Postmodernism, or, the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism

Postmodernism, or, the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism is a 1991 book by Fredric Jameson, in which the author offers a critique of modernism and postmodernism from a Marxist perspective. The book began as a 1984 article in the New Left Review.[1][2]

Postmodernism, or, the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism
AuthorFredric Jameson
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Subjects
PublisherDuke University Press
Publication date
1991
Media typePrint (Hardcover and Paperback)
Pages461
ISBN978-0-8223-1090-7
OCLC21330492
LC ClassPN98.P67 J3 1991

For Jameson, postmodernism is a forced but highly permeating field, given that cultures are formed through mass media ("mass culture"). This so-called mass culture indirectly forces us to shape our ideologies and brings us under the influence of media culture—a process that Jameson calls hegemony. This hegemony however has nothing to do with the postcolonial idea of colonization; rather it is a form of hegemony in the postmodern world, where media and capitalism play the most significant role in colonizing people's thoughts and ways of life.

Jameson argues that postmodernism is the age of the end of traditional ideologies. The ending of traditional ideologies can be seen through new wave of the aesthetic productions. He uses architecture and painting as examples. For instance, he draws out the differences between mindsets of modernism and postmodernism by comparing Van Gogh's “Peasant Shoes” with Andy Warhol's “Diamond Dust Shoes”.

For Jameson, postmodernism, as mass-culture driven by capitalism, pervades every aspect of our daily lives. Whether we want it or not, we imbibe it. This in turn makes it a "popular" culture of the masses.

References
  1. Giri, Meenakshi; Kellner, Douglas M., eds. (2001). "Postmodernism, or, the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism". Media and Cultural Studies: Keyworks. Malden: Blackwell Publishing. pp. 550–587. ISBN 9780631220954. OCLC 44650979.
  2. Jameson, Fredric (July–August 1984). "Postmodernism, or The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism". New Left Review. New Left Review. I (146).CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)


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