Literary Fiction as a Tool for Teaching Social Theory and Critical Consciousness

Abstract

In this paper, I discuss the possibilities that emerge from using literary fiction as a tool for teaching social theory and critical consciousness. Focusing on data from a social theory course I taught in fall 2007, along with my experiences teaching social theory, I evaluate the utility of utilizing literary fiction in the social theory classroom. Serving as a mechanism to encourage the development of critical consciousness, literary fiction can expand classroom dynamics and establish engaged dialogue between students and teachers. In particular, it has the potential to make social theory interesting and meaningful to students who are often anxious about learning social theory.

Gaining Insight Into Human Nature: A Review of Literature Classroom Intervention Studies

“…The large majority of records was excluded in this first round of screening, mostly because titles and abstracts indicated they were not experimental or quasi-experimental intervention studies, but mainly theoretical essays about the value of literature teaching, ethnographic descriptions of literature classroom practices, and literary analyses of how social themes such as disability or discrimination are represented in books for children or young adults (e.g., Cummins, 2013; Curwood, 2013). Other recurring reasons for immediate exclusion were the context of higher education (e.g., Blackie & Wear, 2015; Weber, 2010) and intervention studies in foreign language classrooms (e.g., Buitrago, 2017; Fredricks, 2012).…”

From the Book Review Editor: Reviewing Fiction

“…Reviewing fiction in JFTR can make important theoretical contributions to the field of family studies, and reviewers who are interested in doing so might focus on virtual reality, substantive contribution, and ambiguity. Reviews of fiction may also have pedagogical applications, giving educators new ideas to help students understand family theory by using literary fiction in the classroom (Blume, ; see also Weber, , for a detailed description). Recognizing that interdisciplinarity opens our eyes to different ways of viewing family relationships, development, and dynamics, I invite JFTR readers to contact me with suggestions of literary works to review, such as novels, collections of short stories, memoirs, or plays, as well as other types of media, such as documentary and feature films.…”

Methods Braiding: A Technique for Arts-Based and Mixed-Methods Research

“…Commencing this project, I found much practical and conceptual scholarship to draw on, particularly concerning fiction writing as a method of inquiry (Leavy, 2012; Nairn and Panelli, 2009; Richardson and Lockridge, 1998; Vickers, 2010) and on the congruence of literature and sociology (Becker, 2007; Brinkmann, 2009; Coser, 1972; Weber, 2010). Significantly less work however has aimed to address broader project design elements for this kind of approach; not how qualitative or arts-based methods themselves may be employed and for what ends, but on managing the process of research (see Blumenfeld-Jones, 2016).…”