Socjologii literatury w Polsce zapowiedź narodzin

Abstract

The beginnings of Polish sociology of literature are closely connected with positivist concepts of the role of men of letters. The discussion of this problem started as early as the mid nineteenth century, when the mainstream sociology was still a novice field of study. The sub-discipline in question owes its early development to critics, theoreticians of literature, and writers themselves. It took some decades before sociologists (Ludwik Krzywicki, Stanisław Ossowski or Jan S. Bystroń) focused, at least for some time, on the field of literature, its creators and reading public. The present article discusses the early manifestations of “sociological” thinking in the discourse about literature.