The theory of the avant‐garde: an historical critique*

Abstract

L'auteur critique l'incapacité de penser le processus de reconnaissance sociale de l'art dans les théories de l'avant‐garde proposées par Bürger et Poggioli. Sans cette dimension, leurs théories reposent sur une tautologie. Tout en reconnaissant l'apport que constitue la sociologie du goût élaborée par Bourdieu, l'auteur signale la préoccupation préponderante qu'accorde cette analyse à la stabilité des structures du champ artistique, préoccupation qui la conduit a renoncer aux prétentions de comprendre les conditions historiques de la naissance et de l'évolution des avant‐gardes au sein dcs sociétés occidentales. The author criticizes the theories of the avant‐garde advanced by Bürger and Poggioli for their incapacity to theorize the process of social recognition of art. Without this dimension, their theories are based on a tautology. While recognising the positive contribution of Bourdieu's sociology of taste, the author notes that this approach has emphasized the stability of the structural determinations of the art world and seems to have sacrificed the ambition of previous theories of the avant‐garde to understand the historical conditions of its appearance and evolution in Western societies.

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