Supported the study of literature together with that of culture and society
Against immanent approach and the belief that literature has a special cultural value (R. Leavis, Matthew Arnold), he states that it is a product of its time and carries class values within (desacralization of literature).
Importance of literature’s social uses.
Believed in a democratic and permanent education
Believed that the definition of literature and criticism shift as they are influenced by sociohistorical conditions.
"cultural materialism":
In the US, William’s joining of the literary and the social was shared, but they rejected marxism (Cold War) until 1970’s-1980’s.
literature is not usually seen as a concept but as a description of something highly valued.
the mistake is then that specific values of specific works are transferred to a concept which is believed to be actual and practical
literature is established as a concrete living experience, while other concepts such as society or politics are seen as abstractions
naivety of the concept:
the concepto of literature becomes ideological
development of the concept, in its modern form
Rendering context...