Litani \li-'ta-ne\ River River, southern Lebanon. Rising west of Baal¬ bek, it flows southwest between the Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon mountains to enter the Mediterranean Sea south of Sidon. Its lower course is known as Qasimiyyah. Although only 90 mi (145 km) long, the river irrigates one of Lebanon’s most extensive farming regions, the Biqa' Valley.
litchi or lichee or lychee \Te-che, 'li-che\ Fruit of the tree Litchi chin- ensis (family Sapindaceae), believed to be native to southern China and adjacent regions but now also cultivated elsewhere. It has been a favour¬ ite fruit of the Cantonese since ancient times and is a popular dessert in U.S. Chinese restaurants. The fresh pulp tastes musky; when dried, it is acidic and very sweet. The handsome tree develops a compact crown of foliage, with compound leaves that are bright green year-round. Clusters of small, inconspicuous flowers form small, oval red fruits.
literacy Ability to read and write. The term may also refer to familiar¬ ity with literature and to a basic level of education obtained through the
Franz Liszt, lithograph by Joseph Krie- huber, 1846.
COURTESY OF THE MUSEO TEATRALE ALIA SCALA, MILAN
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
literary criticism ► Lithuania I 1123
written word. In ancient civilizations such as those of the Sumerians and Babylonians, literacy was the province of an elite group of scholars and priests. Though more prevalent in classical Greece and Rome, it was often limited to members of the upper classes. The spread of literacy in Europe in the Middle Ages was evidenced by the use of writing for functions once conducted orally, such as the indenture of servants and the notation of evidence at trials. The rise of literacy in Europe was closely tied to great social transformations, notably the Protestant Reformation, which brought individual study of the Bible, and the development of modern science. The spread of literacy during the Reformation and the Renais¬ sance was greatly facilitated by the development of printing from movable type and by the adoption of vernacular languages in place of Latin. Com¬ pulsory schooling, established in Britain, Europe, and the U.S. in the 19th century, has led to high rates of literacy in the modern industrialized world.
literary criticism Discipline concerned with philosophical, descrip¬ tive, and evaluative inquiries about literature, including what literature is, what it does, and what it is worth. The Western critical tradition began with Plato’s Republic (4th century bc). A generation later, Aristotle, in his Poetics, developed a set of principles of composition that had a lasting influence. European criticism since the Renaissance has primarily focused on the moral worth of literature and the nature of its relationship to real¬ ity. At the end of the 16th century, Sir Philip Sidney argued that it is the special property of literature to offer an imagined world that is in some respects superior to the real one. A century later John Dryden proposed the less idealistic view that literature must primarily offer an accurate rep¬ resentation of the world for “the delight and instruction of mankind,” an assumption that underlies the great critical works of Alexander Pope and Samuel Johnson. A departure from these ideas appeared in the criticism of the Romantic period, epitomized by William Wordsworth’s assertion that the object of poetry is “truth...carried alive into the heart by pas¬ sion.” The later 19th century saw two divergent developments: an aes¬ thetic theory of “art for art’s sake,” and the view (expressed by Matthew Arnold) that literature must assume the moral and philosophical functions previously filled by religion. The volume of literary criticism increased greatly in the 20th century, and its later years saw a radical reappraisal of traditional critical modes and the development of a multiplicity of criti¬ cal factions (see deconstruction; poststructuralism; structuralism).
literati Scholars in China and Japan whose poetry, calligraphy, and paintings were supposed primarily to reveal their cultivation and express their personal feelings rather than demonstrate professional skill. The concept of literati painters was first formulated in China in the Northern Song dynasty but was enduringly codified in the Ming dynasty by Dong Qichang. In the 18th—19th century, literati painting became popular with the Japanese, who exaggerated elements of Chinese composition and brushwork. See also Ike no Taiga.
lifrhification Complex process whereby loose grains of sediment are converted into rock. Lithification may occur at the time a sediment is deposited or later. Cementation is one of the main processes involved, par¬ ticularly for sandstones and conglomerates. In addition, reactions take place within a sediment between various minerals and between minerals and the fluids trapped in the pores; these reactions may form new min¬ erals or add to others already present in the sediment.
lithium Chemical element, lightest alkali metal, chemical symbol Li, atomic number 3. It is soft, white, lustrous, and very reactive, forming compounds in which it has valence 1. The metal is used in certain alloys, as a coolant in nuclear reactors, and (because of its reactivity) as a reagent, scavenger, and rocket fuel. Lithium hydride is used as a source of hydro¬ gen; lithium hydroxide is used as an additive in storage batteries and to absorb carbon dioxide. Halides (see halogen) of lithium are used as mois¬ ture absorbents, and lithium soaps are used as thickeners in lubricating greases. Lithium carbonate is an important drug for treating depression and BIPOLAR DISORDER.
litho-offset See offset printing
lithography \li-'tha-gr3-fe\ Printing process that makes use of the immiscibility of grease and water. Aloys Senefelder of Prague (1771— 1834) exploited the properties of a stone with a calcium carbonate base and a fine, porous surface, and perfected his printing process in 1798. In Senefelder’s process, the stone, with a design drawn on it with crayon or greasy ink, was wetted with water; after various etching and protecting steps, it was brushed with oily ink; it retained the ink only on the design.
This inked surface was then printed—either directly on paper, by a spe¬ cial press (as in most fine-art printmaking), or onto a rubber cylinder and thence onto paper (as in commercial printing). The method of preparing stones for hand printing, still the lithographic method preferred by artists, has hardly changed. Commercial lithographic printing on a modern rotary OFFSET printing press can produce high-quality, finely detailed impressions at high speed, reproducing any material that can be photographed in the platemaking process. It now accounts for more than 40% of all printing, packaging, and publishing, more than twice the percentage produced by any other single printing process.
lithosphere Rigid, rocky outer layer of the Earth, consisting of the crust and the solid outermost layer of the upper mantle. It extends to a depth of about 60 mi (100 km). It is broken into about a dozen separate, rigid blocks, or plates (see plate tectonics). Slow convection currents deep within the mantle, generated by radioactive heating of the interior, are believed to cause the lateral movements of the plates (and the continents that rest on top of them) at a rate of several inches per year.
Lithuania officially Republic of Lithuania Country, northeastern Europe. Area: 25,212 sq mi (65,300 sq km). Population (2005 est.): 3,413,000. Capitaclass="underline" Vilnius. Lithuanians make up about four-fifths of the