This writing is the Turkish translation of the paragraphs about literature of knowledge and literature of power the English writer Thomas De Quincey penned in the “Alexander Pope” chapter of his book Essays on the Poets and Other English Writers (Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, 1853). In this part of his essay, Thomas De Quincey, through a critical lens, puts forth his ideas relating to the concept of literature, the ties between literature and books, the existence of two different genres of writing within literature that can be conceptualized as literature of knowledge and literature of power, the functional and methodical differences between these genres, the distinction between knowledge in the books and truth, power as a concept beyond truth, literature’s role of keeping human emotions alive, literature of power’s appealing to understanding heart rather than to mere understanding, the poetic justice, the superiority of the author of literature that moves over the author of literature that teaches, the transitory nature of the works of literature of knowledge as opposed to the permanency of the works of literature of power, and the significance of the matchlessness of beautiful human art works.
