Was wäre eine zeitgenössische Literatursoziologie? Response zu <i>Was ist Literatursoziologie?</i>

Abstract This article responds to three attempts to reshape the sociology of literature with reference to (1) ideological criticism (Sapiro), (2) the sociology of conflict (Franzen) and (3) quantitative sociology (Lauer). Assuming that literature and its modes of production and reception have changed significantly under the socio-cultural conditions of late capitalist modernity, this change not only poses new challenges for the sociology of literature but ultimately leads to the persistent problem of autonomy of art and literature. How the approaches discussed here react to this problem is critically summarized with regard to both the current conditions and the history of the sociology of literature. Linked to this summary is the ongoing debate about the open question of the disciplinary classification of literary sociology within the humanities and social sciences.