Latvian

Noun

rakstniecība f (4th declension)

1. literature (creative work as a form of art, registered in written form; corpus of creative literary and folkloric texts that belong to a certain culture or people)

   latviešu rakstniecības vēsture‎ ― the history of Latvian literature

   rakstniecības teorija‎ ― theory of literature

2. literature (the work of a literary writer)

   nodarboties ar rakstniecību‎ ― to busy oneself with literature

   1908. gadā Upīts aiziet no skolotāja darba un nododas tikai rakstniecībai‎ ― in 1908 Upīts quits his teaching job and dedicates himself only to literature

Declension

Usage notes

Rakstniecība refers more directly to the writer's craft, i.e. literary work, as well as to the results of this work, while daiļliteratūra is more appropriately used for literature or fiction as a form of creative art. As for literatūra, it can have the broader sense of "body of texts", even non-artistic ones ("technical literature", "juridical literature", etc.).

Synonyms

• literatūra, daiļliteratūra

Related terms

• rakstīt
• rakstnieks, rakstniece
• raksts