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- DictionaryBelles-let·tres/ˌbelˈletrə/
plural
- 1. essays, particularly on literary and artistic criticism, written and read primarily for their aesthetic effect: "he inspired me with the desire to restore writing on art to nineteenth century belles-lettres"
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What does Belles Lettres mean?
What does belle-lettres mean?
What is a Belle literary?
What is Belles-Lettres in literature?
Belles-lettres (French pronunciation: [bɛl lɛtʁ]) is a category of writing, originally meaning beautiful or fine writing. In the modern narrow sense, it is a label for literary works that do not fall into the major categories such as fiction, poetry, or drama.
The meaning of BELLES LETTRES is literature that is an end in itself and not merely informative; specifically : light, entertaining, and often sophisticated literature.
BELLES-LETTRES definition: 1. works of literature that are beautiful and pleasing in an artistic way, rather than being very…. Learn more.
belles lettres, literature that is an end in itself and is not practical or purely informative. The term can refer generally to poetry, fiction, drama, etc., or more specifically to light, entertaining, sophisticated literature.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Examples and Observations
- Examples of Belle-Lettrists
- Belletristic Style
- Oratory, Rhetoric, and Belles-Lettres in The 18th and 19th Centuries
- The Influential Theories of Hugh Blair
"The emergence of a literature of belles-lettres in Anglo-America reflected the success of the colonies: it meant there now existed a community of settlers who took settling in the New World enough..."Reporting trained me to give only the filtered truth, to discern the essence of the matter immediately and to write about it briefly. The pictorial and psychological material which remained within..."Often the essay is the favoured form of the belle-lettrist. The works of Max Beerbohm provide good examples. So do those of Aldous Huxley, many of whose collections of essays . . . are listed as b...
"A piece of prose writing that is belletristic in style is characterized by a casual, yet polished and pointed, essayistic elegance. The belletristic is sometimes contrasted with the scholarly or a...
"Cheap print literacy transformed the relations of rhetoric, composition, and literature. In his review of [Wilbur Samuel] Howell's British Logic and Rhetoric, [Walter] Ong notes that 'by the close...
"[Throughout the 19th century, prescriptions for] fine writing--with their attendant critique of literary style--advanced an influential theory of reading as well. The most influential exponent of...
Belles-lettres definition: literature regarded as a fine art, especially as having a purely aesthetic function.. See examples of BELLES-LETTRES used in a sentence.
BELLES-LETTRES meaning: 1. works of literature that are beautiful and pleasing in an artistic way, rather than being very…. Learn more.
