Science in the perspective of literariness

Abstract

What is meant by a scientific approach to literature? I suggest that this question raises several issues: the need to elucidate the object of study, that is, to examine readings that reflect the literariness of the text; also the question how literariness is to be identified, what may be distinctive about it. Then I suggest the importance of defining theories that draw from the literary domain, not outside it (such as psychology or linguistics), and that these should lead us to a set of hypotheses that can be subjected to empirical testing with readers. We should also have in the mind the possibility of learning what purposes literature fulfils for the individual or the wider community.

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