Pitirim Sorokin’s “Forerunner”. Autobiographical novel by sociologist involved in the whirlpool of politics

Pitirim Sorokin’s “Forerunner”. Autobiographical novel by sociologist involved in the whirlpool of politics


Lomonosova M.V.

Cand. Sci. (Sociol.), Assoc. Prof. of the Chair of Theory and History of Sociology, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia mn.lomonosova@spbu.ru

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For citation:

Lomonosova M.V. Pitirim Sorokin’s “Forerunner”. Autobiographical novel by sociologist involved in the whirlpool of politics. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies]. 2016. No 5. P. 134-140




Abstract

Article is devoted to a scientific contribution of Pitirim Sorokin to process of sociological knowledge formation. Special attention in article is paid to unknown literary sides of Pitirim Sorokin work. What is the relationship between literature and sociology? Literature, like other arts, is a special form of intellectual creation. The element it uses is not abstract thought, as in science or philosophy, but special form of imagination which creates images transforming human life in a specific and expressive manner. P.A. Sorokin was comprehensively gifted person. Literary work by Pitirim Sorokin – his novel “Predtecha” (Forerunner) is described. Pitirim Sorokin had talent of a writer, and it allowed him to use results of numerous studies, with not only articles and monographs available to professionals, but also to inform ideas of contemporaries by means of popular scientific works and sociological journalism. Besides, unique materials from history of the Russian pedagogics are given in article.


Keywords
history of sociology; Russian sociology; P.A. Sorokin’s sociology; sociological theory; literary, social utopia; autobiography; archives
Content No 5, 2016