Who’s the Star of the Show? On the Advantages and Disadvantages of and the Relationships between Sociography, Sociology and Literature

Abstract

In this essay we try to recall that the history (but also the present) of Hungarian sociology or sociography is often represented as a ‘crisis-history’, and the question often arises of whether it can say anything relevant about the past and present, about the thing we call ‘reality’ or ‘life’. It is also a resurfacing charge that Hungarian Literature is in a crisis, too – that it doesn’t say anything ‘valid’ or ‘realistic’ about Hungarian society. Nevertheless, here we examine whether Hungarian literature can inspire sociologists by showing topics which could be perhaps considered as taboos, and whether it can or could contribute to the formation of historical memory. Furthermore, we give a sketchy overview of its points of contact with social sciences, first of all with sociology and sociography, as well as with politics, and the role that professionals in these areas assign to themselves. It is done in a context in which humanities and arts are often charged by political actors of being useless. Some time ago, sociology and sociography were considered dangerous (as well as ‘bourgeois’) because of their critical stance, as disciplines that needed to be controlled. On the other hand, Hungarian writers are regularly accused of not dealing with Hungarian ‘realities’, while their role in the intellectual sphere is rapidly diminishing.