On Thursday, Feb. 20 at 4:30 p.m. in Main Hall 201, there was another excellent Main Hall Forum. This time, it was focused on the theorist Fredric Jameson, who passed away last fall. As the poster stated: “If you’re interested in literature, film, art, architecture and history [and] if you’re curious about the political unconscious, the cultural logic of late capitalism, modernism and postmodernism, this event is for you!” Naturally, I had to be there.
Bonnie Glidden Buchanan Professor of English Literature and Associate Professor of English Timothy Spurgin introduced the event and provided some context on Fredric Jameson’s life and work, including his noteworthy statement “Always historicize!” The rest of the event comprised presentations by Associate Professor of Art History Elizabeth Carlson, Assistant Professor of History Gregory Milano and Associate Professor of Russian Studies Peter Thomas. Unfortunately, the “Lawrence Busy” is real, and I had to leave before Thomas’ presentation. I heard from a classmate that it was incredible.
The two presentations I was able to experience were also awesome, each in their own way. In her talk, Carlson asked us to discuss two very different pieces of art, each with shoes as their subject. One was a painting of worn boots by Vincent van Gogh, the other a brightly colored array of heels. We talked about how the two pieces felt so different, with the latter one embodying aspects of late capitalism. You might be wondering: what do shoes have to do with Fredric Jameson? Fair question. He referenced the two pieces of art in his discussion of late capitalism.
Milano’s presentation focused on the history surrounding Jameson; he also read sections from Jameson’s work. This was very interesting, although I found some of it hard to follow. In all likelihood, however, that was more due to me and my brain muddling through week seven than anything else. Milano’s talk did make me want to sleuth around to find more work by Jameson, though, which is always a good thing!
Speaking of Jameson’s work, it seems as though his most notable book is the 1991 work “Postmodernism, or the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism,” which you should be able to borrow from the Seeley G. Mudd Library unless it’s checked out. He also wrote an article under the same name a few years before.
Again, I found myself to be very grateful for the culture here at Lawrence University. I remember in high school when the word “capitalism” felt like something we could talk about but not necessarily critique, so having a place to talk openly and critically about such subjects is liberating. Not to mention getting to hear from our insanely intelligent, generous and passionate faculty! With that, I’ll leave you with my frequent reminder to get out and participate in this intellectual community — it’s a beautiful place to be and is not something to be taken for granted.