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    Belles-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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  3. BELLES-LETTRES definition: 1. works of literature that are beautiful and pleasing in an artistic way, rather than being very…. Learn more.

    • 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...

  4. noun [ plural ] literature specialized us / ˌbelˈlet. / uk / ˌbelˈlet. / Add to word list. works of literature that are beautiful and pleasing in an artistic way, rather than being very serious or full of information. SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases. Literature. accentual. action hero. alliterative. alternative history. anapest.

  5. Definition of belles-lettres noun in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more.

  6. May 14, 2024 · 1. literature regarded as a fine art, esp. as having a purely aesthetic function. 2. light and elegant literature, esp. that which is excessively refined, characterized by aestheticism, and minor in subject, substance, or scope. SYNONYMS 1. See literature. Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC.

  7. Mar 25, 2022 · BELLES-LETTRES Definition & Usage Examples | Dictionary.com. belles-lettres. [ French bel- le-t ruh ] show ipa. See synonyms for belles-lettres on Thesaurus.com. plural noun. literature regarded as a fine art, especially as having a purely aesthetic function.

  8. May 13, 2024 · Quick Reference. [bel-letr] The French term for ‘fine writing’, originally used (as in ‘fine art’) to distinguish artistic literature from scientific or philosophical writing. Since the 19th century, though, the term has more often been used dismissively to denote a category of elegant essay-writing and lightweight literary chatter, of ...

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