Noys, B. (2021) 'The Masses Make History’: On Jameson’s Allegory and Ideology. Historical Materialism, 29 (1). pp. 134-150. ISSN 1569-206X
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Abstract
This essay responds to Frederic Jameson’s Allegory and Ideology by arguing that this book is centrally concerned with the masses. By developing Jameson’s own model of allegorical reading the pressure of the masses on the text is explored. This is demonstrated through a reading of Albert Camus’s The Plague, Jameson’s central example of ‘bad’ allegory. While this novel is ‘bad’ for implying a one-to-one allegory between the plague infection and the occupation of France during World War Two or to the human condition, a reading of the text as biopolitical allegory reveals the complex presence of the masses. Finally, this response considers the ‘immortality’ of the masses as the utopian moment traced within Allegory and Ideology.
Item Type: | Articles |
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Uncontrolled Keywords: | Jameson; Masses; Allegory; Biopolitics; Camus; Immortality; General Economics; Econometrics and Finance; History |
Subjects: | B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > B Philosophy (General) H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) J Political Science > JC Political theory P Language and Literature > PR English literature |
Divisions: | Academic Areas > Institute of Arts and Humanities > English and Creative Writing |
Related URLs: | |
Depositing User: | Benjamin Noys |
Date Deposited: | 29 Oct 2020 10:39 |
Last Modified: | 09 Apr 2021 08:15 |
URI: | https://eprints.chi.ac.uk/id/eprint/5386 |