Annotation
This course will provide an introduction to the sociology of culture and art. It will examine the sociology of culture as the sociological study of the meaningful, symbolic and expressive dimensions of modern and contemporary societies.
This subfield of sociology will be shown to cover both the impact of social forces on cultural life (sociology of culture in the narrower sense) and the influence of culture on all kinds of social processes (cultural sociology). Most classes will focus on the sociology of art, but in dealing with art the approach to aesthetic phenomena will remain limited to a sociological perspective.
Some attention will also be paid to intellectual creativity. The topics will include the production, distribution and consumption of culture, social conditions of creativity, the social construction of artistic or intellectual reputation and the relationship of social stratification and cultural behaviour.
One or more classes will be dedicated to the development of the study of culture and arts in Czech sociology. The classes will take the form of lectures combined with discussions and case studies.