Page

FIVE PROPOSALS FOR A SOCIOLOGY OF LITERATURE [with

DISCUSSION]
Author (s): Albert Memmi, J. Laude, Miss de Queiroz, G. Gurvitch, J. Faye
and L. Hamon
Source: International Journal of Sociology, NEW SERIES, Vol. ,
SOCIAL FRAMEWORKS
OF SOCIOLOGY (January-June ), p. -
Published by: University Press of France
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/ .
Accessed: // :
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms and
Conditions of Use, available at.
Http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and
students discover, use, and build
Content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and
tools to increase productivity and
Of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact
support@jstor.org.
.
Presses Universitaires de France is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize,
preserve and extend access to
International Journal of Sociology.
Http://www.jstor.org
This content downloaded from ... on Thu, Jun :: AM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Page
FIVE PROPOSALS
FOR A SOCIOLOGY
OF LITERATURE
By Albert Memmi
Researcher at the CNRS
In the following, these are only points of reference
For a research in the sociology of literature.
I am not saying this as an oratory or excessive precaution
humility. I must point out, on the contrary, that the elements of this
Were taken from the annual work of a
Research (). We heard from most of our colleagues
Who deal with this nascent discipline (); We have
Tried to draw up an exhaustive and critical bibliography; we
Finally laid the foundations for an initial investigation. But this
Modesty is an integral part of this communi-
In fact, after this one-year inventory,
It is the obvious and excessive delay of this branch of sociology.
Our efforts, at first, are too new; We do not
Not a line of solid precursors, as in socio-
Political or economic system, on which we could
Support, if necessary by refusing them. The few works of
Reference are counted on the fingers of the hand; we know,
Of course, the work of Mme de Stael (), or the search for
Taine with its ternary proposition (), the various notes
Of Marx (), repeated, systematized and supplemented by
() ... on the sociology of literature,
Section of the Sociology Group
Knowledge and Moral Life, under the general direction of Mr. Gurvitch
(CES and VI Section of ....).
() Among others: J. Duvignaud (The Theater), L. Goldmann (Marxism and
Literature), H. Lefvre (On aesthetics), M. Zeraffa (The Roman), R.
Escarpit,
J. Laude, A. Memmi, etc.
() From the literature considered in its relations with social institutions,
Pans, .
() I hasten to say that there is much more in Taine; Do not
To rely on his systematic works but also to re-read his Dreams.
() Gathered by J. Freville, under the general title: On literature
And Vart, Editions sociales, .
- -
This content downloaded from ... on Thu, Jun :: AM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Page
ALBERT MEM MI
Plekhanov ..., historians of literature
And criticism,
Their side, have not entirely
Ignored the sociological aspect
Of their subject of study. By the way, here and there, they try to
Note the part of the society, to put in relation literature
and
Society, to suggest the influence of such social conditions on
Such literary form. But finally all this was either very little
Sociological, too scattered, too fragmentary
or even
superficial.
Finally, we faced a practical discipline-
To create. And I do not mean to upset anyone by
Few colleagues, who are serious about it,
Are still,
generally,
At a time
Problematic
And programmatic
().
The two points are obviously
Linked. We are not sure of the
Way of posing problems,
Nor their hierarchy
; we
Hesitates about the prospects
Methodological,
We do not distinguish
With sufficient vigor
The problems
Specific
problems
Of the General Assembly. Should we prefer to place ourselves
From the perspective of the authors
Or that of the readers, or, as it is said, of the production
Or consumption
? Sometimes, wishing to explain everything
And to study everything, we place a little on the same plane the sale of
Books and psycho-sociology
Of the writer, the distribution circuits
And movements
Literary works.
I'm still thinking about drowning
Pure and simple sociology of literature in the socio-
Art.
In short, if the sociology of literature
Suffers from delay
() common to all sociology, it also suffers from a
Absolute delay, of a specific delay. And perhaps,
We go from there and ask ourselves if this delay does not make sense
particular. We will then try to overcome the causes of
Delay and to specify the conditions for the development of
Of a
Sociology of literature.
You see that I do not have ambition
to begin
Here sociology. I want to try
respond
To the question posed by this colloquium and which,
In my case, becomes the following: what are the pre-
Necessary for the sociology of literature
?
If we wanted to summarize the situation and leave aside
Temporarily
the efforts
The most recent, I think we could
Characterize it
Thus there existed either a sociology of literature,
() I think, for example, of the research of my friends and colleagues: L.
Gold-
Mann or R. Esc.'rpit ... And this is not to minimize, they know, the
Which they have already achieved.
(J In the text said, I may not have stressed enough
On this delay
Relative and banal: Madame de Stael obviously could not give us a
Sociology of literature, nor even Taine. However, the sociology of
Literature is, even today, lagging behind on the sociology of art and
Sociology of knowledge, of which it participates.
- -
This content downloaded from ... on Thu, Jun :: AM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms & Conditions

Page
SOCIOLOGY OF LITERATURE
With all the shortcomings, incoherence and
The superficial that this entails, or a refusal of such a sociology.
It is possible, we have said, to glean precious
In the various writings on the Arts of Literature
(), and up to
In the literature textbooks. There are even trials,
Stammering but obvious, of putting works in contact with
The socio-historical moments in which they emerged, or the
Of an author with his work. The most recent manuals
Almost all now contain chrono-
Social events and events.
Literary works. But we do not think much about going further,
Deeper and more intimate links and, above all, more
If the case is of course possible. Most of the time
It is only, as R. Escarpit points out (), a decoration, that
From the quest for a picturesque. This adds to curiosity,
Excited the spirit of learning that Moliere was playing before the court,
That the success of his plays depended on the approval of a few
Powerful, that a cabal could ruin Racine ... At best,
It is an additional preamble or chapter,
More common in literature courses, but finally
One chapter among the others, and generally the least integrated,
The most hors d'oeuvre.
In a way, the refusal of any sociology of the lit-
I find it more vigorous and more enlightening, I confess,
Than this sociology, which is hidden and ignorant of itself. Resolved-
Works are considered in themselves, out of the ordinary
Social context, as well as outside any psy-
Chic. Dismissive of any genetic perspective
As any social destination of the literary fact. Only the work
Completed, become an autonomous object, account. This refusal also
Of a true tradition, certainly more ancient,
Very tenacious and significant. The literary fact seems to benefit,
In this perspective, a kind of respect, common to all
To the religious fact and even to the fact of thought in general. he
Is incomprehensible in its genesis and unpredictable in its
Fate; It raises, as they say, a certain mystery. Compared
To the author, it is the theory of genius which would arise unexpectedly,
Inexplicable in the history of human passions and thoughts;
In relation to the mechanisms of creation, it is the theory
Romantic inspiration; The work has neither intention nor
Destination, meaning or purpose, or a signifi-
() The expression which seems to me to be excellent is, I believe,
Has made it the title of one of his works.
() R. Escarpit, Sociology of literature,
P. , PUF (collection: "Que
Do I know? "), Paris, .
- -
This content downloaded from ... on Thu, Jun :: AM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Page
ALBERT M EM Ml
Cation and purpose, so extraordi-
That they no longer have anything in common with the
Human resources.
We can then understand the a priori impossibility, the vanity of
Any attempt at sociological explanation; We understand that they
Appear, in a certain way, scandalous. It's here
The origin of a certain literary terrorism, customary of the faithful
Literary chapels and quite common elsewhere. To obstinate
To attack the literary work from the point of view of scientific
Or quasi-scientific, certain sanctions are incurred ...
Social problems, ranging from irony to anger.
Then a "Pharisee", one has the "destructive" spirit, of all
It is not thus that one will arrive "at the bottom of things".
Everything happens finally as if played a fairly strong mechanism
Of defense; As if sociology had or need to ignore itself
To advance or refuse as soon as it becomes aware
Of itself ().
Why this refusal? Is it completely unmotivated? If I am
Here and if I chose this theme of communication, it is, of course,
That I believe possible a sociology of literature; possible
And legitimate. There is no a priori reason why literature,
And art, and all the productions of the human mind, escape
To a scientific investigation. However, I believe that there
An explanation for this purpose of inadmissibility, to this hesitation,
At least, to approach the literary fact thus. And that this refusal
Is significant. I believe that attempts at explanation have,
Literature has become a real risk
The scientific explanation has too often resulted in
To destroy its own object. I will take only two
Examples: one in sociology, the other in psychology,
Which are probably the two royal ways of access to
Understanding of the literary fact.
Let us begin with the psychological attempt, which is the
Known and which was the furthest: the psychoanalytic attempt.
What was the result of the psychoanalytic approach? Despite
The prophetic warnings of Freud, his own precautions
Shakespeare himself had to deal with
() I believe, that despite appearances, this taboo by excess of respect
Can be compared to a certain aggressiveness, a little comic, towards the
Works and authors not understood: "This Picasso," said one per-
Sounds of my knowledge, I would slap him! In both cases the work appears
Unfamiliar and unattainable.
() It has been objected that I have exaggerated the part of this refusal. It is
obviously not
Not a systematic and dogmatic refusal. However, it is a fact that
Finds nothing about the literary fact among the last great sociologists. How
Explain this absence?
- -
This content downloaded from ... on Thu, Jun :: AM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 Page
SOCIOLOGY OF LITERATURE
For example, his descendants end up not seeing in the artist
A patient, and logically, by anticipating the end of the litera-
(). If this is the ultimate service rendered by the learned psychoanalyst,
Lyst literature, it will be understood that the literary
To pass from this ruinous aid ().
The Marxist attempt, which will be our second example,
Is more fragmentary, less systematic so far; However
There is no doubt that it also leads to denial of self-
To the vanishing of its specificity. It
To leaf through a few copies of the Moscow magazine Lit-
The Soviet Union. The literary fact is considered a fact
"Jdanov:" The first criterion
Of any work of art (is) the degree of fidelity with which it
Represents reality (). In other words, the nature of the
Literature is reduced to something other than itself. Can we say
Really that these very many works that do not care
"Represent reality" are not for that reason authen-
Literary? They can be denied, ignored,
Exist no less. To quote another Marxist,
Size, Lenin: "The facts are terribly eternal ..." In short,
Like the psychoanalytic effort, the Marxist effort passes by
Of the specificity of the literary fact. Wanting to reduce it, to better
And certainly to master it, it must be admitted -
He eventually made him disappear.
We conclude, in both cases, with a species of
paradox. The scientific grasp seems to destroy its own object,
That is to say, ultimately to deny itself.
Is there only this alternative, this dilemma between the
Taboo () and the destruction, the untouchable opacity of the litera-
() Just as the founder of religion was overcome, so must he
To be surmounted the man artist, who must change himself into a
doctor. The creators
Become artists of healing ..., etc. (Otto Rank).
() On these methodological and de facto relationships between
psychoanalysis and
Literature, I would refer to the chapter "Literature and psycho-
Nalysis "written by A. Memmi and Dr de M'Uzan, in the Trait de
psychanalyse
P.UF. To Daratre).
() Cited by R. Escarpit, o. C, p. .
() To this taboo, there is another cause, which I reserve until further
Development. Literature happens to be, in many cases, a way
Society to become aware of itself. This observation, this mirror, as we
know,
Is rarely pleasant. Hence, if one reflects on it, two possible attitudes:
We deny it or we fight it. That is what is happening. Literature
Is charged and the writer actually condemned; The tribute paid by
The writers to coercion and punishment is surprisingly heavy ..., or
The literary fact is considered a fact of pure fantasy: a
Delirium; Genial or stupid, which amounts to the same in this perspective of
Of the literary fact of social life. We see that the refusal of
Artists to be "sociologized" joined a certain refusal of the society itself,
Even to allow the literary fact to be illuminated, and thus to clarify itself.
- -
This content downloaded from ... on Thu, Jun :: AM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Page
ALBERT MEM MI
Or its reduction and therefore its fainting? That is to say
In both cases: the impossibility of a sociology of literature.
If I believe it is necessary to go beyond this
In the sociology of literature, I repeat that the impasses
Which are generally achieved are highly significant
Cations. And that is why I stressed the difficulties
Encountered
So far. I believe that one can learn from these
To avoid falling into new dead-ends and
To make constructive proposals. The results of
Effort, I thought I could state them in the form of
Five proposals that will follow.
. Consider the literary fact as a socio-
The - This will be our first proposal, on which
The world will, I think, agree, at least all sociologists.
Whatever the difficulties that follow, this is a
Minimal condition, which simply means
Adopt a sociological attitude before the literary fact.
(You will note that I did not say: as a "phenomenon
Social ", in any case not merely as a phenomenon
Social; We have to see as it goes.)
But are we going to face the risk that most
Sociological attempts?
. Do not reduce the literary fact to something else
We see at once the necessity of this
Second proposal that limits and at the same time completes first.
We must admit a priori a certain opacity of the
Literary, opacity which must be precisely explained. Under the pretext
Understanding literary fact could be seen quickly,
Too quickly, brought back to something else: its specific
Appeared. This is really a lazy attitude and can I
Ie, dogmatic? The reduction, if possible, can not be
Perhaps a result, a distant result, at the end of the search
Scientific and not asked at the beginning. On the contrary, this
The specificity to be explained if one wishes to found a socio-
Of the literature. Let us start with this specificity and
Therefore the literary fact as an x, which can not be reduced to another
Fact, nor even to another sociological fact.
. The literary fact is a fact of value. - Good
Heard, you will immediately tell me: but what is
This specificity? The question is now urgent and
Calls for this third proposal, to which I confess
More so than others. It is perhaps, for having misunderstood
This characteristic (the literary fact is a fact of value) that
- -
This content downloaded from ... on Thu, Jun :: AM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Page
SOCIOLOGY OF LITERATURE
Most attempts, however meritorious, have failed
The literary fact, spoke of other things or drowned in
Too large.
I do not agree with our colleague Escarpit when
He writes: "We are not looking for any criterion of value" (), or
"It is well understood that we do not define literature as
Ture by any qualifying criterion ... "().
The value disappeared, what then differentiates a work
Of any paper covered with signs? The book
Poem or the novel, for example, of the newspaper? Escarpit
Indirectly responds to this objection, I know well, in pre-
Nevertheless stating that the literature is nonfunctional,
That it is free. That is not enough, of course.
Indicates that what the literature is not. If we
There, the detective novels of the "black series" of Gallimard
Would be the height of literature, since one can not dream more
Perfectly free. One sees that one is obliged to arrive at
Positive and particular characteristics of the literary fact.
Escarpit, moreover, wishing to illuminate this gratuitousness a little,
Adds that the literature satisfies a "non-cultural
Utility ". But what is this non-utilitarian cultural need?
What corresponds to it in the literary work and which satisfies
Does this need? And is it not evident that this is more or less
Less present and sometimes perfectly absent? And is it not
Not what makes one work literary and another
no ?
Indeed, I believe that we must, on the contrary,
Characteristic value. I do not say that it will be a mania-
I know that it will give us a lot of
All the more difficult because it will be the main
The object of the efforts of all ... Sociology of Precision Literature
Seed; At least, I think so.
I propose, on the contrary, to distinguish right away
A Sociology of Writing and a Sociology of Literature. That
Our ambitions but this clarifies the scope of our
research. Faced with this dynamic event that is the object
Printed, which has a particular duration, and moreover complex
And multiple, it will necessarily require several efforts to arrive at
To its full understanding, from its genesis and, throughout
Of his destiny. It will of course require a sociology of the author
And a sociology of the reader, a sociology of printing and a
Sociology of publishing, a sociology of distribution and
() O. c, p. .
() Ibid., P. .
- -
This content downloaded from ... on Thu, Jun :: AM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Page
ALBERT MEMMI
Bookshop ... (And we are talking here only of sociology, it is clear
That other disciplines should also be used: psycho-
Logic, history, history of ideas, etc.). But what
Importing, it seems to me, is a privileged sociology of the fail
Literary: the sociology of what is proper to the literary fact,
That is to say, of that which in itself does not coincide with other things,
Nor with the written word as a commodity nor as a product of trans-
Training, etc.
I apologize for insisting so long on this notion of
Value, but it seems to me that it is necessarily in this
The direction we need to push if we are to
The true sociology of literature and not
problems.
. The literary fact is not a fact of knowledge.
- The previous assertion, the character of value, allows us
To avoid another danger: the drowning of the sociology of the bed-
In the sociology of knowledge.
The relationship between the sociology of literature and socio-
Logy of knowledge raise a set of problems
Important, and exciting, that would deserve
study ; And I apologize for being able to only touch them
Here and in
The only prospect of this congress. I apologize all the more
To talk about it too quickly, I might not make myself understood.
Let's try. I do not mean to say that the sociology of
Literature is not part of the sociology of knowledge
(As in another way it is also part of the
Sociology of art). I say simply: the literary fact is not
Not only a fact of knowledge and the sociology of
Literature is not only a chapter in the sociology of
knowledge.
A literary fact can teach us something,
Is part of the author's intentions, usually
less. This is how literature contributes to knowledge
And communication. But the literary fact is not first
A fact of knowledge and above all it is not that that: it is other
Thing; Now, this other thing is essential in its determination.
In support of what I have just said, the only way
To conduct a survey of authors and
Readers; This is what we will try to do in the pro-
chain. But I think we can easily see that:
(A) It is neither a document nor the result of an investigation.
Novel can also be a document, but if it were only
A good tape recorder, well hidden in the office of a
Psychologist, would advantageously replace the novelist. (And
- -
This content downloaded from ... on Thu, Jun :: AM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Page
SOCIOLOGY OF LITERATURE
This is what jokingly tells me, barely, certain
Psycho-sociologists of my friends!) If it were only a question of "
Social reality (Jdanov), a collection of newspapers
Would be superior to all the novels of the same period.
(B) It can not be reduced to meanings,
Nor to meanings
Psychological, revealing of psychisms and behaviors
Individual, nor to social meanings. To treat the fact lit-
Essentially as a sign of significance, such as
The fact my colleague and friend, Lucien Goldmann, lets escape
Again, the characteristic of the literary fact.
I know that Goldmann adds that the sociology of
Literature must also deal with the coherence between the content
And the form of the work (). But this is a matter of proportions
And hierarchy, it seems clear to me that for Goldmann the
Is what he calls the concept of meaningful structure.
If we look first at the meaning of
Is there a difference between a literary book and a book
Not successful? There is a risk that the paradox will be:
Often mediocre books are more full of meaning.
As successful books. Should we then say that they are more
Literary works? One sees in what absurd situation one risks
The least successful would be the most literary.
In short, if the fact of literature always
Of the meanings, as a consequence of the material used by
The Arts of Literature, that is to say the words, I do not think it
First of all a fact of significance. We forget too much,
In this perspective and in many others, that sociology
Of literature must also be a sociology of the fan-
(). Of course, it can be said that, in a way,
Fancy informs, that it also contains signifi-
Cations.
But it informs so indirectly and variedly,
That all his discoveries, disguises, leaks, exquisite ruses
Occupy us at least as much in themselves as by
Which they claim to teach us. And that the sociology of
Fantasy is above all the sociology of these games of the spirit and
Sensitivity - if we manage to do it, of course.
() I am willing, once again, to go even further and
Says: "Literature does not exist or no longer exists. "Let us see then
That there is no sociology of literature either.
() Cf. besides the "hidden God" (ed. Gallimard), "The contribution of
thought
Marxist to literary criticism ". In Arauments. Nos. -. rd year.
() One could still distinguish a sociology of the vow, a notion on which
I have already given some indications. On the relationship with the fantasy,
it
Development.
- -
This content was downloaded from ... on Thu, Jun ::
AM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 Page
ALBERT MEMMI
. The literary fact is not a technique of action.
- We see how we arrive, always as logically
(It is reassuring that all these proposals are
Pellent Tune the other) to this idea: that the literary fact did not,
Does not seek another efficacy than its own: it is not
Not a technique of action external to its own end. he
Is neither an instrument of propaganda nor a method of persuasion.
Otherwise a poster drawn to a considerable number of copies,
The speech of a beloved general of his soldiers, would be more
A literary fact that a text of Goethe, or better than the speech
Of a theater-general devised by Shakespeare; which is
false.
Those are the five proposals I wanted to make,
too fast. You see that I do not, strictly speaking,
The content of this sociology; It is rather
The expression, from prolegomena to a sociology of
literature. It seemed essential to me to agree
On these points: what is the sociology of literature and
What is its proper object?
But we are already sketching the specific problems
Of this sociology and the directions in which it will
to commit. We have seen this notion of value imposed upon us.
I am convinced that if we do not define the literary fact as
A fact of value, one misses it. It now seems to me that our
The most urgent task is to inventory and clarify this concept
valuable.
What is, for example, the relationship between value
And social forms? We may see that this value is
Dynamic and historical, house will also see at the same time this
Which, in itself, is linked to a particular social form and what escapes
To a particular social form. It is not because we
Want to make a sociology that we should not see what
Escapes social forms ... if not perhaps sociology.
For this, it will first be necessary to advance a little more in the nature
Of the literary fact and of its finality. If I wanted to summarize
Formulates this finality, I would say that it resides in a dialectic
Jubilation-Communication
(Here I give you some landmarks
Still insured, on which I wish to return
Longer). It is, I believe, a question of
a certain
Jubilation by means of a communication
And to obtain
Communication through the intermediary of a jubi-
Tion. (That is why, by the way, the problems of
Are so important: they command and the
Communication and jubilation. These are both problems
Techniques and problems of the public; It seems impossible
- -
This content downloaded from ... on Thu, Jun :: AM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Page
SOCIOLOGY OF LITERATURE
To dissociate the two terms of this dialectic).
Analysis, we can perhaps see what is temporalized and what
Do not test. It is probable that we find here, under a
Sociological form, the Freudian distinction between pleasures
Preliminaries which are highly temporalized (ie, for
Us, the phenomena of fashion, of passing success, of taste
Period, style, etc.) and the profound enjoyments, corresponding
To the satisfaction of deep impulses, and which, therefore, exceed
le temps particulier d'une poque ; d'o cette impression d'absolu,
d'hors-du-temps. Mais nous voyons, du mme coup, comment
cet aspect du fait littraire et de la valeur, qui semble chapper,
qui chappe rellement telle forme sociale donne, est cependant
rejoint par une sociologie plus comprehensive et plus globale,
puisqu'elle porte sur un ensemble humain qui transcende
such
ou tel temps particulier.
Quelles sont, par ailleurs, les composantes de cette notion
de valeur, la hirarchie de ces composantes ?
Et est-ce que cette hirarchie n'a pas vari au cours du temps
et n'est-elle pas justement en train de varier sous nos yeux ?
C'est ce que nous a suggr, au cours d'un remarquable expos (),
mon collgue et ami, H. Lefevre, en disant que nous tions en
train de passer de la catgorie du beau celle de l'intressant .
En tout tat de cause le chef-d'uvre
serait peut-tre l'uvre
qui runirait le plus de ces composantes : beaut et intrt,
signification et cohrence, etc.
Mais nous voil dj. en train d'amorcer cette sociologie
de la littrature et tel n'tait pas mon propos.
CNRS
Paris.
DISCUSSION
DES COMMUNICATIONS
DE MM. J. DUVIGNAUD
ET A. MEMMI
J. Laude. - J'voquerai un problme sensiblement
analogue celui qu'a
analys J. Duvignaud, propos des interprtations
allemandes et franaises
de Shakespeare. Il concerne les rencontres
des arts ngres par les artistes de
l'cole de Paris et par les expressionnistes
allemands, partir de .
Le regard que nous posons sur une statuette africaine n'est pas libre.
Entre nous et cet objet, s'interpose un cran culturel : en France, nous
voyons,
peu ou prou, l'art ngre travers une vision dj forme par le cubisme. In
Allemagne, la vision fut forme par l'expressionnisme.
Cet cran sur lequel
doivent porter les analyses est ce point intgr notre perception que nous
ne pouvons le pressentir
qu'antithtiquement,
par rapport un cran culturel
autre.
L'interprtation
de Yart ngre par l'expressionnisme
se situe dans une
() Nous publierons peut-tre,
si nous en trouvons les moyens matriels
l'ensemble des communications
de cette anne.
- -
This content downloaded from ... on Thu, Jun
:: AM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Page
JEAN DUVIGNAUD, ALBERT MEMMI
Allemagne archaque, psychologiquement et sociologiquement, qui se voit
industrialise et urbanise, en masse et sans transition, en ans. Il s'ensuit
un traumatisme dans la conscience de tout un peuple, qui se traduit par une
srie d'oppositions vcues : individu et socit, culture et civilisation, nature
et ville, instinct et raison, art et industrie. Spengler, le Th. Mann des
Consi-
drations de , Frobnius en tireront une idologie qui a, dans l'art, son
quivalent : recours l'instinct, YUrnaiur, aux puissances du rve, aux par-
ticipations cosmiques. Le dveloppement de l'ethnologie et des Muses
donne
ces recours des arguments rfrentiels qui les fortifient.
A Paris, le problme se pose diffremment : artistes et potes se veulent
rsolument modernes. Ils ne contestent pas les progrs scientifiques et tech-
niques, ils les exaltent : ainsi Lger et Delaunay, Apollinaire et Cendrars. Of
ce point de vue, l'art ngre est considr, en raison de ses structures
formelles
dans le cadre d'une transformation des structures spatiales. Si le mme terme
de barbare se retrouve sous la plume des artistes allemands et franais, c'est
avec des sens diffrents. Le cubisme entend signifier qu'il est un art qui
commence, l'expressionnisme qu'il veut retrouver le geste de V Urmensch.
Sur la base de ces observations, je crois qu'il y a intrt choisir des sries
diffrentielles : elle permettent de mettre en relief des lments de
rgression
ou de progression et de spcifier des niveaux qualitatifs, malgr les appa-
rences uniformes.
Mlle de Queiroz. - Je m'excuse d'aborder un sujet qui n'est pas du tout
de ma spcialit et je crois que la seule excuse que je puisse prsenter ici,
c'est
qu'en , tant lve de la Facult de Philosophie de SSo Paulo, au Brsil,
j'ai suivi un cours extrmement intressant de M. Bastide sur la sociologie
de l'art, approfondissant un ouvrage qu'il avait dj publi au Brsil en
sur la sociologie de l'Art.
J'ai l'impression que les difficults que M. Duvignaud a soulignes
dans son expos avec beaucoup de vigueur, ressentissent surtout au pro-
blme de la cration dans l'Art, mais bfen peu au problme de la
consommation
de l'art. Et je me demande si ce n'est pas l le premier point tudier pour
tablir
une diffrenciation
justement entre ce qu'est une sociologie de l'Art et ce qu'est
une esthtique. Je suis tout fait d'accord avec M. Memmi, le fait littraire
est en soi une valeur ; seulement cette valeur existe dans un contexte social
toujours et il faut essayer de cerner ce qu'il reprsente, ce qu'il signifie pour
l'auditoire qu'il atteint. Il peut atteindre un trs petit auditoire de gens
initie d'un petit groupe artistique, comme il peut atteindre un auditoire
beaucoup plus vaste. Et alors je me demande si pour cerner cette diffrence
trs difficile tablir entre une sociologie de l'art et une esthtique, il ne faut
pas laisser de ct le problme encore plus difficile de la cration, de la
cration
gniale surtout, pour essayer de faire, modestement, un essai de sociologie
du public, ou une sociologie de l'auditoire ou une sociologie de la
consommation
de l'art.
Je pense la thse extrmement intressante que Gilda de Melo Souza
a consacre la mode au xixe sicle, dans laquelle l'auteur parle de la mode
comme d'un phnomne social dans le contexte de cette socit du xixe
sicle
et o elle essaie de voir comment cette mode est une expression de cette
socit,
comment elle exerce une influence sur le mode de vie de cette socit et
comment
pour les uns elle reprsente le moyen d'atteindre une classe sociale qui est
au-
dessus d'eux, et comment pour les autres elle est un moyen de dfense
contre
cette classe infrieure qui veut monter.
Je me permets encore de dire, au sujet de la littrature, que d'une manire
gnrale, il faudrait tendre le dbat : nous sommes enferms ici dans le
cadre
de la socit occidentale et je me permets de vous rappeler que M.
Leenhardt,
dont je fus aussi l'lve, parlait des socits ocaniennes o l'art n'tait pas
- -
This content downloaded from ... on Thu, Jun
:: AM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Page
DISCUSSION
un produit de la socit, o il n'tait pas non plus un refus ou une raction
contre la socit ; il tait au contraire un moyen d'adaptation la socit.
Alors je me demande, s'il ne faudrait pas peut-tre, puisque nous sommes
plus loigns de ces socits primitives, tourner nos regards vers ces
socits
qui nous paraissent plus pittoresques et essayer de voir, toujours dans
l'emploi de
l'art et toujours dans la consommation de l'art, quoi il sert dans ces
socits.
MG Gurvitch. - J'ai cout avec beaucoup d'attention et d'intrt les
deux communications de Duvignaud et de Memmi. Je voudrais surtout poser
une question, faire une petite objection Memmi. Il a dit, et c'tait approuv
par Mlle de Queiroz, que les faits littraires tudis par la sociologie sont
des
faits relevant des valeurs ; et Memmi a conclu de l qu'ils dbordaient la
socio-
logie de la connaissance, ou se sparaient mme de la sociologie de la
connaissance. Or, ce sujet, je me permets de faire remarquer qu'il y a toute
une srie de genres de connaissances qui sont pntrs par des valeurs : par
exemple la connaissance politique l'est entirement ; la connaissance directe
d'Autrui et des Nous l'est galement, mais un moindre degr ; et nous tra-
vaillons beaucoup ce que la connaissance sociologique le soit aussi peu
que
possible, mais elle reste encore pntre de valeurs. Et si l'on acceptait ce
critre que tout ce qui touche une chelle de valeurs ne relve plus de la
sociologie de la connaissance, il est vident que ce qui resterait la
sociologie
de la connaissance serait peu de chose. Je fais donc une rserve ce sujet.
Je crois que de la constatation indiscutable que le fait littraire est pntr
par les valeurs, il n'en dcoule pas pour autant qu'il est exclu du domaine
de la sociologie de la connaissance. Cela ne veut pas dire qu'il n'y ait pas
d'autres disciplines, mme sociologiques, qui doivent intervenir, parce que
dans
la littrature, trs souvent, les valeurs morales sont mises en cause et il est
vident que la sociologie de la littrature touche galement la sociologie
de
la morale et, plus forte raison, qu'elle fait directement partie de la
sociologie
de l'art. A ceci s'ajoute encore le fait que dans les diffrentes socits, la lit-
trature, comme l'a trs bien fait remarquer Mlle de Queiroz, peut avoir des
fonctions sociales diffrentes. Et pour autant que, par exemple, l'art (parce
que nous pensons ici aux socits qui n'ont pour ainsi dire pas de littrature,
aux socits sans criture) entre dans un certain symbolisme mythologique,
dans l'ensemble des reprsentations mythologiques d'une socit, le pro-
blme se pose dans des socits archaques, d'une faon tout fait diffrente
de celle o il se pose dans nos socits historiques de diffrents genres.
Enfin, la dernire remarque que je voulais faire et qui sera trs brve,
c'est qu'en gnral, quand on pose un problme en sociologie, que ce soit la
sociologie de la connaissance ou que ce soit la morphologie sociale, on
arrive
finalement toujours aux phnomnes sociaux totaux. Alors on part de la
socio-
logie de la littrature pour arriver la sociologie tout court ; on prend des
points de dpart diffrents,
mais on arrive toujours des situations d'ensemble.
Ce qui a manqu, mon avis, dans ces deux confrences, c'est l'ide de
la transposition qu'il y a dans l'art et la littrature. L'art et la littrature
peuvent tre conformistes, ils peuvent tre rvolutionnaires ; l'artiste et
l'crivain peuvent tre des isols ou ne pas l'tre ; mais de toute faon, ils
transposent d'une certaine manire une situation sociale. Et je crois qu'il
faudrait insister beaucoup sur ce manque d'immdiatet, pour ainsi dire,
sur le fait qu'il y a ici un tage de transfert de problmes qui agitent habituel-
lement dj la socit et qui sont traits d'une autre faon que d'habitude.
J.-P. Faye. - Ce que disait Jean Duvignaud en voquant une mort de
Dieu esthtique dfinit un point de rupture dans le langage. Une lettre de
Mallarm dcrit son combat avec ce vieux et mchant plumage - Dieu.
Une lettre de Rimbaud Izambard - du mai - le montre en grve
- -
ABEERg INTERN. DE SOCIOLOGIE

This content downloaded from ... on Thu, Jun

:: AM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Page
JEAN DUVIGNAUD, ALBERT MEM MI
(quand les colores folles me poussent vers la bataille de Paris ). En fait,
Rimbaud n'a pas pu rejoindre le Paris de la Commune, mais toujours en mai,
quatre mois avant le Bateau ivre, il crit Paris se repeuple.
C'est partir de cette grve que rcriture va s'engager sur la route de
Rimbaud, dans une tentative Bans fin pour se dsocialiser, pour cesser d'tre
mise en condition par ses cadres sociaux et refuser d'tre le miroir sur la
grande route. Au bout de cet effort vers un dconditionnement, il y a, dans
eon ghetto, le roman de Robbe*Grillet par exemple* Mais voici le paradoxe
:
il peut apparatre tout coup que ce degr zro lui-mme se fait miroir ; and
l'espace dsert du Voyeur renvoie curieusement un certain espace bien
franais... Un morceau d'toffe, des mgote, une chane de bicyclette sont l
malgr lui et inscrivent une culpabilit indfiniment rature, dmentie, sur-
charge d'alibis et de bonnes raisons : cette fille sous la falaise n'a pas t
tor-
ture, viole, jete dane le vide, et cette sorte de mai du Voyeur doit tre
toujours recommence. Sur un bord oppos Nedjma de Kateb Yacine, paru
la mme dat, se veut dlibrment engag dans la vie historique d'un
peuple,
dans son ambigut et sa rvolte. Mais presque insu de l'auteur il revt
travers des images obsdantes une dimension mythique. Le rocher de Cirta-
Constantine dessine un peron promthen, et Lakhdar dans Le cadavre
encercl est finalement clou sur l'arbre. Dcouvrant plus tard Eschyle,
Kateb
Yacine s'interrogera sur cette rptition des gestes tragiques, pardessus
l'histoire.
Ce que je voulais dire, c'est que les relations entre les formes esthtiques et
les gestes sociaux ne sont pas univoques : sans doute celles-l sont lies
ceux-
ci, mais par des liens dtourns. Ainsi Dostoevski voulait, en bon disciple
d'Eugne Sue, mettre en accusation une conspiration mondiale des Jsuites.
Kafka voulait dessiner dans ses paraboles administratives le dilemme de
Kierkegaard. Mais par le dtour de ce que Nathalie Sarraute appelle
Justement
leur divination, l'un a dessin la singulire destine du stalinisme russe,
l'autre
a trac la maquette de l'univers concentrationnaire.
ML H am on. - M. Memmi a eu raison de souligner que l'analyse socio-
logique ne pouvait pas dissoudre la spcificit de l'uvre d'art ; mais le pro-
blme n'est-il pas beaucoup plus gnral ? La connaissance ne dissout pas la
ralit de l'objet sur lequel elle porte. C'est une rgle gnrale. Ainsi on peut
faire une sociologie de la mode. On ne dtruira fort heureusement pas, pour
autant, le charme fminin et son attrait.
En quoi consiste donc la spcificit de l'objet ? Il faudrait sans doute tenir
ici compte la fois des phnomnes de cration et de consommation pour
reprendre la terminologie employe. Il y a aussi la diversit des attitudes de
l'individu vis--vis de la socit justement note par M. Duvignaud - et cette
pluralit d'attitudes individuelles- se distingua de la sociologie caractrise
par un essai de vue globale. Toujours il s'agit de comprendre que le progrs
de la connaissance ne dtruit pas la ralit de l'objet sur lequel elle porte.
MJ Duvignaud. - Je voudrais d'abord rpondre M. Laude. The
romanciers sont moins maudite que les potes parce qu'il y a chez tout
romancier un effort pour rcuprer la socit tout entire ou l'exprience
humaine dans sa plnitude. D'autre part, les esthtiques prennent des sens
diffrents suivant les cadres sociaux. L'influence de l'art ngre (qui cor-
respond sans doute une nostalgie propre aux civilisations industrielles)
n'est
pas la mme en Allemagne et en France. En France, on peut dire que la
pein-
ture est institutionnalise , aussi s'empare-t-elle de l'art ngre pour
l'intgrer
ses recherches dont la continuit parat absolue depuis Fouquet jusqu'
Braque. C'est radicalement diffrent de ce qui se passe en Allemagne o
l'expressionnisme est une explosion sans prcdent. Quant ce qu'a dit
M. Fy, en effet, une certaine littrature romanesque, avec Robbe-Grillet,
- -
This content downloaded from ... on Thu, Jun
:: AM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 Page
DISCUSSION
cherche s'enfermer dans un ghetto, un laboratoire pour intellectuel, au
moment o la socit contemporaine est mise brutalement en contact avec
d'autres socits et d'autres valeurs. Pour Kateb Yacine, il ne faut jamais
perdre de vue le double contexte d'une Algrie qui cherche son
indpendance
et d'une culture, la ntre, que Kateb Yacine a assimile compltement. Je
crois que Mlle de Queiroz m'a mal entendu ! La sociologie de la cration
artistique dans sa plnitude ou sa totalit, tend viter tous les dangers dont
vous parlez. Cela implique d'abord d'avoir un rapport si faible soit-il avec ce
genre d'exprience. Plus encore, cela exige de ne jamais sparer cette
exprience
du type de socit o elle merge et des cadres sociaux contre lesquels elle
entre en lutte. Je ne suis pas d'accord avec mon ami Memmi. La valeur
non plus n'est pas separable des cadres sociaux. Il est curieux que ce terme
de valeur n'ait t introduit en art qu'avec les civilisations industrielles
modernes o il prend un sens en conomie ! On ne peut tudier le march
de la peinture comme le fait en ce moment Mlle Raymonde Moulin au
CNRS que dans les perspectives de la socit moderne.
MA Memmi. - Nous connaissons le travail de M. Bastide en portugais ;
je vous signale qu'il est en traduction actuellement par une de nos collabora-
trices. Il y a videmment d'autres tudes : je ne les ai pas cites pour ne
pas tomber dans l'talage de fiches, ce que je ne voulais pas. Nous tcherons
de faire la recension de tout ce qui existe actuellement, dont le travail de
M. Bastide.
Un mot seulement au sujet de la valeur ; j'y tiens beaucoup. Il est indis-
pensable de redfinir le fait de littrature comme un fait de valeur et on
constate que chaque fois qu'on s'en est cart on l'a rat ; je n'ai pas dit en
quoi la valeur consistait exactement, surtout je n'ai pas dit que la valeur
rside uniquement au niveau de la cration. Je dis que la valeur reste
dfinir
et je vous en ai donn un aperu trop rapide ; j'en suis dsol. Est-ce que la
valeur rside dans l'importance de l'uvre ? Est-ce que c'est sa cohrence
interne ? Mon collgue Lefebvre nous a fait une confrence, il y a quelque
temps, pour nous dire que c'est une valeur nouvelle, intressant et
qui va probablement supplanter les deux autres. Toutes ces conceptions
sont discuter. Je dis et je rpte simplement que comme prolgomne
toute recherche future sur la sociologie de la littrature, il faut redfinir le
fait littraire comme un phnomne de valeur, sans quoi on le rate. Je n'ai
jamais dit que c'tait un phnomne individuel, au contraire, j'ai dit qu'il
fallait provoquer une jubilation par une communication et une communi-
cation par une jubilation.
Quant MG Gurvitch, il me tend un pige... Je suis d'autant moins
dispos entrer en dsaccord avec lui, que c'est lui qui m'a suggr de m'oc-
cuper, dans le cadre de la sociologie de la connaissance, de la sociologie de
la
littrature. Donc il tait bien entendu au dpart que la sociologie de la litt-
rature tait une partie de la sociologie de la connaissance, cependant :
chemin
faisant, je m'aperois qu'il y a davantage ; ce n'est pas une question de mots,
de dfinition. Si l'on ramne le fait littraire un fait de connaissance, un
fait de signification, je prtends qu'il risque de s'vanouir. Si nous entendons
par sociologie de la connaissance galement la sociologie d'un certain
nombre
de domaines o le thme de valeur est fortement accentu, alors, oui, cela
fait indiscutablement partie de la sociologie de la connaissance. J'ai voulu
dire
qu' l'intrieur de cette conception un peu grandiose de la sociologie de la
connaissance, il faut rserver un domaine o la sociologie de la littrature a
une certaine originalit : c'est un fait spcifique.
- -
This content downloaded from ... on Thu, Jun
:: AM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions