Literary notes about literary (AI summary)
The term "literary" is deployed with remarkable versatility across texts, functioning both as an indicator of scholarly or creative pursuits and as a marker of cultural status. In some instances it highlights formal achievements and pursuits—as when a writer is noted for his "literary career" [1] or when critics are assessing a "literary work" with regard to its style and success [2]. In other contexts, it designates membership in an intellectual or creative community, such as references to the circles of "literary men" gathering in salons or judging contests [3, 4, 5]. Moreover, the adjective can carry an ironic edge when used to describe works that are deemed pretentious or insipid, as in the dismissive term "literary quadrille" [6, 7]. Thus, "literary" serves not only as a descriptor of writing and scholarly endeavors but also as a cultural signifier, revealing both the aspirations and the occasional shortcomings of its subjects.
- “He wants to write an article about me, about my case, and so begin his literary career.
— from The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - What are the three periods of his literary work?
— from English Literature by William J. Long - These arrangements having been made, and the contests being at hand, it became necessary to select literary men as judges to decide them.
— from The Ten Books on Architecture by Vitruvius Pollio - She was well known in the literary circles of New York as a writer of merit in journals and periodicals.
— from History of Woman Suffrage, Volume I - Miss Norton had the entrée into literary society, 425 which Jo would have had no chance of seeing but for her.
— from Little Women; Or, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy by Louisa May Alcott - It would be difficult to imagine a more pitiful, vulgar, dull and insipid allegory than this “literary quadrille.”
— from The possessed : by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - I am only waiting to see what the ‘literary quadrille’ is going to be like, and then home to bed.
— from The possessed : by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
