Literature does not mean fiction.

In academic writing, “the literature” means the body of scholarly research that has been published on a particular subject.

For example, the literature on post-emancipation Southern labor can include:

books by historians,

peer-reviewed journal articles,

scholarly monographs,

archival research,

historical economic studies.

So when I say:

“The literature describes…”

I mean:

“Scholars who have researched this historical question have described…”