Abstract: Just as linguistic context is divided into three layers: verbal context, situational context and socio-cultural context, so the literary context of literature as a language art can be divided into literary textual context, literary situational context and literary cultural context. The textual context is the core layer in literary context, and literary cultural context defines the outer layer of the literary context, with situational context intermediating the inner and outer layers of literary context. Literary situational context is further divided into three interrelated dimensions which may be termed as literary media context, literary discourse context and literary function context. These dimensions are inter-contextual and may be mutually embedded, and the close relationship between them bind the entire literary context into an organic existence.

Key words: literary context, layer structure, bridging function, core context