Belles-lettres is a type of writing that originally meant beautiful or elegant writing. Today, it refers specifically to literary works that are not classified as fiction, poetry, or drama. Sometimes, the term is used in a negative way to describe writing that focuses more on the beauty of language than on its usefulness. A person who writes belles-lettres is called a belletrist.

Overview

Belles-lettres is a French phrase that means "beautiful" or "fine" writing. It refers to all types of literary works, such as fiction, poetry, drama, and essays, that are valued for their artistic qualities and unique style. The term can be used to describe literature in general. For example, The Nuttall Encyclopedia describes belles-lettres as "the part of literature that shows literary culture and belongs to the field of art, regardless of the subject or form; it includes poetry, drama, fiction, and criticism." Similarly, The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition calls it "the more artistic and imaginative forms of literature, such as poetry or romance, compared to more practical and exact studies."

In modern times, the term is often used in a narrower way to describe literary works that do not fit into major categories like fiction, poetry, or drama. This includes essays, stories, published collections of speeches and letters, satirical or humorous writing, and other similar works. The Oxford English Dictionary (2nd edition) notes that the term is now "generally applied (when used at all) to the lighter branches of literature." It is still used by librarians and others who classify books. Large libraries may have separate sections for essays, letters, and humor, each with its own classification code (such as in the Dewey Decimal system). Smaller libraries often group these works together under the heading "belles-lettres."

The phrase is sometimes used in a negative way when discussing the study of literature. Some people who study rhetoric (the art of persuasion) criticize language departments, especially English departments, for focusing on the beauty of language rather than its practical use. A quote from Brian Sutton's article in Language and Learning Across the Disciplines explains this view: "Teachers who focus on literature often push students to study the aesthetic qualities of writing, even if students are not interested in becoming literary scholars."

In Elements of Criticism, Lord Kames, a Scottish writer and thinker, stated that the goal of the belles-lettres movement was to "discover a foundation for reasoning about individual taste" and "create a science of rational criticism." Samuel Taylor Coleridge, a famous poet, criticized the term for having questionable origins. The study of belletristic rhetoric focuses on defining the qualities of writing style, such as beauty, grandeur, appropriateness, and wit, which influence how audiences feel and think. Understanding the preferences of an audience is also important for writers and rhetoricians. Hugh Blair, a Scottish writer, wrote in Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles Lettres that "taste is the foundation of rhetoric and essential for successful speaking and writing."