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851-0082-00L 3 Credits DS , MSC D-GESS

Literature and the Knowledge of the Social

Literatur und das Wissen vom Sozialen

Lecturers & Examiners: Dr. Alexander Alon
VVZ CR n/a

Last Updated: 2026-02-05 15:48:15

Abstract

The course shows to what extent "literature" from the 19th to the 21st century and the - often empirical - sciences of the social are mutually dependent. It is based on theoretical social science texts as well as literary genres that are used to model knowledge, primarily crime novels and spy novels, but also travelogues and city novels or genres such as the social science survey.

Objective

Overview of of social science in its connection to literature from the 1830s to the present day Overview of popular literary genres that are relevant for social science Reflecting and historicising the question of the epistemic status of literature and the aestheticization of knowledge. Reflecting and historicising the question of the relevance of literature for the humanities and natural sciences Reflection of knowledge production and methods

Content

At the beginning of the 19th century, the social sciences established themselves and oriented themselves towards the natural sciences and mathematics, their knowledge models and research methods in order to produce empirically proven knowledge of the social. Terms such as 'social physics' (Auguste Comte) or 'mass psychology' bear witness to this. Conspicuously, in the course of this "scientization of the social" (Lutz Raphael), reference is often made to literature, which is recognized as an essential instrument of social science practice. E.g., in the debate on the so-called social question at the beginning of the 19th century, literature is employed to make the discourse on poverty more scientific by making individual fates which are unrepresentable by statistics the object of theory formation. Thus Karl Marx refers to Eugène Sue's 'The Secrets of Paris' in his interpretation of the social. The relevance of literature for the production of knowledge of the social has recently been demonstrated by the sociologist Luc Boltanski in his monograph "Mysteries & Conspiracies. Detective Stories, Spy Novels and the Making of Modern Societies" (2012) which showed how the way in which crime and spy novels problematize reality has shaped the historical development of the humanities and social sciences. The course is based on the assumption that this combination of literature and the social sciences has always made statements about the premises of the differentiation of literature and science, of the humanities and the natural sciences and their different practices and research goals (keyword: "Science in Perspective"). The integration of literature in the production of knowledge of the social is relevant to the question of the conditions of possibility of a scientifically secured knowledge of the social for several reasons: It permits, firstly, the question of the extent to which the humanities have shaped the supposedly scientific-mathematically oriented social sciences in questions of methodology, epistemic interest and theory formation of knowledge of the social. This question has remained recognizable until presently, in projects such as SHAPE-ID, which is domiciled at the ETH and other European Universities and is dedicated to the integration of the arts as well as the historical and social sciences in trans- and interdisciplinary research, with the purpose tackling societal challenges. It has, secondly, become aesthetically productive and has led to the genesis of new poetic means that, on the one hand, reflect the specifics of social science knowledge production by literary means, but, on the other, claim to produce evaluable data on the social. Examples of this are primarily crime and spy novels, but also travelogues and urban novels or genres such as the social science survey, which share with the natural sciences methods of sampling, observation, documentation and experimentation.

General Information

Language
German
Levels
DS , MSC

Examination

Type
graded semester performance

Registration & Places

Max Places
70

Course Components

Type Title Time & Place Hours
lecture with exercise Literatur und das Wissen vom Sozialen
Online-Veranstaltung: Diese Lehrveranstaltung findet grundsätzlich online statt. Die reservierten Räume bleiben für die Studierenden auf dem Campus bestehen, um die Lehrveranstaltung dort zu hören.
  • Thu 18:15-20:00 (IFW A 32.1)
2 h weekly

Offered In