The Study Of Materialistic Criticism Theory Of Macherey

Pierre Macherey is a modern French philosopher and literary theorist.Materialistic criticism is the characteristic of his theory of criticism and the core of his theory.Throughout Macherey’s academic practice,he experienced various theoretical trends of thought such as Western modernism and postmodernism,and comprehensively drew on the theoretical achievements of Spinoza,Marx,Conguilum,Althusser,etc.,actively promoted the dialogue between ideas,and thought about the vitality and social intervention ability of theory.Macherey’s Materialistic Criticism Theory has exerted a profound influence on the fields of Marxist literary criticism,deconstructionism,contemporary reading theory and ethics.However,the academic circle tends to study the thoughts in A Theory of Literary Production.This is the early representative work of Macherey.Which makes the cognition and understanding of Macherey stay in the context of the Marxist theory of artistic production,instead of focusing on the characteristics of"Materialistic Criticism" with richer connotations,and the changes and development of Macherey’s "A Theory of Literary Production" after the 1970s.Therefore,this paper attempts to focus on Macherey’s important academic works and papers in various periods,combine his critical practice,and refer to the theoretical resources that have influenced him,to explore the connotation and value orientation of Macherey’s Materialistic Criticism.Based on this,the study ideas and main views of this paper are roughly as follows:The first chapter explores the philosophical foundation of Macherey’s materialistic criticism.The fundamental characteristic of Macherey’s materialistic thought is to insist on the core view that matter determines consciousness(mind,thought).Influenced by Marx’s theory of production,he further regards the development of matter and consciousness as a production activity.On the historical issue of thought production,Macherey emphasizes that literary production is subject to historical conditions.Inspired by Spinoza’s theory of causal connection and Althusser’s "the Materialism of the Encounter",Macherey argues that history has no purpose.To examine it in the field of criticism,one needs to go back into the intricate web of causes.On the issue of the influence of thought,Macherey believes that thought is a kind of practice,which can have an intervention effect on society,and its practice is always incomplete.The second chapter interprets Macherey’s materialistic color in his A Theory of Literary Production.First of all,Macherey accepted Althusser’s division of "science" and "ideology",and believed that scientific literary criticism regarded literature as a production activity,which should be broken with all kinds of empirical literary criticism,so as to produce a critical discourse different from the works.Secondly,scientific literature should explore the historical conditions of literature production.Here Macherey deepens Althusser’s "Symptom Reading" method.He emphasized that literary text,as a kind of matter existence,can produce "silence" and "absence" in the gap of historical conditions.Thirdly,scientific literary criticism can achieve the effect of ideological criticism,thus producing "knowledge" and revealing the complex relationship between literature and reality as well as the resistance potential contained in literature.The third chapter focuses on Macherey’s works after 1970s and analyzes the changes and development of the materialistic criticism theory.In May 1986,Marxism faced an unprecedented challenge in France,and the active theoretical intervention of Althusser and his followers was hindered.Influenced by the trend of deconstructionism,Macherey’s thoughts also become more diverse and inclusive.In the field of criticism,Macherey pays more attention to the influence of literature and regards literature as a kind of reproduction activity.But literature is easy to be used by the ruling class and become a normative force because of its particularity in spreading ideas.Therefore,Macherey emphasized the meaning of readers’reading and gradually blurred the boundary between criticism and reading.Thus,"reading" is regarded as an "event",which guarantees the dialogue and exchange of ideas.At the same time,he uses the dialectics of encounter to examine philosophical thought and the interaction between philosophy and literature.This is the further application of Macherey’s "Symptom Reading" method,and also the emphasis on the practical effect of Materialism.The fourth chapter focuses on the acceptance and influence of Macherey’s materialistic criticism theory.Whether early or late,Macherey’s thoughts are in dialogue with various theoretical trends,constantly advancing with The Times,leading to the discussion of "formalization and matterity" and the study of ethical issues such as "affect".However,in the Chinese academic circle guided by Marxism,Macherey’s materialistic criticism is an unavoidable link.It has injected fresh blood into Chinese literary theory circles from both the content and the method.The propositions of "literary production","literature and ideology" and "Symptom Reading" have all promoted the development of our literary theory.The conclusion summarizes the characteristics and value of Macherey’s materialistic criticism theory.Even though Macherey’s critical theory is decentralized and complex,as well as the concept of uncertainty.But through the general.observation,we can sum up the theoretical implication of Macherey’s materialistic criticism from four aspects:literature itself,literature carrier,literature production history and literature influence.Macherey’s critical theory has always been closely combined with history and practice,taking into account the social reality and the autonomy principle of text,and seeking the power of active intervention in society in the different relationship between the two.This is the greatest value of the theory,and the key to its influence today.