Answer:
"The Literature of Knowledge and the Literature of Power" is the title of an 1848 essay by Thomas de Quincey, a 19th century British author best known for "Confessions of an English Opium Eater." In brief, de Quincey's argument is that books serve two distinct roles. What falls under the literature of knowledge conveys information that has a clear use (such as a cookbook). The literature of power does not focus on information that you can necessarily apply directly to your own experience, but enriches the reader in more intangible ways. Thinking of these books as imparting cultural capital might be a way to remember that, although seemingly less useful, they are in fact the literature of power.