Teaching Literature through Language- Some Considerations

Teaching literature through language calls for active involvement of both the teacher and the taught. Here, the focus is on teaching literature and medium is the language. The context and form of a literary work brings forth meaningful discussion and enjoyment. The paper will discuss the importance of teaching literature in the language teaching and learning process, the question of choosing an appropriate literary text and some strategies for teaching literature by creating an awareness of linguistic possibilities and sensibility I think aesthetic teaching is the highest of all teaching because it deals with life in its highest complexity. – George Eliot, 1866/1967: 9-10 A linguist deaf to the poetic function of language and a literary scholar indifferent to linguistic problems and not conversant with linguistic methods, are equally flagrant anachronism.- Roman Jakobson, 1960: 377 1