The Impossible Totality

Abstract: Rather than attempt to summarize the many ways Jameson has enriched Marxist thinking, this essay looks to his theorization of totality as a major contribution to radical thought. To some extent, the dialectics involved require close attention to the construction of the Jamesonian sentence, but this essay also considers Jameson's prodigious skills in cultural critique and draws on key examples from his book on Raymond Chandler. In emphasizing totality as impossible rather than as complete, the argument hopes to keep alive Jameson's emphasis on the struggle of thought as an ongoing practice in cognizing the material limits and possibilities of social transformation.