Literature is not only polyvalent and enigmatic, as the prevailing theoretical paradigm in literary studies insists. For all its polyvalence it is still experienced as meaningful and significant because it is determined, aesthetically remarkable and rule-bound. In this sense it can be seen as having major similarities to ritual, can indeed be described in terms of ritual activity. Ritual, after all, is an aesthetically contoured, symbolic action designed for repetition, and as such has retained its fundamental importance in human life to this day.