~
spring.
thIis
Pras
o(Ca1J{omia
Univc=nity
ilic
by
!
rbC'
Leu1$,
Wyndham
ofAggmsion:
Fabln
book.
new
His
lJnivl:rsiry,
Vall:
at
i
ends
other
from
distinct
qualitatively
and
it,
to
immanent
is
activity
I
any
against
ovt::r
themselves
means
the
of
organization
the
foregrounds
I
"instrumentalization"
Schoollterm
Frankfurt
th~
of
value
strategic
the
I
ends
suspends
or
brack~ts
effectively
split
means/ends
the
degree
what
to
understood
,~~;;::::;
IS
It
until
appreciated
propelrly
be
cannot
It
Idea:
paradoXIcal
a
IS
thIS
But
ends.
and
t1:::
I
of
models
ratiOnal
va.rio~
to
according
reconstructed
and
fragmented
analytically
.,::'::::,
:::';:.:::::,
:,.:.:::
:'
ii:"
';
j:,!i!r
"taylorizc:d,"
and
reor:ganized
instrumcntally
are
activity
human
of
fonDS
traditional
"'.'
,
,.:.
,',,':
::::",
older
the
capitaliSm,
U.lnder
which,
in
way
the
describes
rationalization)
of
analysis
Weber's
0
,'
.':"'
~ir
Max
with
ov~rlaid
sl:rongly
(here
rei6cation
of
theory
The
culture.
mass
of
works
the
to
,',
.
:.:'
~1
rei6cation
commodir;y
of
theorio
Marxist
of
application
and
extension
the
as
characterized
~:~:';::
c
".,."
be
<:~
thjSview
Bricfiy,
exalted.
view
radical
the
which
and
stigmatizes
it
which
'
f\l
irid~
ci11~re:,
the
of
produCts
those
precisely
of
analysis
dose
the
for
methodology
,,"
ru
providcs"aworkin:g
and
orne
theoretical
intc:nsely
an
is
others
and
Marcuse,
Horkheimer,
:';
wotkofAdomo,
the
po:sition,
radical
the
of
antithesis
exact
this
for
appropriate
is
as
School;
,
c
,
theFraItkfurt
by
out
wo:rked
culture
of
theory
the
in
rev~rsed
then
is
position
This
c
,
content.
their
.:'
inter~~to:'~Ycai)()ut
of
litttle
had
has
and
valorizes
it
obj~cts
cultural
those
~ven
reading
;
.
for
nQme~94
offers
It
finaIlly,
art;
modem
of
forms
Important
most
the
of
much
of
stance
~~:~:;
=~~~:~~:~::
~:;~=~:
c
,c
c,
arehQ~~~:,~
R3dicals
intellectuals.
by
represented
socially
is
what
than
population
,C
widCf~~~r9(the
far
to
meaningful
cultura1language
a
speak
dearly
former
the
because
Stevens9rH~J~~,
Wallace
with
than
r2ther
orjaws,
Godfatber,
programs,1De
tv
with
prde~~~tq:,~~
be
wlould
it
one:
social
a
therefore
is
invoked
value
The
university.
the
~~~~
in
institutions,
with
association
its
by
tainted
irredeemably
phenomenon,
.
,
~~~~t
an
is
culture
high
that
scnsc:
based
widely
a
articulates
and
radicalism
"
in:,~m(:an
convictiQn
rooted
deeply
a
to
responds
clearly
but
content
theoretical
little
pqsitiQn:,~
negative
essentially
this
suggests,
thrust
intellectual
anti.
its
As
intellectuals,
'.:","
;.,'"
.
of
~~~
small
of
hoobby
status
a
as
stigmatized
then
is
culture
hermetic
or
high
0
,
"
,
,
of
pursuit
the
it;
to
e:xposed
people
of
numbers
sheer
the
of
grounds
the
on
culture
mass
of
priority
the
for
argues
elitism
of
motif
familiar
the
Th~
value.
of
terms
in
staged
essentially
(1)
":,
are
and
mirror-images,
tw'o
to
themsdves
reduce
field
this
in
positions
often,
so
As
(1)
':
opposition.
this
of
status
objectivie
the
on
rcficCting
without
culture
high
so-<:al1ed
against
~
!!::!
object
its
define
to
tended
always
known-has
variously
is
it
as
ind~try,
culture
the
culture,
\,
Z
;:i:,
"popular"
culrorc,
com:merdal
culture.
mdicnce
ID2M
culturc-or
m2SS
of
theory
The
~;;
H
~
[,;,::.:-:-:-:
I
.
I
~~
~tWeen
diffe:rentiation
a
of
lines
the
alon,g
restruc.tur~
ess.en.tially
and
efficiency,
".',
.
::~ili::,:
:
"U
0
ro
JAMESON
FREDRIC
~
~
--0
R<>
0
Culture
Mass
in
Utopia
and
Reification
~
~
~
0
~
0
'-1~~flo
",','
,:
,'"
,:,,":,
~~~~~;;""
(J10
::::'
\NCfTl:D-XfTl
Ii
lC1ff
i
i
other
in
activity,
tI:'aditiona!
In
practic~.
th~ir
to
assigned
is
which
value
hence
themselves,
,'~:::ili::::"
""',
j,
o.
Frl:nch
the
of
usefully
which
"
~;:i;:i::i
\10\. \
publishc=d
bc
te:lChd
or
end
particular
11~::!::::;:
'(J1CH(1)G)<
will
value
the
wor~,
I~:~'::!
~t
Fascist,
as
FR£DRJC:JA.\I~N
~!;!!:!:::::'
~
Modernist
,'::J1I11;::;;
I~tm::'-:.
,-
I~:
::":rf-~~--;-=-;-;"
::,
c
kinds
in such
communities
werc
properly
incomparabl~;
in anci~nt
:
various
that
meant
this
Socially,
play"
or
work
human
of
fOnDS
131
of work
othcr
in
Utopia
articulatcd
RciJication
values
or
&
'..
':""':::::1:::::if
Greccc,
!
for
inst3.nce,thc b.miliM Aristotelian schemaof the fourfold causesat work in handicraft or
poeisis (matcrial. form2l,efficient, 2ndfin21)wcre appliC2blconly ta artisanall2bor,andnot
. .:. , ,..
force
of the application
without
2n end, .. that
purposc
or end
This trddidonal
world"
which
power,
lahar
of
or
I
of
quality
qu~dta-
I
~ues,
has
'I:;
instrumcntality.
or
mear15
tcxtilC
the
of
thc
thcn,
point,
d~o[Jl1.inator
this
i!
of
typC5
distinct
as
differenti21tion
At
sheer
as
which
against
thc
by Kant) as a "fina1i1;y
nonct:hcless
or politics
scribblings,
,
all these activities
of art can Dc measurcd
or
has no practical
concrete
holds for all art that works
poctic
from
"ends"
lcaVing
(in particular
activity
surely
distinct
distinct
systcm,
to works
philosophy
of business
or incpt
as;
common
and
tenns,
of this nodop
definition
movies
money.
~e
uniquc
by t,he market
aesthctic
"real
composidon
of
thar
is, as a goai-orientcd
in thc
that fall flat or home
qufit2tive
valuc
r2.nged
activity,
or suspcndcd
or
Marx's
that all forms of hurnm
of capi~,
opera
undcr
bm1ing,
cxcbange
hum2n
of art by traditional
generally.
unique
their
from
out
wuvcrsal
of
is to say supernatural
commodificadon
universal
the
only
with
to
brackcttcd
ruthlessly
The
definition
.':;.
thc
fonDS
bcen
bc
free
.'c.
.
'..
'.
.
.
";.
various
effcctively
,
opposed
"n2tural"-which
efficiency
thc
different
precondiqon
in
.;,'
.'
.
that~,
Uvc,
. .:'"
.'.
as
reorganizcd
;
a quite
2nd all ~versallY
under
...::.:"
(mining
~anufuc~rc),
to
. ..":::,
'.
had
as thc fundamental
sc:paratcd
bc
can
activity
' ::::..'
which
designates
labor
Capital
is
It
or war
divine-basis.
to agriculture
but rather
human
praxis
as such: not for stories
for thc successful
wor~
of mass and high culture alikc. We suspendour real lives and o,ur immediate practical
preoccupations just as complctdy when wc watch The Godfatbe:raswhen wc rcad The
rods
of
and
:1:::::.
:'::::::;:
cod
to
,:\;::~
fonDS of
longer
: ';fi'Ji
no
It
a
::;::;;"
"bc
in
landscapc-including,
no
th
'
h
doubt,
the
h
disquic:ting
bcwildc:nnent
with
h
'
thc
activity
itself,
h
the
th
place-is
into
a fonn
Carabiniers,
personal
when
rcplaccd
propcrty.
the new world
by the act of taking
This
is the
conquerors
meaning
exhibit
of
possessi<Dn
the
their
grc:at
spo~:
of it and converting
scene
unlike
in Godard's
Alexander.
ey
at
be in the first
w
might
wonder
um2n,
non-
of such a confrontation
thc
confronting
or purpose
beings,
uman
the point
en
comfortably
of
w
thus
ansc
and what
must
thcre
1r:::;::;i
.,»
:,i::j:;!l~~
'H'.~
'
are doing
:1':;(~
landscape
:;:;::::;:~,
lc:ts the
its being"
as Hcideggcr
would
have said, but takes a snapshot
of it, thc:reby graphically
transfonning
space into its own matc:riaI
im ag e. Thc concrcte
activitY. of lookin g at a
it
Les
they
;;;:i;i::: '
:::r:::::::::i!:
no longeI'
thc
"bcing"and
;:t::;:
satisfaction:
iindcpendent
means
thc: V2rious
become
;:l'i[-
the
along
price
a commodity
consumption.
and
thcir
less
respectivc:
commodity
of
shcd
tourist
no
2n
thcir
own
its
for
also
instruments
capitalism
Amc:rican
of
in which
quantified,
into
as it can be "used":
as
of the
tenus
rcmain
their
tranSfomla~on
activity
insobr
in
a world
arc all rigorously
of money,
univcrsal
conccpt
::,:::':1.
In
commodity,
its
the
Thc
above
consumptiion.
medium
by
possibility
as
ronn.
Ireorganization
a
means
a
to
that
many
of
so
oftourism-the
the
introduces
commodity
the
satisfactions
world
to
comc
commodity
and
of
instrumentalizadon,
their
but only
intrinsic
is that
bccome
saying
rc:duccd
by
in itscif,
~ent
the
of
fumiJiareX2rnple
thc
of
conccpt
thc
value
losc their
way
has
type,
a ncw
that
schc:ma--they
through
phrasc
now
we
ofwhatcver
has any qualitative
activity
comparable
in
qualities
.
:,.:.,::-:.;.:".:'..',::.
..
.:.'
.
.:..
split,
objects
: .;'::::;.:'..". : ,'. ,::.:;:::.;.,:'.::.',..:;
wage-yct
or
',:
thing,
:.:, ::'.;:..
: . ..:;:,:..'.. ': :
The
..
has
conccivcd
rcification-described
angle,
powcr,
was
in whatevcr
and
of
a differcnt
abstractly
means/ends
..
phenomenon
l2bor
what
as such
than in the production
become
intrinsic
...
.
thc
including
afiXlCty
.
into
experience
production-from
can
havc
.
across
undifferentiatcd
"
SOn2ta.
dUIcrcnti2tion
bccn
or
at
,.;
historical
cuts
cverything,
..'
a Bccthoven
of the aesthctic
commodity
activity
hear
howcvcr,
and
description
or
bc
struCtural
,
Dove
point,
tbe
this
of
At
.
Wings
::;i::::[
i,,:::j;:::
c:!~
::/":
'.
.
..
_.c:.-
f
:
this
i
j
latter's
the
by
and
world
real
the
in
!
is
"-which
"solution
the
Ca5c,
this
end-in
,
I
of
bulk
ending"-the
the
"for
read
you
stories,
I
of
sr:nsc)
Brechuan
a
~In
un-naturality
I
possible
bec?mes
it
light
tb~
~
follows;
what
an~
~t
:"
each
sr:1f-contarned.
Itself,
to
vr:rt1caI
werc
It
as
IS
poem
of
d~ription
his
and
M{m~is,
in,
Odyssey
th~
o.f
II
InstructJve
IS
It
differentiation.
means/ends
a
along
restruCtured
Itself
i
a
~e
that
Scho~l-sus.s~ts
F~r:-t
o(the
that
in
as
wr:l!
as
group
Quel
the
in
implicit
~
it
culturc:-and
instrumentalized
of
view
this
form,
:.J
shcer
the
for
smoke
or
toma>bile
au
an
of
idea
the
buy
an
we
how
dor
is
j
that
in
"used"
be
sentencc
poetic
a
of
materiality
sheer
the
can
how
i
of
world
the
of
logic
the
by
anti-use,
and
play
sheer
o(
non-practicality,
of
idea,
abstract
its
than
itself,
thing
the
less
consume,
we
and
us,
of
have
to
image
an
essentially
~
car
model
new
the
given:
also
arc
activities
and
the
precisely
is
society
conswmer
contemporary
in
reifi.cation
commodity
of
the
that
oftbeSpectacle,
Society
The
book,
important
an
in
3SSCrtion.
Debord's
Guy
the
also
is
This
picturcs.
dirty
many
so
like
Wat,
Angkor
Street.
Wall
pyramids,
the
Coliseum,
132
image
of
trivial.
supremely
is
murderer
an
to
histoncaI
the
discussion
Auerbach'~
But
objects
our
of
sense
, "
frozen
materialization
the
e;tr:::b~~~~Z~t:~r:
the
with
whic:h
in
way
the
thereby
not
are
dctr:ctivc
the
point
every
it
people
form
ultimate
merely own the images of evef)"thing. and triumphantly
emding
right.
own
=e:
its
imaginary
means
precedes
what
with
!e~
ends.
of
ization
"
in
:~::y
an,
co~~~~:eo~t~~
wr:
as
like
strangeness,
IS
while
realm
other
for
::"
an
of
dcvalued
which,
at
simplcst
and
ultimate
:
in
process
commcrcial
insofar
shecr
the
ofthc
And
mC3.I1S
)',
,
"
~~:
withou
identity
the
books
links
process
its
In
sense?
00:
, :: 0::
consumption
smaller
insignificant
verse paragraph and tableau somehow timeless and immanent.. bereft of any necessary or
which
j~ta~se
aes~etics
f;~(
"finality
contemporary
I::::;\',:'
in
reading
lif!;,
to
here
~¥::;,:
~:;
way
the
:
1:\:::
that
becoming
indispcnsi~le
i}i~~
, ;
appreciate
to
~~~;':
. .
;;'
a
I~..~!~:~'::;!
~~:'".',
::":.':" .:°:",'
, ,'
standards
contcmporary
~j:\::!::
,°:
pagcs
the
~\~:ii:::,:::
' ,
°
utterly
itself
°';:1:::1:,:"
.°
.
,
of
practical
,i~;;::1!!:;
"
.
sub-genres
""..,,'
:;:...
°,;,.
.
"
ij!:i:i[j,!:
::
,'.-;,
,,:;~~!j::J:,
;
0'
..:
j;ili:!:!::::';:"
.
,::'.;:
':::j:1i!\1:;:!:::;:;
,
recapitulates
~::i:~~*:i~~:i;:::::::I::;$:;i
.
'.,
Jameson
display thcir photos of the
image itself. With this universalcommodificationof our object world, the fanliliar accounts
of the other-directedness of contemporary conspicuous conslWDption and of the sexual-
capable of the libidinal invcstments ingeniously arrayed for us by advertising.
It is clear that such an account of commodification ha:s immediate relevance to
aesthetics, if only because it implies that cverything in consUrnler socicty has taken on an
acsthetic dimension, The force of the Adomo-Horkheimer analysis of the culturc industry,
however, lies in its demonstration of the unexpected and imperceptiblc introduction of
commodity structure into the very form and content of the work of art itself. Yct this is
something like the ultimate squaring of the circle, the triumph ,of instrumentalization over
t an end" which is art itself, the steady conqlJest and colonization of the
i
libidirull image of actors, writers, and modcb with cigarcncs in thcir hands, it is much less
clear how a narrative could be "consumed" for the bencfit o( its own idca.
..
[
::~;s;:::
!
tableau.
tempo
overprogrammed
'1
~
~:
!
"dramatic"
the
or
sentence
"fateful"
the
of
swis
of such re:1.ding me:mwhile
I
,
133
the whole
object-like
the
Utopia
around
or
right,
Reification
own
its
~
I:;:,
&
..
,~~"
illust
whic
eith
bef
or
afte
the
f:lc
rec
ou
re
bu
w
is
to
ttans
the
tran
flow
of
lan
as
mu
as
po
in
m
im
:m
objec
wc
can
cons
y
ct
this
is
still
a
rcla
prim
sag
in
thc
co
of
na
M
s
:md
mor
intC
is
thc
way
in
wh
sin
na
th
bc
h
t
to
e
inten
real
by
It:
the
sen
of
de
fam
no
fo
in
o
"c
h
!
:.crsonat
mea
their
ess
ma
bei
co
an
cm
th
m
m
:
form
Itsclf
an
instr
mca
tow
the
co
of
th
is
It
will
be
dea
thcn
tha
I
con
the
Fra
Sc
an
of
th
c
,
struc
of
mas
cult
of
the
gre
inte
If.
be
I
pr
a
so
d
way
look
at
th~
sam
phc
it
is
no
fe
th
ap
h
b
exha
On
con
we
hav
sca
bc
to
wo
ou
aL
co
o
such
desc
let
alon
to
ma
an
exh
inv
of
va
m
a
8
featu
bes
com
rem
in
t(:n
of
wh
su
ar
b
What
is
unsa
abou
th~
Fran
Sch
pos
is
no
its
nc
an
cr
valo
of
trad
mo
hig
art
as
th~
loc
so
gc
c
a
subv
"aut
aes
pro
H~
Ad
na
w
(
w
a
Marc
The
Aes
Dim
ma
a
ret
ov
th
di
a
assc
a
Sch
ach
in
Th
Ph
of
M
M
h
histo
and
in
part
the
irrc
ag
pro
gr
m
fo
But
if
this
is
so,
then
thc
grc
wo
of
mo
hig
cu
it
b
S
.,,:
.'.",,'
".:',
.'
:,
Beck
or
cven
Bre
him
scr
as
a
fix
po
or
~:
st
a
"::
.'.:'
undc
tend
in
rec
art
pro
ph
in
v
litera
texts
likc
thos
of
Pyn
an
inc
in
o
h
mass
cultur
tradi
give
rise
and
whi
thc
bin
sy
of
and
ther~
utterl
incom
to
a
deg
ma
cul
)-tc
to
fu
i
so
n
[
. '. -1
"
1
by itS intennittent
i
I
!
I,
as
seen
than
be
is only
mor~
little
are
c:m
but
sagas
narrative
various
th~
the:
narratives
the
in
above
"history"
floatS
consumption
of
which
movem~ntS
tone"
whose
gre:1.t
of
or
towards
earth
the
commodities
many
so
: ~":;,
':.
"feeling
the
way
r~tructUres
a classical
!
.I
and
symphony
spoke
h~
when
significant
narrative
of
more
denounced
f9~ally
diJIerentiation
Adorno
which
and
structUral
historically
This,
ofhcaring"
and
v~rsions.
broader
a
is
scre~n
of
kind
"fetishism
listen~r
so that
the
th~
namely
!
yet
as
and
of the
,',
';
.
and
f
~
and
historical
r
autonomous
:4:.1
!
is
we
that
phcnomena,
demand'S
int~rdepender1t
approach
an
Such
dia1~ctically
and
phenomcna.
cultUr~
is rep1ac~d by a genuinely
judgm~nt.
:..":,,'
cultUre,
high
than
authcntic
morc
thus
thcse
aesthetic
rclated
objectiv~ly
to
of absolute
approach
realm
as
culrure
mass
'.'
and
popular
is
culture
timeless
dialectical
high
it has
(mass
to which
twin
evalu:ation
high
opposition
thc
rethink
on
as
emphasis
high
the
must
we
that
that
rcad
a way
me
to
seems
in such
opcrat~
cultur~
value
culturc/mass
it
rcasons.
these
all
For
I
I
post-mod~rnist
tragmcntary
discov~ry
Glass.
Phil
or
indced,
fundamcntal
Riley,
culture:
dcpcnds,
lattcr
thc
which
mass
Adorno's
Terry
of
status
Young.
Lamonte
of
of the
on
valuc
positivc
judgmcnts
the
later
Is pr~cisely
"degraded"
the
music"
type
"new
the
rathcr
from
but
I
measure
omitted
to
b~cn
which
."':,
,':
::;~:: :'.;:',~~~:~;::
;:::::::: ,:,::: :::
the contemporary
or melody,
apparatus,
tune
,
tone
th~ir
about
thc
of
feeling
accompani~
manifestation
'
":
:'
'
,
consumable
that
,
,
rhythms
"""
, ::
a quasi-matcrial
of
produce
I~
'
i
;'J
.
';
'::" :: ",::: ".'. .', :. , ."
"
;.
. .'
;. :',
..
.
"
;;': .:
. : .
::
134
Jameson
:and inseparable fomlS of the fission of acsthctic production
undcr
late capiulism.
From this
perspective,
the
dilemmaofthc doublestandardof high and m~ culture remains,but it has
becomc-not
the subjective problem of our own standards o,f judgment-but rather an
-
objective contradiction which has its own social grounding;. Indeed, this view of the
emergence of m2SSculture obliges us historically to rc:spccify the nature of the "high
culture" to which it has conventionally been opposed:the o,ldcrcultUrecritics indeed
tended looscly to raise comparative issuesabout the "popular culture" of the past. Thus, if
you see Greek tragedy. Shakc:spc2Ce,
Don Quijole, still widely re2d romantic lyric of the
type of Hugo, or best-selling rC2listic novcls like those of Balzac corDickens. asuniting a widc
"popular" audiencewith high aesthcticquality, then you are f2tally lockcd into such f2lse
i
other tenn would then be Wallacc Stevcns,or Joycc, or Schoeruberg, or Jackson Pollock, but
surely not culrural artifacts such as the novels of Balzac or the plays of Moliere which
i:::;
~tially
preccde the historical separation betWeen high anld mass cultUre.
it:::!
as
well: the commercial products of the laner can surely not wilthout intellectUaldishonesty
I[~~:
be
~i!:"
dependent
iil::;:
"org:lnic" exprc:ssionof so many distinct socialcommunities lor castes,such asthe pc2SaI1t8
~:;;
~~1~1!~;
:~!~i:;:i
village, the court, the medieval town, the polis, and even the classiol bourgeoisie when it
was still a unified social group with its own cultUral specifiicity. Thc historically unique
tendencial effect of late capitalism on all such groups has been to dissolve and to fragment or
:;~:::::
J;:!!!:,
atomize them into agglomerations (Gesellscbaften) of isollatcd and equiva.lcnt private
individuals, by way of the corrosive action of universal commodification and the market
cultUre
the
and
111
were
and
~ich
rcflect~
wcre
mass
fact
of
past.
definitions
realiues,
social
on qUIte diffcrcnt
~e
of
our
art
folk
~one,.
let
po~ular.
~cd
to
and
disciplines
or
research
than
:
the
mod~m1Sm,
only
in this or that branch
for
sod2I1Y
d~nbcd
abov~:
have
thcir mission as a.spcciillzation
we
culture
conceivcd
and
historiaUy
intelligiblc
more
havc strategically
mass
,:;~
Ii)
rethink
..
:::aj:::::j::::1:i::;~::;~;~;::;;
It
which
structUral
':~1::::::;;!:;;:;
to
older
fOmlS
of popular
ordialectical
folk art. opposition and profound structural intcrrclatednC:SSof
Thus
understood,
the
modernism and contemporarymassculture opensup a who;Ie ncw field for cultUralstUdy,
which
::!f};:\i:~!;,
:~~:~i:;!:i:Rj\;~'~:;
:~j;::::!;~
:'~'.
:.!i~;:;:;;,".
" . ...:'~:. .: .~.
. ..'.,~
: , ...:.:::'
': .
::::~:;;;~::'1:::..::
:::':',:' ~,'.::,
on
" . . .. .',;,'. .; ,:.., .
US
marginalized conditions (internal and extcmal pockets of so-calIcd underdevelopmcnt
wiiliin the capitalist world systcm). The commodity pr~uction
of contemporary or
industrial mass culturc thus has nothing whatsoCver to do, and nothing in common, with
be
:~~~:;~;.:
.,
obliges
system. Thus. the "popular" as such no longcr exists, cxcept under very ~ific
to
~;~:!:::i,
~~~:::::;;i: . .
. ,...'
.. .
clearly
for their producuon
influence
'. .
specification
promises
m~:::::::!;
such
2SS~ted
But
,:,'"
!
The
modernism.
as
dcsignatcd
generally
production
artistic
:;
~;L
i
I
even
this
or
of
Hitchcock,
senselc:ssness
Ford,
uner
JOM
The
Chaplin.
as
O'Hara.
John
quality
or
high
of
Simenon,
auteurs
Andrew
contemporary
Wyeth.
that
..
such
!
intercsting subject of conversation becomes clC:lr when it is understood that from a
historical point of view the only form of ,'high culture" which ;can be sajd to constitute the
dialectical opposite of masscultUre is that high cultural production contemporaneous with
say
."
.
to
.'
,
is
'
...'
laner,
.'
Frost.
popular
Robert
.
,.
:
.'
"...".
.,"
;:..
.
.
the
,,
"
problems as the relativc va.lue--wcighcd against Shakespeare or even Dickens-of
which
,,' .:':"': ,;, ,';,., ,:.:::.,..
!
..
,
:
;,
" .
"."'
.
.
, . ' .'
.
.;.,"
. ,.
of
utterly
m:lterials
raw
by
free.
a
and
unreality
commodity
the
is,
(that
simulacrum
:1::)
Je:m
for
".'
'-&-AU
,;::~~
formal
antithetical
the
,;:~
has
which
theme,
such
further
one
::!'
':
;'::'
:
the
which
of
tenDS
in
phenomena
or
,:~;:::;~
an
making
involve
initiially
then
would
;':-;,
;.
,
:~~f
',,!:
'
::jt::::!:;~
!
structural
kcy
a
is
matcrialization
or
remotion
which
in
,:;'.:(::;'::.j~'
ambivalent
propc:riy
more
a
into
terms)
inessc:n~
and
essential
,j
i:':::!::::;:)::::
;:
bad,
and
good
its
intO
opposition
binary
every
programs
fatally
(which
value
of
'i
':;:::;::::::':,
:
,
f2lsc
the
of
mtroduCtlon
::[:.t:
:,':r:::,
fundamental
a
o~
!bascd
~
to
out
turns
~ebate
great
id~logical
this
cultur2lly~en
an.d
.;"
'::.,~;~:::;c.:::~~~::
historically
phenomcnon-both
same
the
and
onc
arc
signifiers
matc:riaJized
increasingly
.
:::";;:::::::::::::::r::;:::::;::
"textUal
of
or
text"
tlhe
of
"matcri2llty
the
and
significr"
"matcrial
the
of
celebration
..;.,..",*:"",:;.«,:
:i;::2i::::~k:;.:!:i::::::
the
to
juxtaposition
judgment-tn
value
negative
furnishes
remotion-which
has attracted
f
is
it
something
explored,
be
usefully
can
study
of
culture.
mass
and
situation
negative,
and
problem
many
so
as
systems
SIgn
Its
of
logic
the
and
')
:~
:':~::',
the
is
that
and
situation.
specifying
in
note
thcmcs
area
new
this
historical
and
positive
styles
;::':&
has
Kicrk-'-'~""'.
to
own
we
social
cornmon
merely
modernism
problematic
modcmism
both
of
dialectical
(
one
featUre
handicraft)
or
the
post.-stJ'Ucturalism:
form
modem
their
to
significance
will
I
and
culture
such
defining
of
task
The
feature
languages
and
modem.
both
another
yet
an
calls
he
recent
in
its
in
culture
greatest
point,
this
mass
of
other
of
inventory
an ilssue that
casc.
the
which
natUre,
with
ch2taCterizes
what
of
structure
which
ept,
the
of
At
hcre.
do
to
interrelationship
pnvzte
faCt
to
by
taken
original)
no
have
elaborations
new
m2SS
and
be
to
me
to
early
too
mISunderstanding.
Once
agaIn,
theconfusIon
stems
from
the
in
producti\on
world
object
our
marks
and
which
conc
modc:rnism
of
seemed
It IS not
i:s
This
constitute
to
hitherto
place
the
(e.g.,
repetitive
the
~
rr-.-tition.
reactions
thetcrm
ofa
productiom
artisarull
of
"originals"
the
by
"copies"
-y-
of
notion
reasons,
rC2ct.
formation.
social
carlier
any
in
cpitalism
interesting
and
rich
known
obVIous
but
aesthetic
rcpetition
expect
would
referent"
of
example,
for
Baudrillard,
(for
cannot
another
contemporary
of
or
"the
of
consumer
of
reproduction
the
.
theory
or
way
experienced
absence
production
.
.
MarxISt
we
then
C:ISe,
production,
primary
floating
..'
.
contemporary
one
situation
the
is
anything
and
."'
..
:
.
.
;
.
,
mdiVldual.
in
cultUre
mass
this
If
unlike
::'"
.
.
':.'
".
.
.
contradictory
thc
.
..
.
:.::::.:::,
:::
.:;.ti.
'.
..
and
ism
.
"
.
:.:.,:::::::::.
isolated
~
:;:;::ill\I;r:::i:i:i:;
;:::::::i:~::~:~:;:::;:::
loses all social statusand facesthe options of becomingapoetr maudit or a journalist, dIe
(,
j'"...
1:
and
-
were
genres
pre-capitaJLst
once
innovation-at
such
rcccnt
omnibus
these
novels:
"original"
by
reduplicated
meta-generic
new
devising
by
competition
19405
and
19305
of
pat1tcnl
traditio~
the
contemporary
in
work
at
systCml
generic
me
sure,
and
production
the
and
series,
tv
weekly
of
sub-generic
now
the
of
a1I1
reinforce
displays
airport
or
mass
of
realm
the
in
afterlife
powerful
a
-<ontinue
"text"
or
"livre"
by
replaced
now
itself,
novel"
"the
even
length
at
and
comedy,
and
,.,
fixed
older
the
repudiated
succcssivdy
have
which
revolutions
modernist
various
the
.
,~
worked
sys[cmatically
thereby
and
itself
process
aesthetic
the
into
drawn
is
irritant
external
its
made
and
appropriated
has
project
modernist
the
Robbe-Grillct,
to
Stein
Genrudc
from
whidt,
rcpctition
of
kinds
dIe
Meanwhile,
itself.
text
the
of
microcosm
the
within
now
but
models
formal
older
or
forn15
older
with
break
the
of
level
the
on
merely
not
repetition
defy
~~:
the
of
vocation
this
dcmomstrate
openly
writing
schizophrenic
of
ideal
me
and
"text"
a
of
c::1~
conception
post-modernist
the
time,
own
our
In
itself.
repetition
of
rcality
objective
the
to
~':.;;.!;;~~1
respond
to
fonn,
their
of
bon,e
and
flesh
very
me
in
and
themselves,
of
spite
in
forced,
been
have
modernisms
various
the
which
in
ways
the
detecting
for
symptoms
useful
are
they
yet
.
change-
of
view
cyclical
of
kind
a
projecting
and
history,
social
alone
let
fonns,
of
history
",:~:",,~"'
the
even
out
flattening
up
end
period
given
any
in
change
stylistic
of
content
concrete
the
value-for
theoretical
or
criticall
no
sure
be
to
have
ideologies
aesdIetic
Sudt
equivalence.
commodity
of
feature
universal
a
as
repetition
of
gravity
of
force
dIe
through
breaks
"
and
resists
whidt
something
produce
to
new",
it
"make
changcs-to
bshion
and
style
~1
,
,i'
prcssure-geometrically
me
styles.
previous
with
brcak
obligatory
me
novelty,
and
'l!!"
'
fonnulations
hegemonic
me
through
passing
and
group,
Quel
Tel
me
to
Romantics
the
from
~
.
ideological stance of all modernizing theory and practice
one thing, they arepurdy fonDalandby abstt2ctingsomeempty concept of innovationfrom
A.:
'v:
biography, or porno-
signs of something like an aesthetic "contraCt" between a cultural producer and a certain
of the situation of aestheticproduction andconsumption,that is to say,from dIe faCtthat the
~
~
:
neutralized.
symbolically
and
out"
"acted
over,
~."'.
.
.
"
'
,","
';":'::,.
'
..
by
discou~tigmatized
generic
older
the
that
observed
becn
frcqucntiy
has
it
Indeed,
But it is dear that the inftuencc of repetition on rD2SS
culmre hasbeen no lessdecisive.
i
and
collective
and
social
the
from
older
the
m~t
the
only
from
be
classification
dru~torc
tragedy,
lyric,
of
fonns
,':
'.
.'
;;Sf""..
.
artist
question-
in
production
of
mode
vitality
historically:
television
to
(to
films
conventional
unclassifiable
the
.,:'
,,:.',
,:
",:
"
136
the
institution
social
a
.
the
to
their
drew
generally
distinct
utterly
is
Paperback
culture.
,
.
,
,:,""
specificity.
and
validation
anather
way?r
according
is
film"
rcspond
to
had
the
betwccn gothic, bestseller, mysteries, science fiaion,
conswnption
artistic
of
oWn!
its
with
one
in
still
they
development
this
"disaster
thentselves
Hollywood
do
as
graphy,
'..'"
.:"
'.
-
.."'"
production,
commodity
statUS
institutio~
was
public;
group
or
has
film
of
marketing
.
::!
-.:.
:,.
;
of
branch
more
relationship
widely
varied
sure
specify
and
commercial
~,
need only invoke the ~tional
this
public
and
artist
class
forms,
produCtion,
f~;"
.
one
market,
interpersonal
and
be
to
bccomc new "gel':res""in dIeir own right, and fold back into dIe usual generic stereotyping
however-the
omnibus
or
~"
":"
becomes
the
of
betwecn
must
reproductior.).
[O[1nS,
distinctions
art
social
we
But
and
t
.
coming
homogeneous
..
~
~;:
...".::
vanishes:
st2tus-which
.
",
~
. ..,
the
relationship
.,'
-.
.
j:...
1
concrete
a
;:
.
:::
.:::',
,':
.
",..'
~1""'.
":..
With
..'..'..
;.;,'
":,:
:,
~.,
,
production
,'.'. ,': " ,'.": .:. . :..'.,:
:
.::.::..
~
,,:.
::,';
"
~::':::.~:'~
i ::.:.
'.
.
:':.1;::~;.:::~::;:;:
.::i~;::;:;
:
:... .'
'
..,
:
::
':",
,
~~
,.:..
,
Jameson
,
of classicalAnglo-Americanmodernism,to observeme strategic emph2Sison innovation
incr(:a5ing widI dIe ever swifter historicity of consumer society, with its yearly or quanerly
j:
,I,;,l';
modernist aesthetic to produce sentences which arc radically ,discontinuous, and whidt
own, can bc seen as a kind of homeopathic stra[cgy whereby dIe :scandalous and in[olcr2blc
.
-~