Cultural materialism in literary theory and cultural studies traces its origin to the work of the

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

literary critic

Raymond Williams Raymond Henry Williams (31 August 1921 – 26 January 1988) was a Welsh socialist writer, academic, novelist and critic influential within the New Left and in wider culture. His writings on politics, culture, the media and literature contribu ...

. Cultural materialism makes analysis based in critical theory, in the tradition of the

Frankfurt School The Frankfurt School (german: Frankfurter Schule) is a school of social theory and critical philosophy associated with the Institute for Social Research, at Goethe University Frankfurt in 1929. Founded in the Weimar Republic (1918–1933), dur ...

Overview

Cultural materialism emerged as a theoretical movement in the early 1980s along with new historicism, an American approach to early modern literature, with which it shares common ground. The term was coined by Williams, who used it to describe a theoretical blending of leftist culturalism and Marxist analysis. Cultural materialists deal with specific historical documents and attempt to analyze and recreate the zeitgeist of a particular moment in history. Williams viewed culture as a "productive process", part of the

means of production The means of production is a term which describes land, labor and capital that can be used to produce products (such as goods or services); however, the term can also refer to anything that is used to produce products. It can also be used as an ...

, and cultural materialism often identifies what he called "residual", "emergent" and "oppositional" cultural elements. Following in the tradition of Herbert Marcuse, Antonio Gramsci and others, cultural materialists extend the

class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differentl ...

-based analysis of traditional

Marxism Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialectical ...

(

Neo-Marxism Neo-Marxism is a Marxism, Marxist school of thought encompassing 20th-century approaches that amend or extend Marxism and Marxist philosophy, Marxist theory, typically by incorporating elements from other intellectual traditions such as critical t ...

) by means of an additional focus on the marginalized. Cultural materialists analyze the processes by which

hegemonic Hegemony (, , ) is the political, economic, and military predominance of one state over other states. In Ancient Greece (8th BC – AD 6th ), hegemony denoted the politico-military dominance of the ''hegemon'' city-state over other city-states. ...

forces in society appropriate canonical and historically important texts, such as

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

and Austen, and utilize them in an attempt to validate or inscribe certain values on the cultural imaginary.

Jonathan Dollimore Jonathan G Dollimore (born 1948) is a British philosopher and critic in the fields of Renaissance literature (especially drama), gender studies, queer theory ( queer studies), history of ideas, death studies, decadence, and cultural theory. H ...

and

Alan Sinfield Alan Sinfield (17 December 1941 – 2 December 2017) was an English theorist in the fields of Shakespeare and sexuality, modern theatre, gender studies, queer theory, queer studies, post-1945 politics and cultural theory. He was a professor of En ...

, authors of ''

Political Shakespeare Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studi ...

'', have had considerable influence in the development of this movement and their book is considered to be a seminal text. They have identified four defining characteristics of cultural materialism as a theoretical device: * Historical context * Close textual analysis * Political commitment * Theoretical method Cultural materialists seek to draw attention to the processes being employed by contemporary power structures, such as the church, the state or the academy, to disseminate ideology. To do this they explore a text’s historical context and its political implications, and then through close textual analysis note the dominant hegemonic position. They identify possibilities for the rejection and/or subversion of that position. British critic

Graham Holderness Graham Holderness is a writer and critic who has published as author or editor 60 books, mostly on Shakespeare, and hundreds of chapters and articles of criticism, theory and theology. He was one of the founders of British Cultural materialism, ...

defines cultural materialism as a "politicized form of historiography". Through its insistence on the importance of an engagement with issues of

gender Gender is the range of characteristics pertaining to femininity and masculinity and differentiating between them. Depending on the context, this may include sex-based social structures (i.e. gender roles) and gender identity. Most cultures ...

, sexuality,

race Race, RACE or "The Race" may refer to: * Race (biology), an informal taxonomic classification within a species, generally within a sub-species * Race (human categorization), classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, and/or s ...

and

, cultural materialism has had a significant impact on the field of literary studies, especially in Britain. Cultural materialists have found the area of Renaissance studies particularly receptive to this type of analysis. Traditional

humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "human ...

readings often eschewed consideration of the oppressed and marginalized in textual readings, whereas cultural materialists routinely consider such groups in their engagement with literary texts, thus opening new avenues of approach to issues of representation in the field of literary criticism.

References

* Barry, P. 2003. ''Beginning Theory: an Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory''. Manchester: Manchester University Press. * Brannigan, J. 1998. ''New Historicism and Cultural Materialism''. Basingstoke, Hampshire and London: Macmillan. * Dollimore, Jonathan and Alan Sinfield. 1985. ''Political Shakespeare: Essays in Cultural Materialism''. 2nd Edition. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1994. * Milner, A and Browitt, J. 2002. ''Contemporary Cultural Theory''. 3rd Edition. London and New York: Routledge. * Milner, A. 2002. ''Re-Imagining Cultural Studies: The Promise of Cultural Materialism''. London, Thousand Oaks and New Delhi: Sage. * Milligan, Don
''Raymond Williams: Hope and Defeat in the Struggle for Socialism''
2007. * Parvini, N. 2012. ''Shakespeare and Contemporary Theory: New Historicism and Cultural Materialism''. New York and London: Bloomsbury. * Price, B. 1982. "Cultural Materialism". ''American Antiquity'' 47.4: 639-653. * Rivkin, J and Ryan, M. 1998. ''Literary Theory: an Anthology''. Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishers. * Ryan, K. 1996. ''New Historicism and Cultural Materialism: a Reader''. New York: St. Martin’s Press. {{Litcrit Cultural studies Critical theory Literary criticism Materialism es:Materialismo cultural hr:Kulturni materijalizam