a significant portion of historical writing ranks as literature, particularly the genre known as creative nonfiction, as can a great deal of journalism, such as literary journalism. however, these areas have become extremely large, and often have a primarily utilitarian purpose: to record data or convey immediate information. as a result, the writing in these fields often lacks a literary quality, although it often (and in its better moments) has that quality. major "literary" historians include herodotus, thucydides and procopius, all of whom count as canonical literary figures.