Fredric Jameson is regarded as one of the most significant and influential literary and cultural critics and theorists in the English-speaking Marxist tradition. In "Postmodernism or the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism", Jameson aims to define the nature of cultural production in the late capitalism era of the second half of the 20th century, distinguishing it from other forms of cultural production from earlier capitalist eras.
A significant part of "Postmodernism or the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism" focuses on differentiating works of art and architecture from what Jameson calls "high modernism" and postmodern works. He describes the postmodern mode of production as a "cultural dominant," highlighting concepts such as "depthlessness" or the suppression of depth, the waning of affect, and pastiche, which Jameson believes relate to the postmodern form of production and experience.
The Problem of Periodization and the Cultural Dominant
The term postmodernism brings forth the issue of periodization, necessitated by the prefix "post-" assigned to modernism. Jameson believes it's possible to discuss cultural modes within a defined timeline, but limits his periodization of postmodernism to the flexible concept of a cultural dominant, which allows for other forms of cultural production to coexist alongside it.
Jameson, adhering to the Marxist tradition, links culture with the political and economic state of society, asserting that a society's socio-economic structure is reflected in its cultural forms. He relies on Ernest Mandel's work that divides capitalism into three distinct periods, each aligning with a stage of technological development: steam engines in the mid-19th century, electricity and internal combustion engines in the late 19th century, and electronic and nuclear devices since the 1940s. These developments correspond with three stages of capitalism: the national market economy stage, the imperialistic monopoly stage, and the current phase of late capitalism. Jameson then aligns these stages of capitalism with three stages of cultural production: realism, modernism, and present-day postmodernism.
Jameson views postmodernism as a cultural form that evolved from the socio-economic order of current capitalism. It is not a universal trend, but a cultural dominant influencing all cultural productions. This perspective accommodates other cultural modes of production while still treating our time as postmodern. Although non-postmodern art, literature, and architecture are still produced, postmodernism is the dominant cultural force.
The remainder of "Postmodernism or the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism" is devoted to supporting this claim by examining various cultural products and further developing theoretical issues.
