For a Ruthless Critique of All that Exists: Literature in an Era of Capitalist Realism by Robert T. Tally Jr (review)

Reviewed by: For a Ruthless Critique of All that Exists: Literature in an Era of Capitalist Realism by Robert T. Tally Jr Sabah Carrim For a Ruthless Critique of All that Exists: Literature in an Era of Capitalist Realism. By Robert T. Tally Jr. Alresford: Zer0 Books. 2022. x+136 pp. £9.45. ISBN 978–1–78904–854–4. Robert T. Tally's monograph extols the virtues of critique as a means of reenergizing an imagination dulled by a pervasive trend of encouraging superficial engagement with literature, coupled with a tacit acceptance of the status quo. It is noteworthy that Northrop Frye once stated that literature 'educates the imagination' (Anatomy of Criticism: Four Essays (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2020), p. 4). End Page 250 Critique signifies 'careful reading, considered meditation, and creative speculation' (Tally, p. 3) of literature, compelling the critic towards a more active involvement with the world. An exemplary critic thus displays 'voluntary insubordination', not to the text, but to overarching systems, institutions, and ideologies that govern its creation, that in so doing encroach upon reading and thinking. While Tally distances himself from polemical debates, he also asserts the need for ruthlessly critiquing all that exists, not so much to predict the future as to aim for changing a world and a state of affairs that ought to be justly deplored if only for it to advance (p. 10). By energizing and educating one's imagination, the world is bettered—and so is existence—as one is made to stir the stagnant waters of dogma and unquestioned beliefs. The need to take up arms against those opposing critique, says Tally, is motivated by two factors: the first, an acceptance of capitalist realism, a term to denote how 'it is easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism' (p. 5). In other words, the innumerable wars waged against capitalism, as well as its extensions and derivatives that resulted in defeat, have led many to assume that the end of the world is more envisageable than the end of capitalism. This view has been criticized by Jameson (endorsed by Tally) as the sign of a 'weakness' of the imagination (The Seeds of Time (New York: Columbia University Press, 1994), p. xii). The second factor, spanning the last three decades, is the trend towards avoidance of critical theory and critique, encouraging instead 'surface reading, thin description, ordinary language philosophy, object-oriented ontology, and postcritique' (p. 5). This, and a general tendency to muffle a deeper engagement with literature, is what Jeffrey J. Williams identifies as 'the new modesty' (quoted in Tally, p. 5). The title of the book is derived from a statement expressed by Karl Marx in a letter of 1843 to Arnold Ruge, where emphasis was placed on the need to ruthlessly criticize all that exists in response to the sloppiness of radical or reformist movements (p. 7). Tally's book comprises four chapters. Chapter 1, 'The Enervated Imagination', unfolds the purport of 'capitalist realism', beginning with a reference to the late 1960s slogan 'Be realistic: Demand the Impossible!', followed by a commentary on the ironic juxtaposition therein, especially in its exhortation to aim beyond the status quo since what is 'possible' is limited to one's perception of the dreary present. Tally then provides clues as to how capitalist realism came about, as well as its intimate connection with neoliberal ideology. A clue as to how the rise of theory—its impact on language and style—influenced the interpretation of texts is also offered. (For example, Feminist critics focused on patriarchy, sexual subjugation, and gender inequity, while critics driven by racial inequality sought its associative manifestation in literature (p. 25).) It was at this juncture between the 1960s and 1990s that the sway of anti-theory scholars, coupled with analyses of texts through Sexuality Studies and popular culture, dampened the fervour for theory. The basis of Cultural Studies, allegedly Marxist, but with oppositional forces that were anti-Marxist or even hybrid in nature—claiming to be neither here nor there—also prompted a shift away from critique. Added to that, says Tally, was End Page 251 also the postcritical stance...