More than just a product: Strengthening literature in sociological analysis

Váňa, Jan

doi:10.1111/soc4.12789

Cited by 14 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 185 publications

(172 reference statements)

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“…Griswold, 1987; Radway, 1984; most recently Olave Thumala, 2018). This is the case with a recent special issue of Cultural Sociology (Franssen and Kuipers, 2015), where the sociology of literature is reduced to (Bourdieusian 4 ) studies of literary production (see also Váňa, 2020). In the second approach, investigators look inside the novels, yet treat them as resources inferior to sociological frameworks.…”

Section: On Epistemology: How Literature Theorizes Societymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Theorizing the Social Through Literary Fiction: For a New Sociology of Literature

Váňa

2020

Cultural Sociology

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When analyzing literary fiction, most cultural sociologists still accept the well-established boundaries between the literary and the sociological, thus leaving literature stripped of its aesthetic qualities. Instead, I propose a new approach that focuses on the process of meaning-making as it occurs within the interaction between the reader and the novel in a given socio-historical setting. This allows analysts to capture those aspects of understanding social experience which are usually ‘lost in translation’ between fictional and sociological genres. My major claims are that, first, when referring to social experience, both sociological and literary texts employ aesthetic devices to mediate understanding for the reader. Second, within the literary genre, the understanding of social experience relies much more on the emotional engagement of the reader through a reading process facilitated by these aesthetic devices. Third, to benefit methodologically and epistemologically from the lyrical understanding of social experience mediated by literature, cultural sociologists must be particularly sensitive to the subtlety and ambiguity of meanings mediated by the aesthetic. The methodological advantage gained is the analysis of deeper cultural meanings grounded in, yet also going beyond, an emotionally and existentially experienced social reality, which is intersubjectively shared and filtered by various groups of readers and cultural intermediaries. The epistemological advantage gained by overcoming the assumed inferiority of literature is that cultural sociological research unlocks a whole new area for understanding the meanings of social life, especially its non-discursive dimensions. The research model I propose for a new sociology of literature adopts the landscape of meaning concept developed by Isaac Reed in combination with the aesthetic structuralism of Czech linguist Jan Mukařovský. This model will be demonstrated through an interpretive analysis of the Czech novel Sestra (published in English as City Sister Silver) by Jáchym Topol.

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Section: On Epistemology: How Literature Theorizes Societymentioning

confidence: 99%

“… 1. For an overview of the history and ‘the state of the art’ in sociological studies of literature see Váňa (2020). …”

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confidence: 99%

Theorizing the Social Through Literary Fiction: For a New Sociology of Literature

Váňa

2020

Cultural Sociology

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“…A necessary epistemological step towards a strong program in the sociology of literature is to acknowledge that literature has an ability to come up with social knowledge by means of its own autonomous ways of communication. Sociological studies of literature have hitherto embraced two major attitudes towards the lyrical: either absolute ignorance (in favor of production and reception) or sacred reverence (making literature somewhat detached, strange, almost untouchable) (see Váňa, 2020b). However, this syndrome of lyrical exceptionalism can be overcome.…”

Section: Conclusion: What Needs To Be Done Nextmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the past, the sociology of literature has treated literary texts as reflections of supposedly more substantial social forces. The Marxist heritage developed into several schools, such as the field theory of Pierre Bourdieu (1996), the "art worlds" of Howard Becker (1982), and the cultural industry within the British cultural studies, which approach literature as a "product" subordinate to social interactions and institutions (see Váňa, 2020b). Even studies declaring the priority of cultural meaning over institutional arrangements look at literary works as rather mysterious black-boxes subordinated to their social context, such as Wendy Griswold's (1987) "fabrication of meaning", or the "cultural sociology of reading" recently established by M. Angélica Thumala Olave (2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fiction and Social Knowledge: Towards a Strong Program in the Sociology of Literature

Váňa¹

2020

RSR

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Following the strong program in cultural sociology, I propose a strong program in the sociology of liter-ature, which treats literary pieces rightly as relatively autonomous cultural entities and “independent var-iables”. To outline the epistemological foundations of the new research program, I compare how social knowledge comes into existence through the sociological text and the text of literary fiction. I discuss the representation of social reality in interpretive research, with Isaac Reed’s book Interpretation and Social Knowledge as a starting point. To claim literary autonomy, I outline some of the aspects which social the-ory shares with literary fiction. I am mainly interested in how social theory and literary fiction mediate social knowledge to their readers via the aesthetic experience. I identify two main categories of social knowledge mediated by literature: existential understanding and Zeitgeist. Discussing the sociological treatment of several novels, I look at how these two categories intertwine and support each other to create colorful, sensitive, but also robust and deep social knowledge, which condenses aesthetic, existential, and non-discursive aspects of social experience together with the “big picture” of whole societies. I argue that only by overcoming the often-assumed inferiority of literature in sociological research can sociology real-ize its full potential in understanding the meanings of social life.

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“…For further development of the field, I suggest the sociology of art needs to catch‐up with the recent tendencies happening in art by placing the empirical focus on the participatory‐based practices in participatory art—and furthering a discussion towards different avenues of research. I claim the art practice has the potential to speak for itself in ways that the sociology of art can grasp without fully “translating” the artist's voice into sociological discourse (Váňa, 2020a; Váňa, 2020b). The following sections will first, outline recent tendencies in the sociology of art in relation to the art practice, second, outline the “social turn” happening in art towards participatory‐based art practices, and third, to explore sociologists, who focus on a methodology that allows for the art practice to talk for itself in the analysis on the work of art.…”

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confidence: 98%

Maintenance work: Interrogating the sociology of art

Darrow

2021

Sociology Compass

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The following article explores the different ways art sociologists investigate art that is based in the participatory arts. The aim is to shift the empirical focus to the art practice, which speaks for itself, and to place the work of the artist and all who cooperate or collaborate in the making of the artwork at the center of sociological analysis. By allowing the artist to speak fully about their work, art sociologists can uncover new social and cultural phenomena and better understand the different motivations underlying art‐making. The following literature highlights the recent tendencies in the sociology of art, explores the “social turn” in art and presents different sociologists who focus on the art practice and the art’s voice. For further development of the field, I suggest the sociology of art needs to catch‐up with the recent tendencies in art by placing the empirical focus on participatory art practices that will not only give us a better understanding about the intricate actions taking place in the art making, but it will also illuminate new layers of social life that are hidden. To conclude, I suggest that sociologists engage with participatory‐based artists to enhance sociology through a public sociology of art.

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More than just a product: Strengthening literature in sociological analysis

Cited by 14 publications

References 185 publications

Theorizing the Social Through Literary Fiction: For a New Sociology of Literature

Theorizing the Social Through Literary Fiction: For a New Sociology of Literature

Fiction and Social Knowledge: Towards a Strong Program in the Sociology of Literature

Maintenance work: Interrogating the sociology of art

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