Reading and knowledge

Abstract

This article offers a reflection about the relations between reading and knowledge, more specifically considering literary reading. Starting from research on the poor reading conditions in Brazil, it focuses on the problem by conceptualizing the reading act and by explaining the literary reading process in accordance with the assumptions proposed by the Aesthetic of Reception approach. In this sense, the article defines the aesthetic pleasure from the perspective of the knowledge offered to the reader by the reading process, which leads him/her to discover the world and the self. The article also emphasizes that, to reach this point, some social conditions apply, which would allow the reader to move with autonomy within the literary field, knowing the different agents that interact in this scenario.