پژوهشگاه علوم انسانی ومطالعات فرهنگی غرب شناسی بنیادی 2383-0581 16 2 2026 01 21 Reconstructing the Sociology of Art through Lukács’s Theory of the Novel: A Critical Reading of Western Modern Aesthetics" بازسازی جامعه‌شناسی هنر از طریق نظریه رمان لوکاچ: خوانشی انتقادی از زیبایی‌شناسی مدرن غربی 1 37 10815 10.30465/os.2026.52101.2062 FA حسین عباسی دانشجوی دکتری جامعه‌شناسی، دانشگاه شیراز، شیراز، ایران 0009-0007-8451-6061 Journal Article 2025 10 05 Introduction This article aims to reconstruct the sociology of art through Georg Lukács's theory of the novel and present a critical reading of modern Western aesthetics. The main issue is to explain how art, particularly the literary form of the novel, can be analyzed sociologically not merely as a passive reflection of social content, but as a phenomenon with autonomous aesthetic forms that are simultaneously intertwined with socio-historical conditions. Contrasting purely empirical or formalistic approaches, this research seeks to offer a model, based on Lukács's thought, where the artistic "form" is the site of convergence and crystallization of "social reality." Thus, Lukács's theory of the novel is introduced as a realized paradigm and a methodological model for the sociology of art. Materials & Methods This article is written using a descriptive-analytical method, focusing on documentary research and theoretical content analysis. The primary materials are the works of Georg Lukács in aesthetics, the theory of the novel, and the sociology of art, especially "The Theory of the Novel," "Soul and Form," "The Historical Novel," and "Studies in European Realism." To delineate Lukács's intellectual background, the aesthetic theories of Immanuel Kant and G.W.F. Hegel are referenced, and for comparison and expansion, the views of sociologists such as Émile Durkheim, Theodor Adorno, and Howard Becker are cited. The method involves extracting and analyzing key aesthetic components of the novel from Lukács's perspective (such as human development, closure, character, and realism) and demonstrating the dialectical connection of these components to the socio-historical conditions of the modern era. Discussion & Result The present study shows that Lukács, by adopting the concept of "totality" from the Hegelian tradition and linking it with a material-historical analysis, historicizes and socializes aesthetics. From his perspective, the novel, as the paradigmatic literary form of modernity, emerges not from the artist's subjectivity alone, but from specific socio-historical relations characterized by human "alienation" and the loss of meaning-giving totality in modern society. Four key aesthetic aspects in Lukács's theory of the novel are analyzed: Human Development: The novel is the only artistic form capable of depicting the process of human becoming and development within time and in engagement with social structures. Closure (terminus ad quem): The beauty of a work depends on providing a logical and necessary closure that convincingly concludes all narrative details and character development. Character: The character in the novel is a social being who preserves and transforms their "core" through interaction and conflict with social obstacles and structures. Realism: Lukács's realism is not a superficial description of details but a dialectical representation of the "relation between individual and society" and the presentation of the "totality of objects" within a coherent artistic form. The key finding of the article is that by focusing on these aesthetic components and linking them to objective conditions, Lukács effectively provides a "methodological model" for the sociology of art. In this model, the artistic form is understood not as a cover for content, but as the most objectified level of manifestation of social reality. Therefore, a Lukács-inspired sociology of art is a study that traces and analyzes the presence of social structures within the very aesthetic formation of artworks. Conclusion This article argued that Georg Lukács's theory of the novel marks a turning point in the formation of the sociology of art in the precise sense. By synthesizing two intellectual traditions—namely, the formulation of "social fact" in Durkheimian sociology and the recognition of the "cognitive aspect" of art in Hegelian aesthetics—Lukács made possible the sociological analysis of artistic forms. His innovation was to show that a sociological analysis of art must focus on the form itself and its aesthetic components, not merely on the social themes or content of works. The theory of the novel serves as a concrete example, demonstrating how the form of the novel and components such as human development, characterization, and realism are directly rooted in the historical-social conditions of modernity (alienation, individualism, capitalist relations). Consequently, this research offers two practical suggestions: First, any future sociology of art research should focus on analyzing the connection between specific artistic forms and their relevant social reality. Second, Lukács's model can be applied to the sociological analysis of other artistic forms in different historical-cultural contexts (such as modern Persian poetry), provided that the inherent aesthetic aspects of that form are first extracted and then their connection to specific social conditions is demonstrated. جامعه‌شناسی هنر دانشی است که هنر را در نسبت با مناسبات اجتماعی و تاریخی تحلیل می‌کند. در این مقاله، با رجوع به آثار جورج لوکاچ، به‌ویژه نظریه رمان، تلاش شده است مؤلفه‌های زیبایی‌شناختی فرم ادبی رمان استخراج و در پیوند با شرایط اجتماعی و تاریخی ظهور آن تحلیل شوند. برخلاف رویکردهایی که هنر را تنها بازتابی از محتوا یا مضامین اجتماعی می‌دانند، نظریه‌ی لوکاچ بر تحلیل زیبایی‌شناسانه‌ی فرم هنری تأکید دارد و دوگانگی صورت و محتوا را مردود می‌شمارد. نوآوری نظریه‌ی لوکاچ در آن است که با تکیه بر سنت زیبایی‌شناسی آلمانی (کانت و هگل) و نقد آن، امکان تبیین جامعه‌شناختی هنر را فراهم می‌آورد. بدین‌گونه، شکل‌گیری و تکوین فرم‌های هنری نه در سطح ذهنیت هنرمند، بلکه در بستر ساختارهای اجتماعی و تاریخی تحلیل می‌شود. این مقاله نشان می‌دهد که چگونه نظریه‌ی رمان لوکاچ، الگویی برای صورت‌بندی جامعه‌شناسی هنر فراهم می‌سازد که از رهگذر آن می‌توان نسبت فرم هنری و واقعیت اجتماعی را به‌نحو منسجم فهم کرد.

https://occidentstudy.ihcs.ac.ir/article_10815_ec0387f057705a013c09bc5508249ea7.pdf