What is literature? This is the central question that the course will address through representational readings from different genres. The focus will be less on any given genre and more on how it becomes possible for the student to reconstruct something called ‘literature’ through the variety of genres to which he or she is exposed. The course does not presuppose any knowledge of literature though students will be expected to have a strong command of the English language. The actual texts chosen to illustrate the different forms of literature will not be restricted to any particular culture but will be open ended to include any text that will help the class to answer the question of what constitutes the essence of literary representation.