Britannica Sources used in this answer

Why do critics disagree about whether song lyrics, comic books, film scripts, and advertising copy belong to literature?

Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

Antique book open to the frontispiece of The Iliad of Homer, showing the title and an engraved portrait of a bearded man, with old books in the background. — literature *The Iliad*, an epic of the Trojan War attributed to the ancient Greek poet Homer, is considered a foundational work of Western literature.

Critics often disagree about whether forms like song lyrics, comic books, film scripts, and advertising copy constitute literature because of differing standards regarding "artistic merit" and the traditional boundaries of the literary canon.1

Many critics exclude these forms, viewing them as primarily commercial or technical rather than artistic. For instance, advertising is often seen as purely commercial, while film scripts are frequently viewed as functional blueprints for production rather than finished literary works. Similarly, the term "graphic novel" was popularized partly to distance certain comic narratives from the perceived "juvenile" or "subliterate" associations of traditional comic books, which some critics do not accept as literature.1234

Conversely, others argue that these exclusions are arbitrary and reflect narrow cultural biases, particularly a focus on the achievements of white European men. Proponents of a broader definition point out that these mediums can possess profound aesthetic satisfaction, depth, and truth. This is evidenced by the recognition of songwriters like Bob Dylan, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, and the acceptance of comics as a serious literary mode in cultures like Japan and France. Ultimately, the debate centers on whether literature is defined by rigid formal categories or by the ability of a work to achieve enduring aesthetic value.1536