Literature: The Relationship Between Literature And Society

“It is widely admitted that the literature of any given period on the one hand and the social, economic, and political forces of that period on the other are in some important way interconnected” ( Witte).

The idea that literature reflects society is at least as old as Plato's concept of imitation. In the history of ideas, it is an observation of old provenance that the arts in general, and literature in particular, have increasingly proffered a "secular spirituality" in the aftermath of the Enlightenment.

Sociological study of literature began in the 19th century in western countries. In the last century, it developed with much rigour and sophistication. Attempts made so far by different sociologists and social critics to analyze the links of literature and society are of varying nature. There are some scholars who follow deterministic approach and they think that literary works are shaped by the social and historical forces of the time and understanding those is the valid way of understanding. There are others for whom literature is a force ahead of the time ‘indicating new ideas and paths of progress. (Sharma 2013)

The expression 'sociology of literature' covers two very different types of research, bearing respectively on literature as a consumer product and literature as an integral part of social reality, or, considered from another angle, bearing on society as the place of literary consumption and society as the subject of literary creation.

The relation between Literature and Society:

The relationship between literature and society is multifaceted and is discussed by literary scholars and sociologists alike. Albrecht (1954) examines three characterizations of this relationship: 1) that literature reflects society;...

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... If we try to analyze the content of novels which have come in this period we see the Vettichakiri, Exploitation of Nizams, Land Problems, Tax problems, the role of Andramahasabha, the role of communists, Granthalayodymam, people’s resistence and its nature etc. During 1970s writers were trying to capture the peasant revolt in Northern part of Telangana ( in Adilabad and Karimnagar dist. ), which was influenced by the peasant revolt in the Northern costal Andhra popularly known as Srikakulam Peasant struggle. In the same period there was also the labor movement in Singareni Coal mines. Literature of this period was also sensitive to this movement. During 1990s the literary corpus was pre-occupied itself in depicting the effects of globalization on various aspects of village life. In this period there was a rise in the identity literature.