Transformations of the “Syrian” Literary Field Since 2011

The events unfolding in Syria since spring 2011 have led to a thorough transformation of the intellectual and artistic space in which Syrian authors, filmmakers, and artists move. Starting from an overview of the connections of institutions, artists, and works that form this contemporary space of cultural production, this chapter goes on to consider the problems existing theoretical conceptions of such spaces from the sociology of arts encounter when faced with the empirical realities of the Syrian case. It shows that the transnational, unstable, and often transient nature of these formations and their links with large-scale socio-political changes, such as wars, are difficult to grasp with conceptual toolkit developed on the model of the unusually stable spaces of production of Western Europe and the US.

A Sociological Study on Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman and All My Sons, Based on Georgy Lukacs’s Theories

Society and its human relations have always had a mutual connection with arts and culture; thus, the majority of artistic creations have always reflected images of society in the very heart of them. Sociological Studies of art, as an independent field does have a long history, however with the rise of modern social fields of study in the 19th and 20th century, there has been a significant growth in sociological studies.Georgy Lukacs as a pioneer theorist in the sociology of arts and literature has led a series of studies in the field of modern drama. This study has attempted to analyze Arthur Miller’s two significant plays, Death of a Salesman and All My Sons, based on Lukacs’s theories, along with discovering the methods, which Miller has depicted to process and interweave social concepts and phenomena within his works. This being done, a potential map has been drawn as a clear sample for dramatists of the modern era of playwriting on how to relate to social and cultural issues, not only in a descriptive method but in an analytical, critical way.

Habitus, Ngêng, dan Estetika Bunyi Mlèsèt dan Nggandhul pada Karawitan

<p><span lang="IN">The paper explains about <em>mlèsèt</em> and <em>nggandhul</em> phenomena in the Javanese <em>Karawitan</em> in the perspective of Piere Bourdieu’s sociology of arts. The datas were collected through interviews with <em>pengrawit</em>,or gamelan players, and observation of gamelan played during the performance of Yogyakarta <em>wayang</em>.</span></p><p><span lang="IN">The research shows that <em>mlèsèt</em> and <em>nggandhul</em> aresound aesthetics for the listeners and habitus of the gamelan players. Therefore, a gamelan player should possess his ngêng in order to precisely play the correct rhythm of <em>mlèsèt</em> and <em>nggandhul</em>.</span></p>

Success and failure of the sociology of culture? Bringing the arts back

This articles brings up the most recent, internal discussions among researchers in the field of the sociology of arts, more precisely the thiking of experts who participated in a forum of culture organized in 2001. In her writing, Vera Zolberg accentuates, overall, the need for sociology of art to retain both its humanistic and scientific roots. She reminds that sociology of culture has developed from the sociology of art in recent decades. Next, she summarizes the tendencies and interests of researchers in the forum, by showing the fluidity of its possibilities and creative capacities. She mentions the most recent production in the field, proving that aesthetic elements play a crucial part in the sociological studies about the arts. According to Vera Zolberg, it is time to bring the arts back.

Encounters with Postmodern Art: Zygmunt Bauman, Sociology and Art

This article sets Bauman's arguments on postmodern art against current debates in the sociology of arts, particularly in the so-called ‘production of culture’ approach, and its notion of ‘art worlds’. It will argue that they offer two contradicting analytical positions on what constitutes art, which are, in principle, reductionist. However, they also help shed new light on a methodological model to understand ‘cultural practice’ in so-called postmodern art communities. The article is divided into three parts. First, it discusses Bauman's definitions of postmodern art; second, it re-contextualises Bauman's arguments within the production of culture approach. Third, it compares Bauman's notion of postmodern community with Becker's art worlds.