Resumen de Introducing literary awareness

Sonia Zyngier

• Debates over what to include in the literary canon have reached the point of questioning the validity of literature as a discipline. Proposals to integrate the study of literature within the area of cultural studies have been made. Starting from these postulations, this article reassesses the role of literature in the curriculum. It claims that the questions should centre not on what to teach, but on how to do it. Based on the recent developments in stylistics and in Language Awareness in Britain, this article proposes the emergence of a new discipline — Literary Awareness — and shows how it can be beneficial to EFL students at tertiary level, especially as an introductory course to literary studies. The delicate issue of competence in literature is also dealt with and arguments are raised in favour of the validity of interpretation by EFL readers. The objective here is to develop a less authoritative, text‐oriented programme which may foster students’ sensitivity to the literary phenomenon.