The authors' discussion of the theoretical issues implied in interdisciplinary studies of sociology and literature is based on their analyses of selected works of sociology, literary theory, and cultural criticism produced during the past twenty years. Attempts to integrate the areas of sociology and literature have resulted in three general approaches: sociology through literature, the sociology of literature, and the study of sociology and literature based on their common dependence on language. The authors analyze the theoretical issues and assumptions that underlie each of these approaches in order to suggest a way to study sociology and literature which retains the richness and complexity of both disciplines.