Analysis Of Raymond Williams' Thought Of Cultural Materialism

Raymond Williams is the founder of cultural Marxism of the left in the 20th century.His cultural materialism has built a solid foundation for the study of British culture and developed Marxist cultural theory.Williams' cultural materialism,standing on the position of historical materialism,reflects on classic Marxism through cultural research,defines culture as "the whole way of life",and further develops Marxist cultural theory.Williams' theory of cultural materialism transcends the traditional elitist culture of England and creatively interprets the culture from the perspective of Marxism,which is of great significance to the contemporary cultural research.This paper focuses on Williams' thought of cultural materialism,explores its background and theoretical origin,interprets the connotation and development path of cultural materialism,and makes a dialectical and comprehensive analysis.It is mainly divided into four parts: the first chapter introduces the unique social,political and economic background of Britain after World War II and Williams' personal growth experience,which together shape the cultural materialism.The second chapter clarifies that Williams redefines culture by combing the historical development of cultural meaning,and leads to the core concept of "the whole way of life".On this basis,it points out that the connotation of cultural materialism is that culture is a material practice.Connecting "foundation" with "superstructure" has a decisive role in our society,and discusses the important content of cultural materialism "emotional structure".The third chapter points out that Williams' cultural materialism corrects the name of mass culture,and moves towards the ideal goal of cultural materialism "common culture" by changing the mode of communication and cultural expansion.The fourth part is an overall analysis of Williams' cultural materialism.First of all,it affirms the development of Williams' cultural materialism to Marxist cultural theory.Then it goes back to the position of Marxism and reflects on Williams' one-sided understanding of cultural concept in cultural materialism,which inevitably leads to Utopia.Finally,the Enlightenment of Williams' cultural materialism on China's cultural construction is discussed.