The article discusses the contribution of P. Bourdieu to a sociology of aesthetics, examining in particular his concept of a "literary field." Initially the advantages of the bourdieusian position over an ingenuous understanding of literary text (that views the latter only as the product of a creative individuality) are presented. Subsequently, however, it is argued that the literary text presents an "excess of meaning" that the author appears to have difficulty in capturing because, in his conception, the work is too closely linked to the immediate social context of its originator or originators. The article eventually proposes that the best moments of his provocative contribution must be united to the work of other thinkers (such as W. Benjamin) that also questions the relevance of the literary text as a productive source for understanding a particular historical period.
P. Bourdieu; Sociology of literature; Aesthetic theory; W. Benjamin