Post-Althusserian Marxism

Abstract

A significant tendency of contemporary theory has been the high level of interest in a Marxist perspective. Even among critics who would not consider themselves Marxists in a doctrinal sense, Marxism has become a significant element in their thinking. One of the main reasons for this increased interest in Marxism has been the influence of the thought of the French Marxist philosopher, Louis Althusser. He rejects the so-called ‘vulgar’ Marxist view that works of art are wholly determined by socio-economic forces and argues that they have ‘relative autonomy’ and are ‘overdetermined’, that is, determined by a complex network of factors. Althusser’s work created mental space for critics who were sympathetic to the political aims of Marxism but unhappy at the restrictive nature of most earlier Marxist criticism. Two important current forms of critical practice which particularly reflect the influence of contemporary Marxism are ‘cultural materialism’ in Britain and the ‘new historicism’ in the United States.