| Marcel Proust's A la recherche du temps perdu has often been read as a struggle between life and art, with art providing access to the spiritual, and ultimately triumphing. Yet throughout the text art is depicted in large part as a purely utilitarian means to social success. The problem of art and society traditionally has divided Proust scholars into two broad currents: the sociohistorical and the aesthetic. The former approach emphasizes Proust as a social observer, examining questions of social mobility, cultural norms, as well as the historical and political realities depicted in the novel. The latter approach emphasizes Proust as an aesthetician, focusing on questions of form and style, philosophical influences, and the way in which the author's artistic vision is represented fictionally.;In this study, seeking to bridge the gap between these two approaches, I examine how art operates as a social instrument in Proust's work. I show how characters from various strata of society use their knowledge of art and artists as a way to establish and maintain power and status. I also analyze the ways in which satirical depictions of artistic snobbery might actually serve, rather than undermine, Proust's vision of the life-transforming power of art, a vision inextricably bound to the novel's moral outlook. |
