The Saylor Foundation 1

Frederic Jameson’s Post-Marxism

Frederic Jameson is among the world’s leading Marxist theorists, though his work also

serves to critique and rework traditional forms of Marxist theory (hence his designation

as a “Post-Marxist”). What is unique about Jameson’s Marxist approach is its measure

of self-awareness, with his theories serving to focus not only on responding to critical

questions but, moreover, reflecting upon the essence and purposes of the questions

themselves. Jameson’s central critical concern is with what he calls “the political

unconscious.” Through his notion of “the political unconscious,” Jameson asserts that

the historical past and its intrinsic relations to the present can be conceptualized only in

the form of texts. Jameson calls for theorists to always historicize texts, to always place

literary texts in their various historical contexts when engaging in any act of

interpretation. Jameson argues that texts—and narratives of all types and forms—

structure our experiences of the past (and, to some measure, our present). Jameson

contends that Marxist perspectives on literature can serve to restore and recapture

revolutionary ideals and concepts during times of political and cultural repression.

Application in Shakespeare’s Hamlet

A Jamesonian approach to Hamlet would focus on Hamlet’s position as an ideological

revolutionary within the world of the play and, also, before his Elizabethan and modern

audiences. A Jamesonian approach to Hamlet might consider not only Hamlet’s own

acute political unconscious, but also the ways in which the character relates to and

insists on understanding and considering past events as he attempts to formulate his

course of action. In fact, Hamlet’s insistence on trying to reach an

understanding/realization of what occurred in the past—namely, his father’s murder—in

order to decide his future actions can be understood as something of a Jamesonian

impulse. A Jamesonian approach might consider the ways in which the figure of Hamlet

has been reconceptualized throughout popular Western culture as a revolutionary figure

fighting against political and cultural corruption. A Jamesonian approach might

consider, for example, how Hamlet has stood as a model for other idealized heroic

figures who have rebelled against corrupt political regimes throughout popular culture,

such as the character of Batman in the films Batman Begins and The Dark Knight.

Study Question:

1. How does Jameson’s Marxist approach part ways with traditional Marxist theory?