Books and not books. Reflection on the canon, literary criticism and orientation to reading

Abstract

In this article I undertake a reflection about the traditional idea of Canon and its discrepancy with today’s cultural context. Avoiding extreme positions, literary criticism should rediscover its role in the selection of those texts which distinguish themselves due to their artistic quality and, among these, choose the ones which might interest new groups of readers. Taking the reader into account leads to opening frontiers which aim at reviving the taste for reading and at shaping skilled readers, who are themselves able to distinguish between good and bad quality literature.