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LITERATURE AND SOCIOLOGY IN COMPARATIVE LITERATURE

 

Sociological study of literature can be brought under the scope of Comparative Literature on two valid grounds: (a) The American School of Comparative Literature, represented by H.H. Remak, extends the comparison between literature and a branch of another area of knowledge, such as sociology. (b) The second reason is that literature is also about society. An individual creates literature in a social context, linking literature with society

Literature and Society

Literature represents life which is a social reality. The writer is a member of the society sharing specific social values. The readers also are social beings. Therefore, the questions raised by literature, by implication, are social questions. The popular sayings like "Literature is an expression of society" and "Literature is a criticism of life” explain this point

The social causes that affect the literary composition are the social origins of a writer, the nature of the writer's audience and the history of the rise and fall of a book or an author. The social origins of a writer need not influence him. Bharathi, though born in an orthodox family, turned into a rebel fighting for the down-trodden people

Literature and society are mutually interdependent. This leads one to justify that literature is a social, document. The historical critics take this mutual relation between literature and society as a fundamental fact of literary criticism. Taine, the French historian, who is considered to be the Father of the historical criticism, says that literature is the product of three factors---the moment, the race and the milieu

Marxism and Literature:

With Karl Marx, economic base was added to the factors influencing literature. Marx was a German philosopher, economist and socialist. Marxism is a system of thought which advocates the doctrine that throughout history the state has been exploiting the common man and that class struggle has always been there to bring about historical changes. The world literature is full of numerous examples of the roles played by Marxism, since the Russian Revolution of 1917. P.N. Medvedev and M.M. Bakhtin explain the interdependence between literature and the social, economic laws. A literary work is to be studied in the literary environment in which it emerges and the literary environment is a part of social structure which, in turn, is influenced and shaped by its socio-economic laws

The Marxists divide the society into two groups-- the Haves and the Have-nots. The Haves are those who not only have possessions of property but also powers to increase their possessions in future. The Have-nots are those who have neither possessions nor any powers. The human history, according to them, is full of the class-struggle between them. The class-struggle is mainly between the capital and the labour. Galsworthy's Strife presents this kind of struggle between the capital and the labour. They want to establish a class-less society

The Writer's Influence on Society:

A writer may use literature as a mirror, to represent the society as he sees it, or he may try to shape it. Addison and Steele tried to change the manners of the 18th century society. Dickens tried to improve the workhouses or the debtor-prisons. We cannot say for certain how far they were successful. It is also true that a writer can easily influence the younger generation than the older

Kinds of Society:

Another important fact is that the structure of a society determines the character and composition of literary works as well as the role and outlook of the writers. For this purpose, the society can be broadly divided into four categories: (i) A unified Society is one where there is social stability. Its members believe in a clear sense of hierarchy. In such a society the poet regards himself as a part of the society. e.g. the Medieval Christian society or the Ancient Greek society. The writers, Homer and Virgil, convey the social wisdom and dignity of the history of the people. (ii) A divided society is one torn by religious conflicts or civil wars. The people divide themselves into opposing groups, either from conviction or due to force of circumstances. Naturally, the writers also take sides and attack each other. The Age of Milton is a good example. Milton attacks the false clergy

(iii) The next is the case of unstable society. A society may become unstable owing to the wrath of God or Military Force or the introduction of a new system or due to social decay. The writers of this society may prophesy the gloom. For example, Shakespeare's Hamlet turns on the overturn of social hierarchy or Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman has for its theme, the American social decay. (iv) A fragmented society is individualistic or pluralistic. It suffers because of uncertain values. The post-war European society is a good example. Writers like T.S. Eliot, W.B. Yeats and Samuel Beckett present this kind of society

It is a common assumption that literature is a social document, mainly because most literary works picture social reality. It is true to a greater extent that readers derive their chief impression of a foreign society by reading the literature of the period. We usually form an impression of the 14th century England by our reading of Chaucer's Prologue to the Canterbury Tales or about the 19th century Russia by reading Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment. At the same time, it is difficult to find out the degree of realism in the works as the writers are prone to idealise, romanticise, satirise or even distort real-life situation or values. Therefore, the readers have to make a careful and disinterested study of the works

Finally, literature is very close to sociology in the sense that all literature is an individual's response to other individuals at a given time; and sociology is a comprehensive response of the individuals to the individuals of all times. Literature, besides being a social document, becomes elevated into a monument by the passage of time. Harry Levin has summarised the relation between literature and sociology. “The relations between literature and society are reciprocal. Literature is not only the effect of social causes; it is also the cause of social effects”

 

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