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.