On Terry Eagleton's Cultural Criticism

Terry Eagleton has general contemplation on "culture". Absorbed ideological resources from Raymond Williams, He adhere to that cultural studies and social practice should be put together, and from the the position of "cultural materialism", he combed the cultural meaning of the original and the derived. On the basis of criticism of culture, facts and values can unify together and form a force for social change. So , when the combination of culture and the working class have carried through in the new social change, the culture can be practically translated into material practice.Literature, text, cultural production have been important part of practice of cultural criticism in the theory of Eagleton. Literature, which is not essential, is the expression of social ideology maintaining the history, tradition, power and other multiple factors. Literary texts not only demonstrate the inherent texture of literary works, they can reach unity between literature and culture: on the one hand, the text inside is full of broken, empty, silent, is a exchange of ideas between works and readers; On the other hand, as a independent object, text forms a complex of social relations with the various objects including independent authors, readers, publishers. From the social point of view, literary production is a part of social production, literature production associates with formation of five key areas including General Mode of Production, General Ideology, Aesthetic Ideology, Authoral Ideology and Text. Literary production is the production of social ideology, reflecting the cultural material practice.Responding to the current situation of culture, Eagleton advocate that the crisis of culture is just an opportunity to transform the society. Culture has inevitably politicized, and has become part of the problem, its capability of social reconciliation are increasingly ineffective. In a sense, culture is still reflected the universal human nature which can not be exceeded.So, cultural crisis is precisely the crisis of humanity. Politicized culture is the crisis of culture, but it is also a symptomaty of the dramatic change of history. When the individuals fully absorb the positive thoughts from the specific cultures and invok a material practice for changing a unreasonable situation, cultural crisis may turn into an opportunity for changing the society.