The Quagmire Of Imagination--On Frederic Jameson's Utopian Literary Theory

Frederic Jameson is a brilliant Marxist cultural critic, his theoretical system has run through of the Utopian thinking.It can be said that,he is a master of contemporary Utopian thought because he is not only adhere to the traditional utopian theory, but also absorb the advantages of post-modern philosophy. Now, there hasn't a research which from the perspective of literary criticism to study Jameson's Utopian thinking, so this article can fill this gap. In this article,I studied and developed the utopianism in Frederic Jameson's literature theory, and introduction it to Chinese academia.In this article, I used the method of history and logic to studied he utopianism in Jameson's literature theory.I also analysised the history and social background of Utopian thinking. After that, I saw the essence, advantage and shortcoming of Jameson's Utopia theory of literature. The paper is divided into five parts:Chapter one is mainly about the formation of utopianism in Frederic Jameson's literature theory. The history of Utopian thought and literature was the theoretical background of his theory. His theory has four main sources:Louis Althusser and Mao'thought , Heidegger and the Frankfurt School'thought, Ernst Bloch'thought, and Northrop Frye's thought. The social background of his theory is the post-modern period that the Utopian spirit was weekly.Chapter two is about the main content of Jameson's Utopia theory of literature. Jameson said that Utopia is not only the properties of utopian literature, but also for all the properties of literary texts. Jameson points out the features ,type and value of utopian text, and analyzed two types of utopian text : dystopia literature and science fiction. Jameson also working to construct a kind of specific method about literary criticism——Utopia method.Chapter three is mainly about the characteristics of Jameson's theory : concerned about the reality, dialectical thinking and the concept of totality. This section, Jameson, Marcuse, Foucault and Jacoby's theory are made some comparison.Chapter four is mainly about the value and defects of Jameson's theory. Theoretically, Jameson's thinking has four value. First, the Western tradition of utopian thinking has been Inheritance ; Secondly, the construction of Marxist literary theory is provided a new perspective; Third, post-modernism has been improved ; Fourth, for China, Jameson's Utopian Literature can help us to explain the nature of the literature, and can be used to clarify that, there is no utopia traditional in the Chinese classical literature. Jameson's Utopian thought also has great practical value: It is exploring a more idealized future, this future society do in a capitalist society; For China, his theory can be used to criticize contemporary literature, and help us build a harmonious society.Chapter five is a concise conclusion. The essence of his theory is that: Utopia is not only the properties of utopian literature, but also for all the properties of literary texts; We have lost a utopian spirit, and this thought will help us to build a better future.