The sociological approach views literature as a product of social institutions and interprets works in terms of their connection to social, political, and economic forces. It insists that literature cannot be separated from its social context since language, literary conventions, writers, and subjects are all social in nature. A sociology of literature studies literature as a reflection of social realities, the social situation of writers, and how works are received by society over time. The sociological approach is preoccupied with the social circumstances surrounding a work to aid in interpretation, not as ends in themselves.

1. Sociological Approach
Dianna May C. Macapulay

2. - considers the literary work as
the product of social institutions.
Its task is to interpret the work in
terms of its connection to social,
political, and economic forces.

3.  Proponents of Sociological
approach insist that
literature cannot be
regarded separately from its
social context.

4. Wellek and Warren 1956:94 reasons:
1. The medium of literature is language, and
language is a product of society.
2. Literary conventions are social in nature.
3. The writer is a member of society
4. Literature has a social function
5. Social reality is, to a large extent, the subject
of literature

5. SOCIOLOGY OF
LITERATURE

6. SOCIOLOGY (Laurenson and Swingewood
– 1972:11)
“Sociology is essentially the scientific,
objective study of man in society, the
of social institutions and of social
processes; it seeks to answer the question
of how society is possible, how it works,
why it persists.”

7. APPROACHES TO A SOCIOLOGY OF LITERATURE
1. The study of literature as a reflection of social
realities;
2. The study of the production aspect of literature,
and especially the social situation of the writer; and
3. The study of literary reception and patronage-
how literary works are actually received by a
particular society at a particular moment in history

8. PREOCCUPATION OF A SOCIOLOGICAL
APPROACH TO THE STUDY OF LITERATURE
A sociological approach to literature should be interested in the external
circumstances of a literary work not in themselves but in terms of their value in
facilitating the task of interpretation.