Belles Lettres
Belles Lettres ( French belles lettres 'beautiful literature' ) is a term that emerged in the 17th century for the area of the book market, which is mainly characterized by French fashions, which is between the humanities and natural science literature ( lettres or sciences ) on the one hand and undemanding book production on the other hand (which in the 19th century came under the word Volksbuch in German ). At the same time, the term “ beautiful literature ”, which is now used synonymously with “ fiction ”, was established.
history
In English the belles lettres were traded under the word polite literature for a long time , in German the word "gallant sciences" first prevailed at the end of the 17th and beginning of the 18th century. However, this term fell victim to the criticism of the gallant style ideal that emerged in the 18th century and subsequently could not hold up. From the 1720s onwards, scholarly poetry criticism established the "beautiful sciences" as a more prestigious and art-oriented term. On the way into the 19th century, the word “beautiful literature” became a synonym for “poetic national literature ”. In the mid-19th century, the concept of “literature” was redefined so that it primarily encompassed the poetic and fictional works of the nation. The term Belles Lettres gained new meaning in German at this time and was used for the popular international book market.
In the 20th century, the derived word order fiction prevailed. "Fiction" today largely encompasses the legacy of the Belles Lettres.