What assertions does Fredric Jameson make about literature in The Political Unconscious ?
Show answer Hide answer
Answer: A. History comprises the essential framework for the performance of literary analysis
Explanation
Fredric Jameson posits that history provides the ultimate horizon for reading texts. Literary works cannot be fully interpreted outside their sociohistorical contexts. Marxist literary theory anchors textual analysis in historical materialism. The Political Unconscious is a seminal work of Marxist literary criticism. Historical contextualization reveals the ideological underpinnings of cultural artifacts. Critical theory examines how economic structures shape artistic production.
Literary scholars routinely analyze historical conditions to understand canonical texts. Cultural studies rely heavily on frameworks established by Marxist theorists. Interpretation requires recognizing the historical limitations of artistic expression. Option B narrows the theoretical framework exclusively to economics without culture. Option C focuses on authorial biography rather than broad historical structures. Option D is incorrect because the subsequent choices do not apply.
- Subject
- English
- Category
- English Literature
- Topic
- —
- Difficulty
- medium
Related questions
Q1. Who proclaims that “something is rotten in the state of Denmark” in “Hamlet” ?
Show answer Hide answer
Answer: D. Marcellus
The sentinel Marcellus utters this famous prophetic line after seeing the ghost. His observation signals the political corruption infecting the royal court. Minor characters frequently voice profound thematic truths in S...
Q2. What is the primary language used by Dante in De Monarchia ?
Show answer Hide answer
Answer: B. Latin
Dante composed De Monarchia in Latin to address scholarly, political, and theological authorities directly. Latin served as the universal language for serious intellectual discourse throughout the medieval period. Writin...
Q3. What proposition does Fredric Jameson put forth regarding literature in his book The Political Unconscious ?
Show answer Hide answer
Answer: A. History comprises the essential framework for the performance of literary analysis
Jameson asserts that history forms the ultimate horizon and framework for literary interpretation. The political unconscious demands that every text be situated within historical material conditions. Literary analysis mu...
Q4. How can Judith Butler’s overarching theory of gender be summarized ?
Show answer Hide answer
Answer: D. Gender is largely a cultural construct.
Butler argues that gender behaviors are socially enforced rather than naturally given. Performativity implies that gender is a culturally sustained illusion through repeated acts. There is no core biological gender ident...
Q5. In her essay “Wordsworth Balladry: Real Men Wanted,” Elizabeth Fey contends that the Romantic writers were drawn to the medieval emphasis on _______________?
Show answer Hide answer
Answer: A. Courtly love and modern-seeming emotion
Romantic writers found deep inspiration in medieval themes like courtly devotion and complex emotional states. Elizabeth Fey argues that this medieval revival shaped Romantic poetry and prose expressions. Authors looked...
Q6. What does William Hazlitt imply when he writes in “Characters of Shakespeare’s Plays”: “We do not like to see our author’s plays acted, and least of all, ’Hamlet’. There is no play that suffers so much in being transferred to the stage” ?
Show answer Hide answer
Answer: C. The role of Hamlet cannot be properly played by any actor.
William Hazlitt argued that stage performances diminish the protagonist's immense psychological depth. The character's intense interiority resists successful physical embodiment by actors. Reading the text allows readers...