The Cultural Turn Selected Writings on the Postmodern, 1983-1998

Frederic Jameson has had an immense impact on the way the phenomenon of postmodernism is understood. His pioneering work, Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism, has been widely acclaimed as the classic analysis of postmodernity, examined with an intellectual courage and skill that dared to interconnect cultural, historical, political, economic and philosophical perspectives. Jameson’s constantly enriched reflections have become an essential reference point for all those attempting to grapple with the postmodern. However, until now, several of his key writings on the subject, from initial formulations to current developments, have been unavailable in an accessible form. This collection vividly illuminates the cultural turn of contemporary capitalism. Thus it includes his earliest insights, his responses to critics, his survey of alternative interpretations and his earliest insights, his responses to critics, his survey of alternative interpretations and his engagement with the cultural climate of the 1990s. The collection, introduced by Perry Anderson, includes a number of recent texts in which Jameson extends his method to new aspects of postmodern architecture and its relationship to political economy. The Cultural Turn is an indispensable guide to the thought of the most arresting and impressive theorist of postmodernism.