Published: 2024-12-31

T he sociology of literature as the study of the Universal Book

Grzegorz A. Banasik
Academic Journal of Sociology
Section: Glosa
https://doi.org/10.21697/ucs.2024.34.2.08

Abstract

T he article presents the sociology of literature as a subdiscipline marked by distinct theoretical and methodological dilemmas. It considers various approaches to literature, analysing it both as a reflection of society and as a social in stitution. The author, introducing a perspective based on the idea of the Universal Book, proposes viewing literature as an open-ended collection of actual and potential “social motifs” – human types, ideas, cultural complexes, beha vioural patterns, ideologies, and social concepts embedded in literary texts. The Universal Book metaphor assumes that literature reflects diverse aspects of human experience, offering insights into both stable and changing elements of culture and society. The article emphasizes that studying literature through this lens, going beyond traditional literary studies, can contribute to broader reflection within general sociology. The proposed approach to the sociology of literature is based on identifying and interpreting social motifs in literary works, allowing for the formulation of new sociological generalizations.

Keywords:

sociology of literature, social motifs, literature and society, literary research methodology

Download files

Citation rules

Banasik, G. A. (2024). T he sociology of literature as the study of the Universal Book. Academic Journal of Sociology, 34(2), 85–93. https://doi.org/10.21697/ucs.2024.34.2.08

Cited by / Share

This website uses cookies for proper operation, in order to use the portal fully you must accept cookies.