Studying language through literature. An old perspective revisited and something more. Exploring the links between literature, translation criticism and language education

Studying Language through Literature invites readers to reconsider the opportunity represented by literary texts for language-related purposes. Despite the close relationship between literature and language in educational contexts, literature is frequently associated with teaching practices which have been judged to be unsuccessful. Subsequently, texts of the non-literary type are preferred, on the basis that they are ‘authentic’ and closer to ‘real’ language. The everlasting relationship between language and literature is here reassessed starting from two assumptions: literature is the expression of an emphasized perception of reality – be it private, collective, or pertaining to a certain temporal/spatial context; and literary language is language in its utmost form. Following an outline of the philosophy that governs the book, each chapter presents specific insights on the use of the various different literary genres: namely, fiction, poetry and drama. The opportunities offered by translation in the foreign language classroom constitute a recurrent theme throughout the book, although Chapter 5 is entirely devoted to translation criticism. The closing pages put forward a few reflections on assessment. While offering some food for thought in order to reassess the role of literature in the language class, this book puts together ideas, considerations and suggestions from which the reader is free to pick, mix and adjust, exploiting them to her/his greatest benefit.

Studying Language through Literature invites to a reconsideration of the ‘old’ opportunity represented by literary texts for educational purposes. Despite the close relationship between literature and language in educational contexts, literature is frequently associated with teaching practices judged unsuccessful. Subsequently, texts of the non-literary type are preferred, on the basis they are ‘authentic’ and closer to ‘real’ language. The everlasting relationship between language and literature is here reassessed starting from two assumptions: literature is the expression of an emphasized perception of reality – be it private, collective, or pertaining to a certain temporal/spatial context –; and literary language is language to its utmost. Following an outline of the philosophy that governs the book, each chapter presents specific insights on the use of the different literary genres: fiction, poetry and drama. The opportunities offered by translation in the foreign language class constitute a recurrent theme throughout the book, but Chapter 5 is entirely devoted to translation criticism. The closing pages put forward a few reflections on assessment. While offering some food for thought in order to reassess the role of literature in the language class, the book puts together ideas, considerations and suggestions among which the reader is free to pick, mix and adjust, exploiting them to her/his greatest benefit.