Tease in literary work, not easily understood (4,4,2,3)
I believe the answer is:
play hard to get
'tease' is the definition.
(playing hard to get is teasing someone)
'literary work not easily understood' is the wordplay.
'literary work' becomes 'play' (type of literary work).
'not easily understood' becomes 'hard to get' (difficult to understand or 'get').
'play'+'hardtoget'='PLAY HARD TO GET'
'in' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for play hard to get that I've seen before include "Act coy, hoping to increase one's appeal" , "Seem reluctant to come across" , "Be aloof so as to heighten the interest of an admirer" , "Prolong suit" , "Feign unwillingness as negotiating ploy" .)