This book addresses the value of literature in intercultural perspective in two interrelated spheres: foreign or second language learning and language teacher education. It brings together researchers of several disciplinary fields who crisscross research and empirical evidence about the valuable role of literature in the development of intercultural competence. The authors, through their different approaches and diverse contexts, from lower to higher education, hope to encourage others to explore literature in a foreign or second language as a space for readers of all ages to generate critical thinking, empathy, and intercultural learning

This book offers new perspectives on the pedagogical value of literary texts. The book is, in the first place, a theoretical study - speculative in nature - about the inherent connection between reading and interculturality. The author argues that reading literary texts may open up a passage to a 'third place', a space in which a student can learn more about their own identity and ultimately arrive at a more nuanced understanding of otherness. Some of the skills implicated in the construction of textual understanding can facilitate intercultural learning, opening up opportunities for a pedagogical approach in which the reading of literary texts develops a student's intercultural perspective and fosters reflection on cultural difference. The author explores the pedagogical potential of the book's theoretical premises through a sustained classroom-based example.