Art and artistic careers in a sociological perspective

Timetable

Every Monday 15:00, room 5, Międzychodzka 5 

Module aim (aims)

The aim of this course is to examine the role of the arts from a sociological perspective. This involves an analysis of the role of art in society and how society in turn influences artistic production. The sociological perspective on art and artists challenges the conventional understanding of both by asking who decides what is to be considered art, how artistic production is to be valued, and which artists will become famous. We will also look at institutions related to the arts such as museums, festivals, curators and publishers.

Students will learn basic theoretical concepts from the sociology of the arts and artistic/creative professions. They will also acquire the basic skills to critically discuss social processes such as the evaluation and reception of the arts, the social conditions of artistic production, and the social relations surrounding artistic production and distribution. In addition to that, students will learn how to gather, find, synthesise and critically assess information about social problems and processes related to work dynamics in the creative/cultural industries.

Pre-requisites in terms of knowledge, skills and social competences (where relevant)

Good command of English and basic knowledge of social science theories and methods.

Syllabus

 

Class 1. How to think about art sociologically? Introduction to the sociology of the arts and the artist

Class 2. Theory 1: The Frankfurt School and the critique of mass culture

Class 3. Theory 2: Pierre Bourdieu and the field of cultural production

Class 4. Theory 3: Art as collective activity. Howard Becker and 'art worlds

Class 5. Whom we call an artist? The figure of the artist as a social construct

Class 6. “I love my job”. Artistic careers in the creative and cultural industries

Class 7. Sociology of artistic objects and their value

Class 8. Social Reception and Interpretation of Art

Class 9. Scandals and controversies in the arts

Class 10. Summary: art in society

 

Reading list

 

Class 1: Quemin, Alain (2017) The Sociology of Art. In: Korgen KO, ed. The Cambridge Handbook of Sociology: Specialty and Interdisciplinary Studies. Cambridge University Press, pp. 293-303.

Class 2: Strandvand, Sara Malou et al. (2025) Sociology about art. Routledge, 19-22, pdf will be provided.

 

Class 3: Pouly, Marie-Pierre (2016) Playing Both Sides of the Field: The anatomy of a ‘Quality’ Bestseller. Poetics 59: 20–34.

Class 4: Becker, Howard (2008) The Art Worlds. University of California Press, pp. 1-40.

Class 5: Heinich, Nathalie (1996) The glory of Van Gogh: an anthropology of admiration. Princeton University Press.

Class 6: Hesmondhalgh, David; Baker, Sarah (2010) ‘A very complicated version of freedom’: Conditions and experiences of creative labour in three cultural industries, Poetics 38(1): 4-20.

Class 7: Heinich, Nathalie (2021) Emotions and Valuations: Notre-Dame De Paris on Fire as a Case Study for Axiological Sociology. Valuation Studies 8(1), pp. 67–83.

Class 8: Griswold, Wendy; Wohl, Hannah (2015) Evangelists of culture: One Book programs and the agents who define literature, shape tastes, and reproduce regionalism. Poetics 50: 96-109.

Class 9: Alexander, Victoria D., & Bowler, Anne. E. (2018) Scandal and the Work of Art: The Nude in an Aesthetically Inflected Sociology of the Arts. Cultural Sociology 12(3): 325-342.

Class 10: Alexander, Victoria (2020) Sociology of the arts. Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 245-263