ENGL 55.22 Socio/Poetics: Sociological Method and Literary Form

This course introduces students to a cultural history of the relationship between Sociology and Literature in America from the early twentieth century to the present. Taking inspiration from recent scholarly approaches to literary interpretation that draw on sociological methods for interpreting texts quantitatively, relationally, and descriptively, we will also examine the ways in which sociology has long been occupied by phenomena often associated with literature: subjectivity, uncertainty, and linguistic form. Beginning with the institutionalization of sociology in the 1920s and 1930s, we will explore aesthetic texts alongside sociological works and other cultural documents. In doing so we will situate ourselves in a historical milieu and reconsider conventional literary categories and lineages such as documentary and docupoetry, the photo-essay, and New Journalism through the lens of their response to and use of sociological methods and tropes.

Cross Listed Courses

SOCY 79.13

Degree Requirement Attributes

Dist:LIT; WCult:W

The Timetable of Class Meetings contains the most up-to-date information about a course. It includes not only the meeting time and instructor, but also its official distributive and/or world culture designation. This information supersedes any information you may see elsewhere, to include what may appear in this ORC/Catalog or on a department/program website. Note that course attributes may change term to term therefore those in effect are those (only) during the term in which you enroll in the course.

Department-Specific Course Categories

No course group assignment.