In 1966, Arnold Gehlen remarked with some sarcasm that art theory had once been an important branch of philosophy. Aesthetics, he suggested, no longer concerned itself with phenomena such as the avant-garde, and it was high time for sociology to take a closer look. With this observation, Gehlen opened a new, cultural-sociological phase in the analysis of modern art – a line of thought running from Gehlen through Peter Bürger to Pierre Bourdieu and Niklas Luhmann. Together, these four thinkers transform the avant-garde’s apparent failure into the foundational question of a sociology of modern art.

Dr. Christine Magerski is a professor of modern German literature and cultural history in the Department of German Studies at the University of Zagreb.