The semantic center of the book of the famous sociologist of culture Boris Dubin is the idea of ​ ​ the classics, its role in the formation of literature as one of the important institutions of modern society. They consider both the mechanisms for maintaining the authority of the classics in literary criticism, criticism, training, book publishing, awarding prizes, etc., and the fight against it, including through the advancement of the avant-garde and the formation of mass literature. The articles included in the book show the transformations of the idea of ​ ​ class in the past and today, discuss approaches to their professional analysis by methods of sociology of culture.