Reading and Learning: Literature as a Practice for Shaping Humanity

Abstract

The text argues that literature functions as a formative human practice that goes beyond instrumental logic. Reading is not merely the reception of information; it is an experience that transforms the subject by opening them to the complexity of human life, the diversity of experiences, and narrative understanding. Drawing on philosophical and literary traditions, it maintains that reading shapes sensitivity, judgment, and self-understanding, while its ethical dimension lies in openness to others and the possibility of building more attentive and less reductive relationships. Literature does not guarantee transformation, but it creates the conditions for a deeper understanding of oneself and the world.