Pointing out that influential movements in psychology, reading instruction, and curriculum development have greatly altered the terrain formerly occupied by the "teaching of literature," this literature review outlines the different ways education researchers have examined the following questions about literature instruction: (1) What are the desired goals or outcomes of litrature instruction? (2) How does the teaching of literature influence learning, and how can it be employed in content areas like social studies and science? (3) What are the roles of literature texts in language education, and how do literary genres and textual formats impede (or facilitate) learning? (4) What is "good literature?" and (5) How should literature be presented in the classroom, and what instructional strategies are especially effective in the teaching of literature? The review argues that Louise Rosenblatt's (1978) distinction between aesthetic and efferent reading is one that is relevant to most of these questions--according to Rosenblatt, "efferent" reading occurs when "the reader responds to the printed words or symbols...toward concepts to be retained, ideas to be tested, actions to be performed after reading." The review sees aesthetic reading, by contrast, as involving a more emotionally engaged relationship to the text. The review finds that current research offers a potpourri of theories, objectives, and strategies which frequently present contradictions and paradoxes--especially as regards different orders of learning outcomes and the role of the teacher of literature in the classroom. (Contains 57 references.) (TB)