This book presents new ways of thinking about the historical, epistemological and institutional role of literature. It aims at providing a theoretically well-founded basis for what might otherwise be considered a relatively unfounded historical fact, i.e. the fact that the teaching of literature holds a privileged position in many educational institutions.
The collection brings together theoretical studies and critical analyses of literature as a medium among other media. The essays focus on the consequences and values of reading and studying literature.
The contributors take their point of departure in the title of the volume and use narratological, historical, cognitive, rhetorical, postcolonial and political frameworks to pursue two separate but related questions: "Why read literature?" and "Why study literature?"
