Language and Literature in Society

While this book assumes a sociological orientation toward literature, it is not intended for sociologists alone. It will, I hope, be useful to scholars and students who must deal with various forms of language and literature. The hero of this book is the writer, not as unconscious prophet, but as rational maker of forms through which life in society becomes possible. Traditions, folkways, mores, and Utopias are experienced as forms of expression, and these forms must be studied as carefully as forms of space-time. Perhaps, if we were wiser, we would study them more carefully, for it is through such forms of expression that we learn to be human and, in turn, to pass on our humanity – and inhumanity – to others. Linguistic symbols occur in every phase of human action from the simplest perception to the most profound moments of consummation. Literature (like all art) is important to society because its makers perfect language; they enable us to express ourselves better; and thus they extend the range of our understanding to people once remote and strange. Literature is a cause in sociation as well as a result. Language may be – indeed, must be – an end in itself for the writer, but the end he fashions becomes a means for others. How we name things and events determines how we will act; what we teach our young to call things will determine how they can act toward them.