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New book asks: What is Literature?
Story Posted: 26 October 2007
"The book looks at the concept of counter-intuition, at practical matters, such as the ways literature is involved with war, corruption, rights, suffering and hope."
What is literature? How does literature speak to the world? What is great writing? What is originality? What sorts of truths are there, if any, in creative writing? How does great science relate to literature?
In his new book What is Literature? Professor of Philosophy, Arthur Gibson, employs hundreds of literary examples and confronts them with philosophy while exploring questions about the meaning of life.
“The book looks at the concept of counter-intuition, at practical matters, such as the ways literature is involved with war, corruption, rights, suffering and hope,” said Professor Gibson.
Covering themes from the War on Meaning, to Assumptions in Literature and Science, and Existential Literature, the book has been described as “a beautiful folio” by the late philosopher Jacques Derrida.