Kavanagh, Kevin Sean (1997) Raymond Williams and the limits of cultural materialism. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

Cultural materialism has become an influential discipline in recent
years, particularly so in 'Renaissance' studies, but also more generally in
'English', as well as departments defined as practising 'cultural' or
'communications' studies. The phrase is usually linked with the name of
Raymond Williams, but a cursory examination of Williams's own work
quickly establishes that it is a phrase he rarely uses, and only schematically
attempts to define. The thesis therefore takes the form of an investigation into
the way cultural materialism has come to be understood, by examining in
detail the trajectory of Raymond Williams's theoretical development, and how
his own engagement with various theoretical positions has helped to set
'limits' on the meaning of cultural materialism.
Chapters 1 and 2 deal with some of Williams's earliest work,
particularly Reading and Criticism, as a way of investigating how reasonable
it is to tag him as a 'Left-Leavisite', arguing that Leavis's undoubted
influence is resisted (though not entirely rejected) from a very early stage. The
first chapter considers in detail Leavis's work at Cambridge, the influence of
Eliot, and the significance of the 'Organic Community'. Chapter 2, which is
based around a comparative analysis of Williams's and Leavis's readings of
Dickens, argues that Williams rejects the 'organic community' in favour of his
'knowable community'. Chapters 4 and 5 deal with specific 'theoretical'
issues: the first, based around a reading of Terry Eagleton's critique of
Williams's use of the Marxist metaphor of 'base and superstructure', shows
some of the problems which arise from Williams's cultural model, as well as
suggesting refinements; the second deals with the influence of Volosinov's
theories on Williams. Chapter 6 comes out of Williams's readings of the
'Country-House' poems in The Country and the City, showing how his
practice of literary criticism relies on an acceptance of 'ideology' apparently
denied in his more 'theoretical' writings. This analysis is extended as a result
of investigations into the 'De L'Isle' manuscripts relating to the Penshurst
estate. Chapter 7 argues that it is possible to see the work of Fredric Jameson
as developing Williams's cultural materialism into Jameson's debates on
postmodernism.
In the Introduction and Conclusion, I have taken the opportunity to
look briefly at the activity of cultural materialism as it has developed since
Raymond Williams's death in 1988. The Introduction emphasizes what I see
to be important methodological differences between 'cultural materialism'
and 'new historicism'; the Conclusion deals with the continuing debate over
the value of a cultural materialist approach by considering the 'appropriation'
of Shakespeare.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General) > PN0080 Criticism
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Williams, Raymond -- Criticism and interpretation, Criticism, Critical theory
Official Date:	January 1997
Dates:	Date Event January 1997 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Department of English and Comparative Literary Studies
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Fletcher, John, 1948 Jan. 2-
Extent:	v, 371 p.
Language:	eng

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