Sociology in Literature. The Case of Mario Vargas Llosa's "The War of the End of the World"

The purpose of this essay is to propose a view of the world described in the novel as a sociological object. The literary work subject to analysis is Mario Vargas Llosa's "The War of the End of the World", with Lewis A. Coser's remarks referred to as guidelines on how a sociologist may do his or her research on a reality presented in a novel. The author wants to point out that it may be useful to recur to elements of the sociological theories in order better to understand the social phenomena and processes portrayed in literature. Such procedure may enrich the interpretation of the novel, at the same time being not without interest for science.