Sintesi creativa: sul rapporto tra letteratura e conoscenza

(Creative Synthesis. On the Relation between Literature and Knowledge)

Abstract

This article suggests the idea of a “creative synthesis” to describe the complex relationship between literature and knowledge. The first part of the article summarizes and discusses some paradigmatic positions on this problem, emphasizing literature’s capacity to articulate non-propositional experiences. The second part shows that the very idea that literature offers a specific knowledge is developed from the idea of autonomy of literature in the 18th century. Finally, the third part aims to describe the specificity of literary knowledge as a “creative synthesis.”