Reconstructing the Sociology of Art through Lukács’s Theory of the Novel: A Critical Reading of Western Modern Aesthetics

Abbasi, Hossein

doi:10.30465/os.2026.52101.2062

Reconstructing the Sociology of Art through Lukács’s Theory of the Novel: A Critical Reading of Western Modern Aesthetics"

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

Hossein Abbasi

PhD Candidate of Sociology, Shiraz University, shiraz, iran

10.30465/os.2026.52101.2062

Abstract

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.

Keywords

Aesthetics؛ Artistic Form؛ Georg Luká

؛ ؛ cs؛ Realism؛ Character

Allot, M. (2019). The Novel as Told by Novelists (A. M. Haqshanas, Trans.). Tehran: Markaz Publishing. (In Persian)

Balzac, H. de (2020). The Lily of the Valley (M. Etemadzadeh, Trans.). Tehran: Ferdos. (In Persian)

Becker, H. (2021). Art Worlds (H. Khayati, Trans.). Tehran: Ban Publishing. (In Persian)

Beiser, F. (2019). Hegel (S. M. Hosseini, Trans.). Tehran: Ghoghnoos Publishing. (In Persian)

Beiser, F. (2005). Hegel. Routledge.

Bowie, A. (2007). Aesthetics and Subjectivity: From Kant to Nietzsche (F. Majidi, Trans.). Tehran: Farhangestan-e Honar Publications. (In Persian)

Carter, Curtis (1980). A Re-examination of the 'Death of Art' Interpretation of Hegel's Aesthetics. Philosophy Faculty Research and Publications, 223. https://epublications.marquette.edu/phil_fac/223

Copleston, F. (2016). A History of Philosophy, Vol. 6: From Wolff to Kant (I. Saadat & M. Bozorgmehr, Trans.). Tehran: Elmi–Farhangi Publishing. (In Persian)

Copleston, F. (2019). A History of Philosophy, Vol. 7: From Fichte to Nietzsche (D. Ashouri, Trans.). Tehran: Elmi–Farhangi Publishing. (In Persian)

Dahlstrom, D. O. (2020). German Idealism: "The Aesthetic Holism of Hamann, Herder, and Schiller" (H. Mortazavi, Trans.). Tehran: Elmi–Farhangi Publishing. (In Persian)

Durkheim, E. (2014). The Elementary Forms of Religious Life (B. Parham, Trans.). Tehran: Markaz Publishing. (In Persian)

Durkheim, E. (2019). On the Division of Social Labor (B. Parham, Trans.). Tehran: Markaz Publishing. (In Persian)

Durkheim, E. (2020). The Rules of Sociological Method (H. Nayebi, Trans.). Tehran: Agah Publications. (In Persian)

Feinberg, A. (1996). "The Novel and the Modern World." Arghanoon, 1996, Nos. 11 & 12, pp. 379–391. (In Persian)

Hegel, G. W. F. (1894). Hegel's Philosophy of Mind (W. Wallace, Trans.). Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Hegel, G. W. F. (2008). Hegel's Introductions to the Phenomenology of Spirit and Aesthetics (M. Abadian, Trans.). Tehran: Elm Publishing. (In Persian)

Hohendahl, P. U. (1987). Art Work and Modernity: The Legacy of Georg Lukács. New German Critique, 42, 33–49.

Houlgate, Stephen (2024). "Hegel's Aesthetics." The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2024 Edition), Edward N. Zalta & Uri Nodelman (eds.). https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2024/entries/hegel-aesthetics/

Inwood, M. (2010). A Hegel Dictionary (H. Mortazavi, Trans.). Tehran: Nika Publishing. (In Persian)

Jaspers, K. (2011). Kant (A. H. Naqibzadeh, Trans.). Tehran: Tahouri Publishing. (In Persian)

Kant, I. (2017). Critique of the Power of Judgment (A. K. Rashidian, Trans.). Tehran: Ney Publishing. (In Persian)

Korsmeyer, C. (2018). Feminism and Aesthetics (A. Maqsoudi, Trans.). Tehran: Gol Azin. (In Persian)

Lenard, J. (2019). An Introduction to the Sociology of Literature: "The Sociology of Literature and Its Various Branches" (M. J. Pooyande, Ed. & Trans.). Tehran: Naghsh-e Jahan. (In Persian)

Lukács, G. (2002). Lenin: A Study on the Unity of His Thought (H. Shamsavari & A. R. Amirghasemi, Trans.). Tehran: Dadar Publishing and Research. (In Persian)

Lukács, G. (2003). Studies in European Realism (A. Afsari, Trans.). Tehran: Elmi–Farhangi Publishing. (In Persian)

Lukács, G. (2014). The Historical Novel (O. Mehrgam, Trans.). Tehran: Thaleth Publishing. (In Persian)

Lukács, G. (2017). Blum Theses: Selected Political Writings 1919–1929 (O. Mehrgan, Trans.). Tehran: Thaleth Publishing. (In Persian)

Lukács, G. (2018a). Soul and Form (R. Rezaei, Trans.). Tehran: Mahi Publishing. (In Persian)

Lukács, G. (2018b). The Theory of the Novel (H. Mortazavi, Trans.). Tehran: Ashiyan Publications. (In Persian)

Lukács, G. (2018c). Essays on Thomas Mann (A. A. Masoombeygi, Trans.). Tehran: Negah Publications. (In Persian)

Lukács, G. (2019). An Introduction to the Sociology of Literature: "On the Novel" (M. J. Pooyande, Ed. & Trans.). Tehran: Naghsh-e Jahan. (In Persian)

Lukács, G. (2021). German Realists (A. A. Masoombeygi, Trans.). Tehran: Negah Publishing. (In Persian)

Lukács, Georg (1954). Beiträge zur Geschichte der Ästhetik. Berlin: Aufbau-Verlag.

Lukács, Georg (1971). The Theory of the Novel (A. Bostock, Trans.). London: Merlin.

Mesbahipur Iranian, J. (1979). Social Reality and the World of Story. Tehran: AmirKabir Publishing. (In Persian)

Moeinzadeh, M. (2019). Gadamer and the Humanities. Tehran: Howzeh va Daneshgah Publications. (In Persian)

Morris, R. E. (1958). What Is Sociology of Art? The American Catholic Sociological Review, 19(4), 310–321.

Nietzsche, F. (2002). The Will to Power (M. B. Hushyar, Trans.). Tehran: Farzan Ruz. (In Persian)

Pinkard, T. (2016). German Philosophy 1760–1860: The Legacy of Idealism (N. Ghatravi, Trans.). Tehran: Ghoghnoos Publishing. (In Persian)

Redding, Paul (2025). "Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel." The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2025 Edition), Edward N. Zalta & Uri Nodelman (eds.). https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2025/entries/hegel/

Rieser, M. (1957). The Aesthetic Theory of Social Realism. The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 16(2), 237–248. https://doi.org/10.2307/427602

Salmani, A., & Salimi, S. (2024). The Elucidation of the Concept of Kant's Aesthetic Form and Its Relation to Roger Fry and Clive Bell's Thought. Journal of Philosophical Investigations, 18(49), 293–310. (In Persian)

Schaeffer, J. M. (2020). Art of the Modern Age: Philosophy of Art from Kant to Heidegger (I. Qanooni, Trans.). Tehran: Agah Publishing. (In Persian)

Speight, A. (2010). Hegel and Lukács on the Novel. Bulletin of the Hegel Society of Great Britain, 31(2), 23–34.

Stahl, Titus (2023). "Georg [György] Lukács." The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2023 Edition), Edward N. Zalta & Uri Nodelman (eds.). https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2023/entries/lukacs/

Tolstoy, L. (2008). Anna Karenina (M. Bigdeli Khamsa, Trans.). Tehran: Negarestan-e Ketab Publishing. (In Persian)

Watt, I. (2015). The Rise of the Novel (H. Payande, Trans.). Tehran: Niloufar Publications. (In Persian)

Weber, M. (2018). The Methodology of the Social Sciences (H. Chavoshian, Trans.). Tehran: Markaz Publishing. (In Persian)

Yatadier, J. (2019). An Introduction to the Sociology of Literature: "The Sociology of Literature and Its Founders" (M. J. Pooyande, Ed. & Trans.). Tehran: Naghsh-e Jahan. (In Persian)

Zakerzadeh, A. (2012). German Idealism (From Wolff to the Neo-Kantians). Tehran: Parsesh Publishing. (In Persian)

Zima, P. V. (2019). An Introduction to the Sociology of Literature: Empirical and Dialectical Methods in the Sociology of Literature" (M. J. Pooyande, Ed. & Trans.). Tehran: Naghsh e Jahan. (In Persian)