Culture and the modern self: a comparative analysis of the cultural theories of Pierre Bourdieu and Fredric Jameson

Abstract

Pierre Bourdieu and Fredric Jameson are in many respects two of the most influential contemporary theorists. Bourdieu's comprehensive theoretical model, termed "genetic structuralism", is a fruitful alternative to traditionally dichotomous modes of thinking: subjectivism vs. objectivism, agency vs. structure, micro vs. macro analysis. His model aims to subsume these divisions, by accounting for the generative ability of both mental and structural forces. Jameson on the other hand, as "America's leading Marxist critic", offers an engaging account of contemporary culture, as he attempts to find the connecting thread of our increasingly disjointed social reality to history. The following work is but a brief account of these wide-ranging theories. Its order of progression starts with contextualizing Bourdieu and Jameson in the framework of cultural debates, followed by an analysis of the structure and logic of both Bourdieu's and Jameson's theories, after which comes a look at how these theories are applied to analyzing literary works. Finally the last part tries to grasp these theories in relation to each other, by highlighting some of their differences and similarities.