Doing Sociology Through Film and Literature

A research-informed textbook aimed at any reader with an interest in using film and literature in sociological and social science research.

This book offers an exploration of key sociological themes and debates via film and literature. Film and literature (fiction, not fiction and poetry) capture and reflect long-term social processes, document social transformation and change and, as such, offer sociologists and researchers an alternative data source when exploring the social world – a data source which does not often feature in sociological research or in the sociology curriculum. Literature can be used to challenge us to think sociologically via 'real-world' application. The sociological imagination can be stimulated by film as sociologists can 'use films as a lens for exploring the complexities of social class, race and ethnicity, gender and sexuality, and to propel our analysis of these inequalities in the past and in contemporary life' (Higgenbotham, 2013). Focusing on a wide range of films and texts, this book will (re-) position such forms of writing/film as referents of social change and transformation and explore the extent to which these materials can be used as an evidential base for contemporary sociological analysis. The book will include links to further reading and reflective activities for the reader to self-evaluate understanding and to begin to apply their learning.