Difference Between Literacy and Literature

Literacy vs Literature
 

Getting to know the difference between literacy and literature will be good for everyone as people often tend to confuse the word literacy and literary together and consider literacy and literature as inter -related. However, this is not the case. It is true that literacy and literature have a genuine connection yet it is not what is assumed by the majority. To be more explicit, literacy can be defined as the ability to read and write a language up to a considerable extent. However, literature is composed of works of art of a certain language that comes under various genres. In this sense, acquiring a certain level of literacy is fundamental for the understanding of literature. This article attempts to highlight the difference between literacy and literature while providing a basic understanding of the two terms.

What is Literacy?

As mentioned above, literacy refers to the ability of an individual to read and write a certain language. This then can be considered as an indicator of the understanding that a person has of a language. In the modern world, literacy is used as an indicator of a number of indexes that measure human development. Most countries believe that it is vital to have a high amount of literacy in the citizens since it guarantees a capable labour force. Statistics reveals that the literacy rate of developing countries is lower than that of developed countries. Due to this reason developing countries have brought about a number of educational reforms and legal frameworks with the intention of increasing the literacy rate of the people. This highlights that literacy is a more of a basic requirement which allows a person to gain a certain amount of understanding of a language.

What is Literature?

Literature entails all written works of a language which can belong to a variety of genres such as poetry, drama, novels, short stories, etc. They are works of art that go beyond the ordinary language and conversations of people. To understand literature an individual needs a bit more skill than mere literacy. Mainly literature is distinguished into two categories as prose and poetry. Dramas, novels and short stories are considered as prose whereas melodious and rhythmic works of art are considered as poetry. If we look at the English literature, the accumulation of works is rather large. So for the purpose of studying especially in distinguishing the special characteristics of works it has been divided into different periods as the Augustan period, Victorian period, the Romantic period, the Medieval period, etc. This overall image of the two terms highlights that literature and literacy are rather apart. Literacy is more of a stepping stone towards the understanding of literature.

What is the difference between Literacy and Literature?

• Literacy refers to the ability that an individual has to read and write a language to a considerable extent.

• Literacy is considered as an indicator for human development index.

• The literacy rate of developing countries is lower in comparison to most of the developed countries.

• Literature, on the other hand, refers to written works of art of a language.

• Literature can be either prose or poetry and fall under different genres.

• To understand literature a person need a higher level of skill that goes beyond colloquial language.

• Literacy can thus be considered more of an initial step towards understanding literature.