Extant literature is a term that refers to a very old but still existing literature. It could depict, in other words, any literature that exists despite being very old—as has been used in several contexts, over time.
In a simpler view, extant literature means any existing literature.
Key Takeaways
- Extant Literature meaning
- Coalescing extant and literature
- Extant literature synonyms
- Extant literature antonyms
We shall cite Cambridge Dictionary for our first example sentence for the use of this term: “This paper makes a number of contributions to the extant literature on Phantom types.”
Other possible ways to use the term may include: “This article extends the extant literature on extant literature.” This shall be interpreted as: this Prof AGE’s article gives an elaborate explanation of the existing articles on the term extant literature.
“I need an extant literature to begin with this research,” is another example sentence.
Read Also: The Concept of Literature Hanging
Examples of Extant Literature
Since any existing literature comes under this term then relatively all the written works you can access are good examples. But should you need to be sure, some extant literature examples are:
- “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare
- “The Lion and the Jewel” by Wole Soyinka.
A Dissection of the Term
Extant — English dictionaries define extant severally but mostly as something still in existence; surviving.
Literature — As we all already know, this could refer to any or a body of all written materials.
Marrying extant to literature, we have extant literature as any existing or surviving literature as Wikipedia puts it.
Synonyms for Extant Literature
With what we have seen, some other ways to say extant literature are:
- Existing literature; and
- Surviving literature.
Read Also: 30 Prose Synonyms
The Opposite of Extant Literature
We currently know of one way some scholars say the opposite of this term:
- Extinct literature.
Be that as it may, we think any curious learner would want to know the reason for the use of the term.
Research has shown that the end of one literary work is the beginning of another, because it is quite impossible for any literature to be independent of works alike. Existing works have a way of influencing prospective works.
So, the sense in it is that people not only build on, but may also compare their works with extant literature for a more effective result.
Similar terms: extant research, extant theory.
Extant literature does not seem to have a defined term in the literary world yet, but by reading from sources like the Cambridge Dictionary and comparing results, we are confident that this column will solve most of the questions people ask on the concept of extant literature.
