Research On Raymond Williams' Cultural Politics Thought

In the 1950 s,there was a boom in "cultural studies" in the UK,and a large number of "cultural studies" characters emerged one after another.In the ranks of British "cultural studies",Raymond Williams(1921-1988)is a key figure in the past and the future.He is widely regarded as the core figure of the first generation of "New-Left" and the founder of "Cultural Studies." Williams applied the Marxist materialism to the practice of cultural studies,and opened up a new vision of the close integration of cultural critique and political critique for the cultural study of British Marxism.This new vision has attracted the attention of many scholars at home and abroad,but most scholars still conduct research from its cultural perspective,and it is rare to conduct in-depth research on the political dimension of his cultural studies.This paper summarizes this dimension as cultural politics,focusing on the political and ideological implications of its cultural critique.The specific research is divided into four parts:The first is to sort out the ideological background of Williams' s cultural and political thoughts,and to examine its relationship with the culturalist tradition,Gramsci's cultural hegemony and traditional Marxist ideas.Williams' s cultural and political thoughts are based on the cultural studies of British "culturalism".At the same time,Gramsci's "cultural hegemony" theory and traditional Marxist "materialism" views are introduced to form his unique cultural and political theory.His sublation of cultural elitism and his new interpretation of Marxism contributed to the formation of his cultural materialist political thought.The second is to analyze the theoretical basis of Williams' cultural and political thoughts,that is,cultural materialism.This idea re-examines the relationship between the economic base and the superstructure.Williams believes that there is no simple relationship which was decided or decides,between the economic base and the superstructure.It should also include the element of culture,which is the whole process of determining the superstructure throughout the foundation mentioned in Marxism.Based on this theory,Williams also puts forward the "three-fold" cultural view:culture is a material overall process;culture as a "structure of feelings";culture is a whole ways of life.This article also explains several key-words of cultural politics,including:capitalism and communism as a political system,hegemony and ideology as a political consciousness,and the concept of class,labor,and public that constitutes a political subject.It has constructed its basic framework and core concepts about cultural and political thinking.The third is to deeply discuss Williams' s discussion about the relationship between culture and politics,focusing on the political function of culture,the expression of political culture(scholar)and the pursuit of political value of cultural criticism.The thesis analyzes Williams from the culture itself and its constituent elements-language and literature,to explore the political function of culture as a symbol,political consciousness and a whole ways of life;Accordingly,politics can also be reflected and presented in literature.For example,the real class opposition,locality and "structure of feelings" are expressed in Williams' poetry,novels and drama.Generally speaking,the working class can only establish its realistic pursuit of socialist democracy and equality by re-recognizing its own identity,thus realizing its unique advantage in competing for cultural leadership.Finally,the article analyzes Williams' cultural revolutionary thought from the perspective of political ideals.Williams made a rich account of why and how to carry out the cultural revolution and the long-term analysis of the revolution,especially the basic idea of the construction of socialist common culture.In Williams' s view,only by "structure of feelings",a whole ways of life,media communication and cultural education,innovation and reconstruction can be carried out,so that the working class can obtain opportunities for expression,education,and democratic channels.Achieve a deep cultural revolution.In the process of fighting for their own cultural rights and communication rights,the working class consciously participates in the process of socialist common culture,and only when all classes express their political demands collectively and equally,the socialist common culture The concept of a community of solidarity and mutual assistance can be formed.This article points out that these cultural and political ideas have important academic value,but they are also non-scientific and flowing in Utopia.