Sociology of the arts and artistic careers

Timetable

Detailed information on the place and time of the seminar will be provided later.

Module aim (aims)

The aim of this course is to examine the role of the arts from a sociological perspective. This involves analyzing the role of art in society and how society, in turn, influences artistic production. A sociological perspective on art and artists challenges conventional understandings by asking who decides what is considered art, how artistic production is valued, and which artists become famous. The course will also examine 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 of artistic and creative professions. They will also acquire the skills needed 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, students will learn how to gather, synthesise, and critically assess information about social problems and processes related to work dynamics in the creative and 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: An Introduction to the Sociology of the Arts and the Artist
Class 2. Theory I: The Frankfurt School and the Critique of Cultural Production
Class 3. Theory II: Pierre Bourdieu and the Field of Literary Production
Class 4. Theory III: Making Art Work — Howard Becker and Art Worlds
Class 5. Who Do We Call an Artist? The Artist as a Social Construct
Class 6. “I Love My Job”: Artistic Careers in the Creative and Cultural Industries
Class 7. The Sociology of Artistic Objects and Value
Class 8. The Social Reception and Interpretation of Art
Class 9. Controversy and Conflict 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.