On Critical Competences in Sociology and the Field of Art
On Critical Competences in Sociology and the Field of Art

Summary/Abstract: The article analyses the relations between the 'scientific field' and 'field of art' in the context of theory of reputation, that is - the prestige and social recognition of scientific and culture texts created within these two fields. The author posits that scholarly texts (including sociological articles), due to their esoteric language and high level of abstraction, require high and specialised theoretical and methodological qualifications, thus rendering such texts unintelligible to the average reader. Paradoxically, this fosters the reputation of such texts (and the social role of the sociologist) as transcending the 'average' qualifications of the broader audience, which in turn facilitates the creation of social recognition of science and trust in scholarly institutions. The process of popularisation of scholarly knowledge and its simplification, in turn, sheds its aura of 'inaccessibility' and brings it into the mass media and everyday discourse. The process of relativisation of qualifications of authors, critics and audience is presented in the context of popular art (cinema), where it is far more advanced than in the 'field of science'.

• Details
• Contents