Sociologies of literature and uses of Bourdieu in Argentina: Three recent approximations (Szpilbarg, Seccia y Vanoli)

Abstract

I briefly recapitulate the reception of Pierre Bourdieu’s works in Argentina, especially from literary studies, through the contributions of Carlos Altamirano and Beatriz Sarlo. Then, I consider three recent uses of the French sociologist’s legacy in books published in 2019 by three sociologists: Cartografía argentina de la edición mundializada: modos de hacer y pensar el libro en el siglo XXI (2019) by Daniela Szpilbarg, ¿Clase media? Ensayos de literatura y sociedad desde Gino Germani a la Nueva narrativa argentina (2019) by Oriana Seccia, and El amor por la literatura en tiempos de algoritmos: 11 hipótesis para discutir con escritores, editores, lectores, gestores y demás militantes (2019) by Hernán Vanoli. I describe a simple classification of uses: one of acceptance and axiomatic use; another of active rejection; and a third one of critical reformulation. Without making a conclusion that prioritizes some uses over others, I tend to value positively the distanced use. I conclude the text with the identification of two tensions derived from Bourdieu’s uses (in particular, in the domains of the sociology of literature, but, in general, in the social and humanistic disciplines).

Keywords

• sociología de la literatura
• teoría sociológica
• estudios literarios
• argentina
• pierre bourdieu