Littéraires et sociologues: enjeux interdisciplinaires d’une redéfinition de la littérature comme dispositif d’intelligibilité du social

Abstract

In the context of what seems to be known in France as the “crisis of literature,” one of the solutions often put forward over the past two or three decades is to invoke the epistemic capacities of literary works, in order to argue their usefulness and legitimacy. Literature specialists, but also representatives of other fields of study thus speak of a sociological, historical or philosophical knowledge, which would be possible through literature. This situation brings to light the question of interdisciplinary relations in the French intellectual and academic field. This article proposes the analysis of such a confrontation between literary figures and sociologists, around the notions of implicit sociology of literature and novelistic sociology. We try to show, through the examination of the discussions on this subject between intellectuals such as Bernard Lahire, Jacques Dubois, Nathalie Heinich, etc., that the strong enhancement of literary works by the use of the idea of knowledge through literature could lead, in return, to critical questioning of the importance and legitimacy of literary studies.