winebaby
winebaby
bb bourgeoisie
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stacey posted:
I agree with your last point about imagined(simulation implies something entirely different--a heuristic hypnosis of the type described by agamben) conditions precipitating some sort of distinctly american pomo conceit. except that the effect has been sort of a wash in that its had both productive and deleterious results. and because the scale of those specific destructive repercussions were so constrained simply by being felt exclusively in a select few organs of the left--none of which had any power or relevance anyways. worrying about the trajectory of continental thought among american postmodernity is a bit like getting a phd to measure the spiral of a duck's vagina. no one is going to give a shit except the people sad and deluded enough to think that spending their life staring down a duck's pussy is meaningful work.
alas, those people include a very wide selection of the people that one meets in english and comp lit departments at campuses all across the country
Impper
Impper
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camera_obscura posted:
stacey posted:
I agree with your last point about imagined(simulation implies something entirely different--a heuristic hypnosis of the type described by agamben) conditions precipitating some sort of distinctly american pomo conceit. except that the effect has been sort of a wash in that its had both productive and deleterious results. and because the scale of those specific destructive repercussions were so constrained simply by being felt exclusively in a select few organs of the left--none of which had any power or relevance anyways. worrying about the trajectory of continental thought among american postmodernity is a bit like getting a phd to measure the spiral of a duck's vagina. no one is going to give a shit except the people sad and deluded enough to think that spending their life staring down a duck's pussy is meaningful work.
alas, those people include a very wide selection of the people that one meets in english and comp lit departments at campuses all across the country
yeah, i'm not "worried" about it i guess, just something weird i observed. it's like--why? why do it? it doesn't even seem like a "reactionary backlash" or anything like that, but more a form of provincialism: that is a bunch of faggot nerds read theory and shit and thought it was great so they put it into everything they do
gyrofry
gyrofry
Kurdt
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nonthreateningly rebellious
amniotic
amniotic
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It's been a couple of years since I read the book, so failures of recall my be involved in my response. It's probably easiest to read conditions as a counter-critique. (The other major counter-critique is the Jameson book mentioned above, which Harvey cites extensively, if I remember right.)
According to Harvey, postmodern approaches criticize marxian narratives (often legitimately), as culturally and temporally contingent, a framework ripe for deconstruction/pick-your-favorite-technique.
He doesn't necessarily argue that post-modernism is directly economically motivated/inspired, more concurrent and mutually reinforcing. In the social sciences, he ties it to the rise of the linguists and the mistrust of language and meaning that came along with that (the historical context for which was the aftermath of the first world war). He is essentially concerned with the way that post-modern thought, particularly in its rejection of meta-narratives, serves existing power by its lack of critical engagement. The lack of a narrative and the (initially post-structuralist) intrinsic rejection of meaning cripple any potential that post-modern critique may possess for inducing social/political/whatever change, and in many cases facilitate the extension of hegemony.
At least as far as I remember, he argues that the failure of the meta-narratives of modernism, especially as high modernism became pregnant with the symbolism of capital, (he uses urban architecture as a study here), and the fracturing/globalizing of capitalism (his main work is in the geographic distribution of capital and development) provided the background against which a postmodern approach seemed natural, obvious, and useful.
In his later work, he does engage with and employ certain lines of post-structuralist thought.
On the other hand, I'm not sure I believe that neoliberalism necessarily follows post-modern lines, given that many theorists associated with it in one regard or another (e.g. Nozick, Hayek, Friedman) are demonstrably utopian, which locates them in the modern tradition.
According to Harvey, postmodern approaches criticize marxian narratives (often legitimately), as culturally and temporally contingent, a framework ripe for deconstruction/pick-your-favorite-technique.
He doesn't necessarily argue that post-modernism is directly economically motivated/inspired, more concurrent and mutually reinforcing. In the social sciences, he ties it to the rise of the linguists and the mistrust of language and meaning that came along with that (the historical context for which was the aftermath of the first world war). He is essentially concerned with the way that post-modern thought, particularly in its rejection of meta-narratives, serves existing power by its lack of critical engagement. The lack of a narrative and the (initially post-structuralist) intrinsic rejection of meaning cripple any potential that post-modern critique may possess for inducing social/political/whatever change, and in many cases facilitate the extension of hegemony.
At least as far as I remember, he argues that the failure of the meta-narratives of modernism, especially as high modernism became pregnant with the symbolism of capital, (he uses urban architecture as a study here), and the fracturing/globalizing of capitalism (his main work is in the geographic distribution of capital and development) provided the background against which a postmodern approach seemed natural, obvious, and useful.
In his later work, he does engage with and employ certain lines of post-structuralist thought.
On the other hand, I'm not sure I believe that neoliberalism necessarily follows post-modern lines, given that many theorists associated with it in one regard or another (e.g. Nozick, Hayek, Friedman) are demonstrably utopian, which locates them in the modern tradition.
babyfinland
babyfinland
tardy on these heaters
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in the ancient and medieval world, a lack of meta-narrative was called polytheism. thank you hebrew prophets for giving us the millenarian meta-narrative
deadken
deadken
penitent
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millennialism existed in polytheistic mythologies tho?
babyfinland
babyfinland
tardy on these heaters
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deadken posted:
millennialism existed in polytheistic mythologies tho?
thanks.
khamsek
khamsek
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:)