The idea of ‘literature we can live by’ crystallizes the paradox of art: defined by its distance from life, it requires, at the same time, proximity to life. We turn to art because it offers a protected space of disinterested play – yet we are also profoundly interested in its ethical implications. In the words of Rilke’s ‘Archaic Torso of Apollo’, the work of art – and through its Apollonian patron, literature in particular – tells us that we must change our lives. Ranging widely from antiquity to modernity while highlighting key moments in early modernity and the Enlightenment, this essay identifies a recurring tension between two visions of literature: to be able to comment insightfully on life, it must be apart from it; to be able to respond adequately to life, it must be a part of it. It is not just the metaphors we live by, in other words, but also the metonyms.

中文翻译：

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目的：兴趣、冷漠和文学，我们可以赖以生存

“我们赖以生存的文学”这一概念将艺术的悖论具体化：它与生活的距离定义为它与生活的距离，同时它也要求与生活的接近。我们转向艺术是因为它提供了一个受保护的无私游戏空间——但我们也对它的伦理含义深感兴趣。用里尔克的“阿波罗的古代躯干”的话来说，艺术作品——尤其是通过它的阿波罗赞助人，尤其是文学——告诉我们必须改变我们的生活。这篇文章从古代到现代，在强调早期现代性和启蒙运动的关键时刻的同时，确定了两种文学观之间反复出现的张力：要能够深刻地评论生活，就必须与生活脱节；为了能够对生活做出充分的反应，它必须是生活的一部分。换句话说，这不仅仅是我们赖以生存的隐喻，