheeighteenthcenturyandwasnotfullydevelopeduntilthenineteenthcentury.YettheconditionsforitsemergencehadbeendevelopingsincetheRenaissance.TheworditselfcameintoEnglishuseinthefourteenthcentury,followingFrenchandLatinprecedents;itsrootwasLatin?littera,aletterofthealphabet.?Litterature,inthecommonearlyspelling,wasthenineffectaconditionofreading:ofbeingabletoreadandofhavingread.Itwasoftenclosetothesenseofmodern?literacy,whichwasnotinthelanguageuntilthelatenineteenthcentury,itsintroductioninpartmadenecessarybythemovementof?literature?toadifferentsense.Thenormaladjectiveassociatedwithliteraturewas?literate.Literaryappearedinthesenseofreadingabilityandexperienceintheseventeenthcentury,anddidnotacquireitsspecializedmodernmeaninguntiltheeighteenthcentury. Literature?asanewcategorywasthenaspecializationoftheareaformerlycategorizedas?rhetoric?and?grammar:aspecializationtoreadingand,inthematerialcontextofthedevelopmentofprinting,totheprintedwordandespeciallythebook.Itwaseventuallytobecomeamoregeneralcategorythan?poetry?ortheearlier?poesy,whichhadbeengeneraltermsforimaginativecomposition,butwhichinrelationtothedevelopmentof?literaturebecamepredominantlyspecialized,fromtheseventeenthcentury,tometricalcompositionandespeciallywrittenandprintedmetricalcomposition.Butliteraturewasneverprimarilytheactivecomposition─the“making”─whichpoetryhaddescribed.Asreadingratherthanwriting,itwasacategoryofadifferentkind.ThecharacteristicusecanbeseeninBacon“learnedinallliteratureanderudition,divineandhumane”─andaslateasJohnson“hehadprobablymorethancommonliterature,ashissonaddresseshiminoneofhismostelaborateLatinpoems.”?Literature,thatistosay,wasacategoryofuseandconditionratherthanofproduction.Itwasaparticularspecializationofwhathadhithertobeenseenasanactivityorpractice,andaspecialization,inthecircumstances,whichwasinevitablymadeintermsofsocialclass.Initsfirstextendedsense,beyondthebaresenseof“literacy,”itwasadefinitionof“polite”or“humane”learning,andthusspecifiedaparticularsocialdistinction.Newpoliticalconceptsofthe“nation”andnewvaluationsofthe“vernacular”interactedwithapersistentemphasison“literature”asreadinginthe“classical”languages.Butstill,inthisfirststage,intotheeighteenthcentury,?literature?wasprimarilyageneralizedsocialconcept,expressingacertain(minority)levelofeducationalachievement.Thiscardedwithitapotentialandeventuallyrealizedalternativedefinitionof?literature?as“printedbooks:”theobjectsinandthroughwhichthisachievementwasdemonstrated. Itisimportantthat,withinthetermsofthisdevelopment,literaturenormallyincludedallprintedbooks.Therewasnotnecessaryspecializationto“imaginative”works.Literaturewasstillprimarilyreadingabilityandexperience,andthisincludedphilosophy,history,andessaysaswellaspoems.Weretheneweighteenthcenturynovelsliterature?Thatquestionwasfirstapproached,notbydefinitionoftheirmodeorcontent,butbyreferencetothestandardsof“polite”or“humane”learning.Wasdramaliterature?Thisquestionwastoexercisesuccessivegenerations,notbecauseofanysubstantialdifficultybutbecauseofthepracticallimitsofthecategory.Ifliteraturewasreading,couldamodewrittenforspokenperformancebesaidtobeliterature,andifnot,wherewasShakespeare? Atonelevelthedefinitionindicatedbythisdevelopmenthaspersisted.Literaturelostitsearliestsenseofreadingabilityandreadingexperience,andbecameanapparentlyobjectivecategoryofprintedworksofacertainquality.Theconcernsofa“literaryeditor”ora“literarysupplement”wouldstillbedefinedinthisway.Butthreecomplicatingtendenciescanthenbedistinguished:first,ashiftfrom“learning”to“taste”or“sensibility”asacriteriondefiningliteraryquality;second,anincreasingspecializationofliteratureto“creative”or“imaginative”works;third,adevelopmentoftheconceptof“tradition”withinnationalterms,resultinginthemoreeffectivedefinitionof“anationalliterature.”ThesourceofeachofthesetendenciescanbediscernedfromtheRenaissance,butitwasintheeighteenthandnineteenthcenturiesthattheycamethroughmostpowerfully,untiltheybecame,inthetwentiethcentury,ineffectreceivedassumptions. Whendidthemodernconceptof“literature”emerge?
A.In the seventeenth century. B.In the eighteenth century. C.In the nineteenth century. D.In the twentieth century.正确答案B
