'Facts alone are wanted in life, ' exclaims Mr Gradgrind at the beginning of Dickens' Hard Times. Literature is not about facts alone, and - despite two and a half thousand years of arguments - no one can agree on what it is, or how to study it. But, argues Robert Eaglestone, it is precisely the open-ended nature of literature that makes it such a rewarding and useful subject. Eaglestone shows that studying literature can change who you are, turning you from a 'reader' into a 'critic' someone attuned to the ways we make meaning in our world. Literature is a living conversation which provides endless opportunities to rethink and reinterpret our societies and ourselves. With examples ranging from Sappho to Skyrim, this book shows how literature offers freer and deeper ways of thinking and being.

The representation of the Holocaust in literature and film has confronted lecturers and students with some challenging questions. Does this unique and disturbing subject demand alternative pedagogic strategies? What is the role of ethics in the classroom encounter with the Holocaust? Scholars address these and other questions in this collection.

The representation of the Holocaust in literature and film has confronted lecturers and students with some challenging questions. Does this unique and disturbing subject demand alternative pedagogic strategies? What is the role of ethics in the classroom encounter with the Holocaust? Scholars address these and other questions in this collection.

'Facts alone are wanted in life, ' exclaims Mr Gradgrind at the beginning of Dickens' Hard Times. Literature is not about facts alone, and - despite two and a half thousand years of arguments - no one can agree on what it is, or how to study it. But, argues Robert Eaglestone, it is precisely the open-ended nature of literature that makes it such a rewarding and useful subject. Eaglestone shows that studying literature can change who you are, turning you from a 'reader' into a 'critic' someone attuned to the ways we make meaning in our world. Literature is a living conversation which provides endless opportunities to rethink and reinterpret our societies and ourselves. With examples ranging from Sappho to Skyrim, this book shows how literature offers freer and deeper ways of thinking and being.