The educational role of literature

This article discusses the educational role of literature, looking for parallels between the theories of Plato (428/427–348/347 a.C.), Aristotle (384–322 a.C.), Antonio Candido (1918), Hans Robert Jaus (1921–1997) and Umberto Eco (1932). It ultimately sees the educational role as a synthesis of roles ascribed to literature from classical Antiquity to the present, since ultimately they converge towards the same point, viz. human education on the basis of the multiple elements that make up the aesthetic object.