Georg Lukács: Theory of the Novel (1914)

[Sitaram]

I just stumbled across this interesting link while surfing in google

http://www.marxists.org/archive/lukacs/works/theory-novel/index.htm

Excerpt:

Art becomes problematic precisely because reality has become non-problematic. The idea put forward in The Theory of the Novel, although formally similar, is in fact the complete opposite of this: the problems of the novel form are here the mirror-image of a world gone out of joint. This is why the ‘prose’ of life is here only a symptom, among many others, of the fact that reality no longer constitutes a favourable soil for art; that is why the central problem of the novel is the fact that art has to write off the closed and total forms which stem from a rounded totality of being — that art has nothing more to do with any world of forms that is immanently complete in itself.

(end of excerpt)

Quickly reading through this preface, I am somehow suddenly reminded of the accusation against Socrates of "corrupting the youth."

In what way might it be argued that fiction corrupts society? What sort of fiction? What sort of society? What sort of corruption?

 

[Peder]

I just stumbled across this interesting link while surfing in google

http://www.marxists.org/archive/lukacs/works/theory-novel/index.htm

Excerpt:

Art becomes problematic precisely because reality has become non-problematic. The idea put forward in The Theory of the Novel, although formally similar, is in fact the complete opposite of this: the problems of the novel form are here the mirror-image of a world gone out of joint. This is why the ‘prose’ of life is here only a symptom, among many others, of the fact that reality no longer constitutes a favourable soil for art; that is why the central problem of the novel is the fact that art has to write off the closed and total forms which stem from a rounded totality of being — that art has nothing more to do with any world of forms that is immanently complete in itself.

(end of excerpt)

Quickly reading through this preface, I am somehow suddenly reminded of the accusation against Socrates of "corrupting the youth."

In what way might it be argued that fiction corrupts society? What sort of fiction? What sort of society? What sort of corruption?

Hi Sitaram,
Good to see your posts here!

Re this one I can't refrain from mentioning a book I just came across in the past few days browsing the shelves at Borders, namely

Terms of Criticism for Literary Study, by Frank Lentricchia and Thomas MacLaughlin​

Rather than being a glossary or dictionary, as the title might imply, it is instead a collection of essays on the current status of issues and viewpoints in literary criticism (ca 1999 as I recall). Though the subject matter is quite over my head, I have the distinct impression that the individual essayists would take fundamental issue with the notion that reality "has become non-problematic" or that literary art has "nothing to do with any world of forms that is immanenetly complete in itself." Instead I think they would say, along the lines of your closing questions, that literary art is quite alive and has 'everything to do,' both as source and potential solution, with the significant issues in the world today and, especially, with the very underpinnings of society. A few headings from the table of contents might indicate the scope of the essays, namely: gender, race, ethnicity, ideology, popular culture, diversity, imperialism/nationalism, desire, ethics and class; not to mention the authors' overall three-way division of the essays as concerning either writing, cultural politics or interpretation.

Having said all that, however, I can contribute little more since the topic is so far outside my field of knowledge.

But good to hear from you,
Peder