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=**Fredric Jameson** =   //The Political Unconscious,// and//, Marxism and Form// have presented the literary world  with new perspectives and ideas on cultural and political aspects of literary works. || **Biography** Jameson was born on April 14th, 1934 in Cleveland, Ohio. He graduate from Haverford College in 1954 after which he spent some time abroad in Germany, studying structuralism. When he returned to America, he began pursuing his doctoral degree at Yale University. He then became a professor with his first job teaching at Harvard University. He now teaches in the Program in Literature and Studies at Duke University.
 * As A Marxist theorists, Fredric Jameson is considered one of the leading figures in literary theory. Referred to as, “the most important cultural critic writing in English today” (Roberts, 1). Focusing the bulk of his work on cultural and economic trends, Jameson has produced several books. His most famous books, //Postmodernism: The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism,//

** Overview **  For his doctoral dissertation, //Sartre: The Origins of a Style,// published in 1961, Jameson focused on the works of Jean-Paul Sartre and his articulation of history, philology, philosophy, and poetry. He veered from the current trends in literary theory by examining the political and cultural aspects of Sartre’s works.  Research for his dissertation led him to discover the ideas of Marxism, particularly Western Marxism, which at the time was not yet present amongst American academics. In his second book, //Marxism and Form//, published in 1971, Jameson introduces his newfound interest in Marxism to the rest of American academia. This work was tremendously controversial as a radical alternative to the usual humanistic thinking of American intellectuals.  Referring back to his studies of Structuralism in Germany, Jameson was simultaneously digging deeper into the notions presented with the structuralist theory of language and literature. Shortly after his release of //Marxism and Form//, he produced another work on structuralism and Russian formalism. With this work he focused on the cultural perceptions of economic realities.  He continued to structuralism, Marxism, and postmodernism in his more recent works, but still greatly focused on cultural aspects and their necessity.media type="youtube" key="yxtUgTLqMAk" height="390" width="480" ** Postmodernism: The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism **  As his eleventh published work, //Postmodernism// was originally produced as an article in 1984, but was later expanded into a full book in 1991. It was initially received as a very controversial because of his rejection of moralistic opposition to postmodernism. In this collection he highlights and expands on the principle features of postmodernism and their effects on the individual.

Fredric Jameson has been subjected to many criticisms by fellow theorists. He has been said to favor class too much and disregard gender and race in his ideas. The most common criticism is that his arguments on capitalism and postmodernism are only one sided, which allows him to miss certain important aspects. Though he rejects the normal American ideas of theory and tends to lean towards a more European theoretical stance, Jameson has been accepted as a groundbreaking and successful theorist and continues to put his mark on the many different ranges of literary theory.
 * Critical Response **

References

 * Jameson, Fredric, Michael Hardt, and Kathi Weeks. //The Jameson reader// . Oxford, UK: Blackwell, 2000. Print.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Kellner, Douglas. "Illuminations: Kellner." //The University of Texas at Arlington - UT Arlington - UTA//. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Apr. 2011. <http://www.uta.edu/huma/illuminations/kell19.htm>.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Roberts, Adam. //Fredric Jameson// . New York: Routledge, 2000. Print.