YOU’RE A THEATRE SOCIOLOGIST, AREN’T YOU? CONSIDERATIONS ON RAYMOND WILLIAMS’S SOCIOLOGY OF DRAMATIC LITERATURE

Abstract

This article aims to sustain the centrality of dramatic literature to the genesis of the notion of structure of feeling and, consequently, for Raymond Williams’s cultural materialism. Therefore, we will analyze part of his vast body of work, being especially attentive to the introductory and conclusive argumentations of his books on drama (Williams, 1965, 1969, 2010). These, since they have been totally rewritten through his career, are seen as privileged productions to grasp Williams’s theoretical and conceptual transformations.

Keywords: Raymond Williams; Sociology of theatre; Dramaturgy; Structure of feeling; Cultural materialism