Sociological Theories
Critics of different times and age have always subjected their social experiences and activities to certain theoretical lens which provide them the platform of getting basic understanding of their world. Human beings have always tried to proffer answers to fundamental questions revolving around their existence and in this attempt to satisfy this natural curiosity, specific intellectual theories have been developed to serve them as instruments of evaluation. The theories are set of ideas and principles by which critics conduct their researches and critical analyses. These theories include formalism, structuralism, deconstruction, mimetic theory, new criticism, semiotics, post-structuralism, feminism, reader-response theory, new historicism etc.
Sociological theories are sets of principles, parameters, paradigms and ideas developed by sociologists in their myriad attempts to understand, evaluate and interpret the social world of human relations. Sociologists study the human life and social interactions, as well as how those interactions shape groups and society as a whole. Marxism, Biographical Criticism, Historical Criticism, New Historicism and Psychoanalytical Theory, which are types of sociological theories, are all forms of theoretical frameworks sociologists employ in analyzing social realities.
According to Kenneth Allen (2006: 10), “Sociological theory consists of abstract and testable propositions about the society relying heavily on scientific method which aims for objectivity, and attempts to avoid passing value judgment.” This is an academic field that seeks to understand the society based on verifiable and deducible procedures with emphasis on subjectivity rather than general social assumption or “common sense.” Theorists of this literary school of thought attempt analyzing the social world by situating social events in their corresponding environments which include their social structure, history, culture, politics, religion etc.
Sociology as an academic discipline of which sociological theory as an extension is relatively new. Craig J. Calhoun (2002: 5) educates that it develops as an academic field of study in the 18th and 19th century as a result of the drastic “social changes of that period, such as, industrialization, urbanization, and the rise of democratic states which caused particularly Western thinkers to be aware of their society”
Prominent sociological theorists whose works have given more precise shape and definition to this strand of intellectual engagement as mentioned in Sanderson’s Reforming Theoretical Work in Sociology (2006: 1) include: Jacques Derrida, Michel Foucault, Dorothy Smith, Talcott Parson, Robert K. Merton, Randall Collins, James Samuel Coleman, Peter Blau, Marshal McLuhan, Immanuel Wallenstein, George Homans, Harrison White, Theda Skocpol, Gerhard Lenski, Pierre van den Berghe and Jonathan H. Tuner among others.
Unlike Formalism and Structuralism which appraise and evaluate the formal and intrinsic properties of literary materials, sociological theory directs its attention at the extrinsic elements of art as well as its sociopolitical relevance within a specific cultural and historical context. Sociologists advocate that appropriate literary criticism should be done across social, political, anthropological, historical and cultural paradigms. The general assumption is that a definitive conclusion about the essence and significance of art can only be possible if the artist as well as the social context from which the work is produced is critically considered. This is one of the oldest means of critical appraisal, traceable to Aristotle’s “Mimetic Theory” in his Poetics, which argues that the appropriateness of any work of literature is how adequately and effective it is able to portray and imitate the society. This critical approach continues to gain more popularity in modern day academic discussions of arts as scholars attempt eliciting elements expressing sociopolitical, cultural and religious concerns from the works of literature. Unlike the perception of most critics of the Victorian Age whose attempts were to romanticize art as a culture of entertainment and beauty, contemporary literary analysts see literature as a means of self-expression whose role cut across other disciplines, such as, history, politics, religion, anthropology etc cannot be over-emphasized.
However, the major setback of sociological approach in literary criticism is that it tends to focus more on the extrinsic properties of literature to the detriment of its numerous intrinsic peculiarities. Just as Luis Althoser educates, the language of literature for example is an estranged one with its uniqueness. Failing to appreciate the elemental components of the work of art and its internal beauty is undermining a great aspect of literature.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title Page I-II
Certification III
Dedication IV
Acknowledgements V
Abstract VI
Table of Contents VII-XI
Music, Literature and Society 1-4
CHAPTER TWO
SECTION ONE
Music as A Means of Entertainment 16
Music as A Means of Education 17
Music as an Instrument of Socio-Political Criticism 18-19
SECTION TWO
SECTION THREE
CHAPTER THREE: THE THEMATIC APPRAISAL OF 9ICE’S AND ASA’S SONGS
A Critical Appraisal Of 9ice’s Musical Style 32-34
PETEPETE
Post-Colonial Disillusionment 35-36
Social Recklessness and Its Effects 37-38
THERE IS FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN
Political Instability and Insecurity 43-45
Cultural and Moral Decadence 47-48
IYA NI
Sociopolitical Servitude 51-52
CHAPTER FOUR: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF LAGBAJA’S SONGS
An Appraisal of Lagbaja Musical Style 53-54
The Roles of the Citizens in a System of Corruption 55-57
Relevance of His Masked Tradition 57-58
Criticism of the Social Culture of Scapegoatism 58-60
Restoration of Moral Values as the Way Forward 60-61
200 MILLION MUMU (PART THREE)
Political Avariciousness 62-63
CHAPTER FIVE
Conclusion 69-70
Recommendations 71
Works Cited 71-74
Appendices 75-83WORKS CITED
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