Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the book. The book examines about the four thematic archipelagos of texts, which account for major issues of the present: the first one brings together assessments and analyses of narratives of literature, where it discusses situations of literature, from the avant-garde (Tom Bishop), to the conception of life (Emily Apter), to the power of literature (Philippe Artieres), ending with an attempt toward a literary definition of literature (Donatien Grau). It explores the voices of contributors ranging from John Ashbery to Helene Cixous. The book discusses the aspects of literature. Theorists, writers, poets, critics, historians, scholars of cognitive sciences are gathered. The book engages with the relation between literature and the poetic: Peter Schjeldahl examines the "varieties of the literary experience"; Laurent Dubreuil, the cognitive structures of the poetic experience; Stathis Gourgouris, the relationship between the body and the myth; Paul Audi offers an entry into aesth/ethics.