skönlitterär

Skönlitterär is a Swedish adjective that describes works of fiction or imaginative literature. It refers to writing that aims to entertain, tell stories, explore characters and themes, or experiment with narrative form, rather than to present factual information. The related noun is skönlitteratur, meaning fiction as a category of literature. Skönlitterära verk include genres such as novels (romaner), short stories (noveller), and drama, and may also encompass poetry as part of literary art when treated as imaginative rather than factual.

In practice, skönlitterär is used to distinguish fiction from facklitteratur (non-fiction, factual prose) and sakprosa (non-fiction prose in a broader sense). This separation is common in libraries, bookstores, education, and literary criticism, where skönlitteratur is associated with creative storytelling, stylistic experimentation, and narrative technique, while non-fiction centers on information, argument, or documentation.

Etymology-wise, skönlitterär derives from skön meaning “beautiful” or “fine” and litteratur, i.e., literature. The term has been established in Swedish literary discourse since the 19th century and remains a standard way to categorize literary works. The concept emphasizes artful, imaginative expression rather than factual reporting, and it is used across academic and cultural contexts to discuss fiction and its forms.