Document Type : Research

Author

• Reihaneh Aslanzadeh

PhD of theoretical-cultural sociology, department of sociology, faculty of social science, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

This paper reviews the Sociology of Literature by Laurenson and Swingewood. Translation of the book is good and it looks interesting. The main problem with this book is its oldness. Based on an unwritten agreement in academic literature, the translation of old works implies that the author is a highly esteemed theorist or a reliable teacher of some theory. This book, falls into none of the above. In addition, the authors and the translator are in disagreement in seeing the status of the book. The authors see the book as a suggestion for reading and researching and an introduction to a field on which there was not an integrated knowledge in the English-speaking literature. The translator sees the book as a great piece of work which has no parallel. However, the theoretical selection and historical summery of the book faces criticism from two perspectives. First, both parts somehow are in contrast with anti-positivism approach of the book: whether in the logic of selecting theorists and events or in the formation and presentation of contents. Second, the theoretical and methodical summery is inadequate. Overall, given the availability of a rich body of papers and books by thinkers from sociology of literature, cultural sociology, critical theory, and interdisciplinary philosophy, this book does not seem a good choice for teaching.

Keywords

• Sociology of literature
• literary criticism
• Genetic
• structuralism
• Book Review
• theory of the novel

Main Subjects

• Sociology