Heroes and anti-heroes (SPES-Cahiers, nr. 5)

This Cahier gathers a selection of papers presented during
the international conference European Literature and
the Ethics of Leadership (Bergen, Norway, May 2008).

The authors share the idea that narratives offer their readers
an alternative fictional world. In doing this they hold
up a mirror that confronts the reader with otherness that
questions his self-evident norms and values but also his
daily practices. Both heroes and antiheroes contribute to
this process of reflection. The confrontation with literary
texts stimulates the intellectual, the emotional and
the social consciousness. The firm belief that divergent
(cultural) systems i.e. business ethics and literature can
enrich each other is at the core of this project.

Rita Ghesquière is emeritus professor of comparative literature
at the Catholic University of Leuven (KULeuven,
Belgium). Her research and publications fall within the
scope of the history of European literature, juvenile fiction
and spirituality.
Knut J. Ims is professor in business ethics at the Norwegian
School of Economics and Business Administration.
His research and publications cover a wide field from
deep ecology, fair trade, ethical reflection through literature,
to the metaphysics of management.