Welcome to Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art,

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art ›› 2016, Vol. 36 ›› Issue (6): 202-210.

• Western Literary Theory and Criticism • Previous Articles     Next Articles

From Discourse of Political Practiceto Strategy for Cultural Interpretation: Jameson's Aesthetic Transformation of Mao Zedong Thought

Wu Yuyu   

  1.  the College of Liberal Arts, Shanghai University (Shanghai 200444, China)
  • Online:2016-11-25 Published:2017-09-30
  • About author:Wu Yuyu, Ph.D., is a lecturer at the College of Liberal Arts, Shanghai University (Shanghai 200444, China). Her research interests cover modern and contemporary literature.

Abstract: After the Western left-wing movement suffered setbacks in reality, its practice experience has been transformed into a method of textual interpretation. However, there are very limited studies to question how the failure of such political practice is reborn in a new discourse. This paper tries to explain its process through the case of Jameson's transformation of Mao Zedong thought into aesthetic. The transformation finds its expression in three aspects: 1) theory travel — variation occurs as the text travels; 2) the impact of the practice — deviance happens when the text is decontextualized; and 3) the transformative borrowing — the signifier is preserved and the signified modified. In Jameson's view, Mao Zedong thought and practice is a point of departure for theoretical reflections in this regard, thus becoming an idealized "other".

Key words: Jameson, Mao Zedong, political unconsciousness