Abstract
This book extends the theme of Raymond Williams's earlier work in literary and cultural analysis. He analyses previous contributions to a Marxist theory of literature from Marx himself to Lukacs, Althusser, and Goldmann, and develops his own approach by outlining a theory of 'cultural materialism' which integrates Marxist theories of language with Marxist theories of literature. Williams moves from a review of the growth of the concepts of literature and idealogy to a redefinition of 'determinism' and 'hegemony'. His incisive discussion of the 'social material process' of cultural activity culminates in a re-examination of the problems of alignment and commitment and of the creative practice in individual authors and wider social groups.
Keywords
Related Publications
Lenin and Philosophy and Other Essays
No figure among the western Marxist theoreticians has loomed larger in the postwar period than Louis Althusser. A rebel against the Catholic tradition in which he was raised, Al...
Hegemony and Socialist Strategy: Towards a Radical Democratic Politics
This book traces the genealogy of the present crisis in left-wing thought, from stifling of democracy under Marxist-Lenninism and Stalinism to the contemporary emergence of new ...
Critical Sociology and Authoritarian State Socialism
Jürgen Habermas has demonstrated the possibility in the West of a process of democratisation that shows the limits of technocratic rationalisation of polity and economy. Moreove...
The Missing Feminist Revolution in Sociology
Feminists have made important contributions to sociology, but we have yet to transform the basic conceptual frameworks of the field. A comparison of sociology with anthropology,...
The Concept of Theme as Used in Qualitative Nursing Research
The concept of theme is critical to the accurate interpretation of qualitative data. A literature review of qualitative research methodology and nursing research studies reveals...
Publication Info
- Year
- 2006
- Type
- book-chapter
- Citations
- 4521
- Access
- Closed
External Links
Social Impact
Social media, news, blog, policy document mentions
Citation Metrics
Cite This
Identifiers
- DOI
- 10.1515/9780300224887-018