Difference Between History and Literature

Feb 22, 2022 · 4 min read ·

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Main Difference

The main difference between History and Literature is that History is the occurrence of events in the past, whereas Literature is an artistic expression about society and life.

History vs. Literature

History is the occasion or event which are happened in the past, while literature is the written material of an artist in the past or even in the present. Made up of events that happen, is history, whereas literature may be some figments of any event or imagination of truth which have been written down.

The study about past events is known as history, whereas the study of the person’s written work is literature.

History deals with facts and information, but literature is fiction. In history methodologies like statistical interference, source criticism, arguments from analogy uses while in literature reading, critical appreciation, and decoding are used.

Comparison Chart

History	Literature
A study about the past is called history.	The study of written work is called literature.
Content
It deals with facts and information.	It deals mostly with the imagination of the authors, literary devices, fiction, etc.
Accuracy
Written records are considered as an accurate source in history.	Written works often contain fiction; therefore, it may not be considered as an accurate source in literature.
Methodologies
Methodologies like statistical interference, source criticism, arguments from analogy, etc. are used.	Methodologies like reading, critical appreciation, and decoding are used.
Events
It tells about past events.	It tells us about the artistic events of the past.

What is History?

History describes how the past narrates to human beings. The overall population’s achievements, occurrence, events, etc. deal in history.

A subject which deals with written materials, mainly about the past: through these written materials, many truths about the past way of life can be attained. The occurrence of events that take place in particular blocks of time, history focuses frequently, and for the ease of grouping, the historian gives the names. According to social history, geographical locations, history can be studied further. Historian is a person who studies and research the history and provides written material about it. Prehistory means a period before when records are provided in written form.

According to the theory of Marxian, there are five segments of history primitive communism, slave society, feudalism, capitalism, and socialism.

Types of History

Cultural History: A branch of history that deals with cultural analysis and customs about the past.
Diplomatic History: It focuses on the study of worldwide relations among nations.
Political History: This branch of history is the narration of the valuation of political matters.
Intellectual History: It is about personal dealings and how they developed record.
Social History: Social history is the section of history that looks at the lived familiarity of the precedent. It focuses on a variety of community norms such as ways of standard, living customers, disciplines, status, and so on of the people alongside the demography.
Economic History: It focuses on the cram of economies as well as the monetary phenomena of the past.

What is Literature?

Simply stated, the literature is a written work that can be studied. Throughout history, various definitions defined the literature. Literature is an artistic work in written form, especially with high and lasting artistic value as defined by the dictionary of Cambridge.

In various forms, literature can be classified, i.e., pros vs. poetry or fiction vs. nonfiction. Further primary forms are short story, novel, and drama. Thoughts and creativeness are elements of the literature.

To enhance the quality of literary work, many authors use a variety of literary devices. For the beginning of literature, it is extra challenging to isolate.

Types of Literature

Biography: It is the story about a person’s life, which is written by another person.Autobiography: The story about the life of a person written by himself.
Fantasy: Novels written in different words by ourselves are fantasy novels.
Fable: It is frequently based on mammal characters.
Folktale: A folktale may be based on fallacy and feature supernatural characters. Surrounded by the culture, it has been agreed down, usually verbally. It includes fairy and scam tales and many other stories.
Myth: The story about the tradition in a particular culture accepted as pure and sacred. A myth may be midpoint on mystic beings and make clear how impressive it comes to be, such as lightning or the world itself.
Legend: It typically mixes actuality and creative writing. A story that has been handed more than to different generations is supposed to be a history.
Science Fiction: Technology and science affects the world and examines some science fiction.

Key Differences

History is the occurrence of events in the past, while literature is the artistic expression in the past.

A study about the past is history, whereas literature is the study of written work that happens in the past.

History deals with facts and information; meanwhile, literature mostly deals with the imagination of the authors.

In history, written records are considered as an accurate source; on the flip side, literature often contains fiction.

Conclusion

History is the study of past events, while literature is an artistic work about fiction and nonfiction stories.

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