Dialogues on the Impossible: On Defining the ‘Literary’ in Pedagogy

Abstract

This article discusses the relevance and construction of the concept of ‘literariness’ within pedagogy for an effective engagement with works of literature and literary theory. By juxtaposing Mikhail Bakhtin’s dialogic mode of understanding, with Bhartrhari’s doctrine of the dhvani and the sphota, this article attempts to draw upon these theories as resources through which ‘totalizing’ concepts could be effectively communicated. Through an analysis of Bhartrhari’s idea of meaning-making interpreted through the lens of Bakhtin’s creative understanding, this article attempts to make a case for considering the ‘literary’ as an underlying language principle within all works of literature. This article, while limited to a purely theoretical endeavour, aims to reframe some of our assumptions on the communication of wide-reaching, fundamental concepts within a given field.