The article examines the ideological, artistic and genre specificity of Adam Pług’s novels (“Duch i krew”, “Oficjalista” and “Bakałarze”) considering the socio-cultural context, the main Polish literature trends of the 1860s and 1970s. The works of the writer are examined from the view of E.Z. Tsybenko’s social novel theory (“environment depiction, individual social life, their relationships”, “characteristic types”, “the overview of social life”, “home picture”, etc.). The article reveals the factors, which determined the ideological and artistic identity of the social novels by Adam Pług: positivism, social and historical events, chronatope, system of images, synthesis of romantism and realism, interior, language, scenery.