Chronotope in the sociological dimension: a preliminary analysis

• Main Author: N. S. Skok
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Publishing House "Grani" 2016-10-01
• Series: Granì
• Subjects: соціальний час, соціальний простір, соціальний хронотоп, сфера сенсу соціальної реальності, хронотопічність
• Online Access: https://grani.org.ua/index.php/journal/article/view/842

The necessity of the introduction of the «time-space» concept’s sociological context («chronotope» by M. Bakhtin) has been grounded. Theoretical and methodological basis of the study are some chronotop ideas, which had been described in the papers of M. Bakhtin, E.Giddens, who are the representatives of phenomenological sociology, etc. In these papers, time and space are understood as a fundamental interrelated forms that give sense to human experience and which are consistent. The purpose of the article is to analyze the concept of «time-space» from a sociological point of view, as well as to suggest the possibilities of its use in a sociological context. The main categories are the chronotope social time and social space. It has been shown that the idea of the chronotope reflects the significant importance of temporal and spatial relations. All processes, phenomena and conceptualized events, existing in society and human life, are included not only in the sphere of temporal-spatial existence, but also in the realm of sense. Such senses doesn’t have material reality, they have a subjective meaning. In social sciences, chronotope definition is inseparable from space. Due to the indissoluble unity (without merger), temporal and spatial definitions of chronotope has a clear but abstract character. Chronotope is interpreted as a combination of temporal and spatial characteristics (it is impossible to separate them), which are seen as set of changes from general social to specific ones. The necessity to describe chronotope as the social sense of reality in a whole or some of its specific component in particular, has been proven. The chronotopes of time and space are united not only mechanically, the necessary alternation between subjective – objective ones can be detected. Sometimes space is an objective then it is subjective. This alternation enables the communication of internal and external. Thus, social space and social time in the modern sociology of scientific thought act mainly as concepts that have mutual dependencies and are not united by the single concept. Due to this, the concept of «time-space» («chronotope») can be used in measuring of the social time and space, as well as in finding a common direction and understanding of the socially significant importance of the social reality’s description.