Postmodernity, Hegemony, Sexuality

Abstract

Abstract: Michel Foucault influentially dismissed 'Freudo-Marxism' in his History of Sexuality, vol. 1. This paper, by contrast, proposes a critique of postmodern theory, as well as theories of postmodernity, in proposing a return to the preoccupations of Herbert Marcuse in relation to sexuality. Specifically, the paper suggests that we must take account of the transformations in capitalism that have taken place since Marcuse's time when revisiting his work, but that his category of the performance principle is now even more relevant than it was when he elaborated it. Nonetheless, his theory of repressive desublimation is revised as repressive incitement, and a cultural materialist perspective is brought to bear on his arguments in order to suggest the need for a Gramscian counter-hegemonic politics in the context of a contemporary "diversified dominant."

Key words: Marcuse, neo-liberalism, cultural materialism, performance principle

David Alderson. Postmodernity, Hegemony, Sexuality[J]. Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art, 2013, 33(1): 101-120.

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