The relationship between a work and extracts from it, which is the subject of this dossier, can be approached both as a means and a product of teaching of literature in schools. On the one hand, because extracts help to convert cultural topics into teaching topics, and on the other hand, because they are created by schools which, through them, develop and transmit a certain representation of literature. The school is, therefore, one of the drivers of literary production, one of the places where corpora are compiled, where works become part of a national or world heritage.
Based on the observation that extracts have implications for the teaching of literature and the selection of works for study in schools, the various articles seek to ascertain the relationships which are established between a work and extracts from it. Firstly, by emphasising the role of extracts in students' reading. Secondly, by revealing the importance of extracts in the process of enshrining works as part of the national heritage. Finally, through these articles, we reveal how extracts reveal the challenges involved in teaching literature.