The purpose of this study is to understand the status and functioning of the literary domain in the modern world. The literary object is a historical and social construct whose functional specificities can be described by a methodology using theories and methods coming from different social sciences and different fields of humanities, for instance sociology, anthropology, history of ideas and history of science. This is indeed necessary because the “literary object” is defined and determined by not only institutions, but also actors and different social producers who through various kinds of specific intervention make differentiated use of the object. Even though the project attempts an analysis of the current state of the literary domain, it also has a pragmatic dimension which is likely to produce new modes of engagement, as well as new practices for transmission and teaching. The study of the social and epistemic working of the literary object in our present allows the highlighting of new and actual uses, as well as the revelation of further potentials.