Entertaiment is a complex and ever-changing concept. According to Oliver and Barstsch (2010), it encompasses “an activity understood objectively that involves communication between text and audience from an external stimulus offering pleasure, requires an audience for its existence and occurs in a passive form.”
It is often associated with amusement, although many entertainments have a serious purpose as well. It is a remarkably adaptable concept, from an individual choosing a personal entertainment from the now vast range of available pre-recorded products; to banquets adapted for two; and performances intended for thousands or even the global population. The word is derived from Medieval Latin intertenere, from the Indo-European root tenere, meaning to hold inside.