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Fredric Jameson & The Construction Of Utopian Theory

Posted on:2007-04-05Degree:DoctorType:Dissertation
Country:ChinaCandidate:W ZhangFull Text:PDF
GTID:1115360185468411Subject:Comparative Literature and World Literature
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Utopia has been gaining increasing attention in the contemporary academic world with its unique characteristic that there exist Utopia and anti-Utopia at the same time. This study focuses itself on Utopia, not because it is becoming a hot topic in the academic world, but because Utopia is facing a series of crises while gaining attention. On one hand, Utopia is of great significance to the selection of roads for the human being to liberate itself; on the other hand, it is facing fierce challenges from all kinds of anti-Utopia schools in globalization.Similar to the founding of Christianity Utopia found its origin in the time of Plato, with salvation or liberation as its connection with Christianity. Utopia also shared a relationship of dichotomy with Marxism: on one hand, Marx and Engels did not approve of the Utopian feature of the selection of Utopia, and therefore developed a mode of class revolution for the realization of Utopia; on the other hand, both Marx and Engels sang praises for the epoch-making imagination for the prospect of human liberation, as well as the crucial opposition and criticism to the capitalism system. Counteracting with Marxism Utopia has become the major theme in the socialist revolutionary movement.Ever since the mid 20th century countering to the promotion and development of anti-Utopia, anti-Socialism and anti-Marxism the newly-founded western Marxism started to reconsider Marxism to cope with the various new realistic and theoretical states.Amid the researches and disputes of contemporary Utopia most of those who supported Utopia were western Marxists, among whom, Marcuse and Bloch from the Frankfurt School in the 1950s and 1960s were the most famous scholars. Marcuse took freedom, happiness and opposition as his major theme, while Bloch focused on "The Metaphor of Hope". They both applied the Utopian dimension of Marxism in cultural criticism but gave up the classical mode of classes and violence from Marxism.Since the late 20th century, there have been fewer western theorists who stick to Marxism, and Jameson was one of them.Jameson acquired the motive, the spirit and its major theme by way of Marcuse, Bloch and others, meanwhile developed his own bilateral way and...
Keywords/Search Tags:Utopia, Jameson, Marxism, ideology
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