文学是指以语言文本为工具形象化地反映艺术，包括戏剧、诗歌、小说、散文等，是文化的重要表现形式，以不同的形式（称作体裁）表现内心情感和再现一定时期和一定地域的社会生活、文化。

“文学”并不一定是客观的，一名成功的文学家能在自己的文学作品中，展现自己对于文学的主观看法，抒发自己的情绪和感触，但借由尝试创建一个「客观的标准」，有时对能帮助作家了解「读者的感受」以求将内心之情感与艺术表现完整的体现在读者心中。有时也能借此作家的主观想法带给社会不同面相省思现况，例如女性文学的兴起。

Literature, in its broadest sense, consists of any written productions. More restrictively, it refers to those deemed to have artistic or intellectual value, or which deploy language in ways that differ from ordinary usage. Its Latin root literatura/litteratura (derived itself from littera: letter or handwriting) was used to refer to all written accounts, though contemporary definitions extend the term to include texts that are spoken or sung (oral literature). Literature can be classified according to whether it is fiction or non-fiction and whether it is poetry or prose; it can be further distinguished according to major forms such as the novel, short story or drama; and works are often categorized according to historical periods or their adherence to certain aesthetic features or expectations (genre).