Il potere conoscitivo della letteratura: genealogia di un’idea

The aim of this paper is to investigate the origin of the idea of reading that inspires the proposal of renewal of teaching formulated by Todorov in "La littérature en péril" (2007). In this book Todorov embraces the distinction –– formerly expressed by Jerome Bruner and acquired through Richard Rorty’s work –– between argument and narrative, going further the idea that every literature is necessarily fictional and paving the way for a deep rethinking of the purpose of teaching literature in the school, which should be aimed primarily at encouraging reading «by any means», also using non-literary narrative texts, and claiming the instrumental value of critics’ methods and analytical tools: these must be employed for better knowing the meaning of a work or the mindset and style of an author and not themselves be the purpose of literary knowledge.