This book provides the first detailed account of Gramsci's work in the context of current critical and socio-cultural debates. Renate Holub argues that Gramsci was ahead of his time in offering a theory of art, politics and cultural production. Gramsci's achievement is discussed particularly in relation to the Frankfurt School (Adorno, Horkheimer, Benjamin, Bloch, Habermas), to Brecht's theoretical writings and to thinkers in the phenomenological tradition especially Merleau-Ponty. She argues for Gramsci's continuing relevance at a time of retreat from Marxist positions on the postmodern left.
Antonio Gramsci is distinguished by its range of philosophical grasp, its depth of specialized historical scholarship, and its keen sense of Gramsci's position as a crucial figure in the politics of contemporary cultural theory.
Part I INTRODUCTION 1 Gramsci and critical theories: towards a ‘differential pragmatics’ Part II FROM REALISM TO MODERNISM 2 To realism farewell: Gramsci, Lukics and Marxist aesthetics 3 The industrialization of culture: Gramsci with Benjamin, Brecht and the Frankfurt School 4 Gramsci’s theory of consciousness: between alienation, reification and Bloch’s ‘principle of hope’ 5 Phenomenology, linguistics, hegemony Part III BEYOND THE MODERN, BEYOND THE POSTMODERN 6 Grams & intellectual and the age of information technology, The adventures of a concept in Gramsci’s texts ‘Mode of production’ and ‘mode of information’.
Biography
Renate Holub (Author)
