Las emociones y la teoría literaria: Un encuentro enriquecedor para la comprensión del texto literario

this paper provides a discussion about why literary theory should attend to the emotions as an important heuristic category. to date, these have been the subject of attention in biology, psychology, cultural anthropology, neurology, but scarcely in the literary theory itself. however, the purpose of fictional literature (whether narrative or poetry) is to produce an emotional effect upon readers. literary theory concentrates in offering suppositions and principles that explain the operation of that phenomenon designated by semiotics as literature. there-fore it could find in emotions good reasons to explain and extend her concerns and interests and it would offer also new critical perspectives on how literature affects its readers.