Jameson

[filipe ceppas]

Thank you very much, Claus.

Till that moment, I think that this tension between universal and particular
that Jameson is stressing, the question of the problematic relevance of the
concept of totality, is simply a restatement of Adorno's own words, but
Jameson's way of putting it avoid and criticize some very bad
interpretations of Adorno's ideas, like the world famous Hubiel-Habermas
critique of the despair of a philosophy that doesn't believe in his
sociological relevance and is condemned to criticize his own premises
forever and ever. I think Jameson succeed in showing the sameness (?
approximations?) of apparently diferent contexts of Adorno's ideas, like the
more abstract treatment of concepts in general, the relations between
psychology and sociology, and the cultural critique, avoiding and explaining
the "tortured" writing style of Adorno. And, not least, trying with some
cleverness a link with marxist questions. For the first 70 pages, it is not
bad.

to be continued...

regards, Filipe.

> From: Claus Hansen <clausdh@tdcspace.dk>
> Reply-To: frankfurt-school@lists.village.virginia.edu
> Date: Sat, 19 Apr 2003 22:54:20 +0200
> To: frankfurt-school@lists.village.virginia.edu
> Subject: Re: Jameson
> 
> "The point of this digression on cultural theory in Adorno has been to
> emphasize
> the presence at work within its dilemma of the same contradictions we have
> underscored in philosophical thought, in the analysis of the 'concept',
> which can
> neither be taken at face value as an autonomous instrument for grasping some
> Real distinct from it, nor debunked in the fashion of the sociology of
> knowledge
> or vulgar Ideologiekritik for that dimension of the lie and the illusion
> which is, in
> our society, inherent in it. What is not yet clear is what it might mean, in
> concrete situations, to think by means of a concept which is itself somehow
> 'false' in its very form. As for the peculiar contradictions in which the
> sociology
> of knowledge and sociological critique of culture thereby find themselves
> imprisoned, these are rather to be grounded in some deeper philosophical
> notion of the heteronomy of critique itself - the paradox of the possible
> distance
> of a part, the mind, from the whole of which it is a part - which will be
> examined
> later" (p. 48)
> 
> I haven't but parts of Jamesons work - but I would love to hear more on your
> thoughts on it when you have come further with your reading.
> 
> Kind regards,
> 
> Claus
> 
> At 17:29 19-04-03 -0300, you wrote:
>> Dear list members,
>> 
>> I am reading Jameson, Late Marxism, Adorno or the persistence of the
>> dialectic, in Portuguese. I wonder if someone could do me a great favour
>> sending me the last paragraph of Chapter 4 (use and abuse of cuture critic)
>> in English. And I would love to hear any comments about Jameson's ideas on
>> Adorno. So far, I think it is a good reavaliation of some important
>> questions and problems of Adorno's philosophy. Do I have to be prepared for
>> the whipping post by saying it? :-)
>> 
>> Best wishes,
>> 
>> Filipe
> 
> ____________________________________________________________________________
> "Hos mange mennesker er det allerede en uforskammethed, nr de siger 'jeg'"
> (T.W. Adorno)
> 
> 
>