Uses of Literature

Uses of Literature bridges the gap between literary theory and common-sense beliefs about why we read literature.

• Explores the diverse motives and mysteries of why we read
• Offers four different ways of thinking about why we read literature - for recognition, enchantment, knowledge, and shock
• Argues for a new "phenomenology" in literary studies that incorporates the historical and social dimensions of reading
• Includes examples of literature from a wide range of national literary traditions

Author: Rita Felski
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
Published: 06/01/2008
Pages: 162
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.88lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.34w x 0.77d
ISBN: 9781405147231

About the Author

The Author

Rita Felski is the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of English and Chair of Comparative Literature at the University of Virginia, and an Associate Editor of New Literary History. She is the author of Beyond Feminist Aesthetics, The Gender of Modernity, Doing Time: Feminist Theory and Postmodern Culture, and Literature After Feminism. She is also editor of Rethinking Tragedy.