Materiality and Subject in Marxism, (Post-)Structuralism, and Material Semiotics

In recent decades, what is known as 'the subject' has been problematized by various old and new materialisms and today appears as decentered in and by language, split by the unconscious, deformed by social forces, governed by ideology and is either seen to have succumbed to the postmodern condition or to never have existed in the first place. Every materialist theory of the subject depends on a conception of materiality, which can delineate the character of what the material reality, which de-centers or constitutes the subject consists of. Materiality and Subject in Marxism, (Post-)Structuralism, and Material Semiotics investigates the relation between materiality and the subject in the materialist approaches of Marxism, (post-)structuralism, and material semiotics. None of these approaches subscribes to a reductionist materialism; rather, they conceive of materiality as multiple, complex, and not reducible to tangible matter. For each approach, the modalities of materiality of the respective materialism are defined. The relationship between the multiple materialities and the subject constituted and decentered in this relationship are presented as specific to the theoretical approaches discussed.

Systematically investigates the relation between material instances and the subject in contemporary social and cultural theories Offers a convincing materialist account of subjectivity drawing on Marxism, structuralist (or post-structuralist) theory, and semiotics Conceives of materiality as multiple, complex, and not reducible to tangible matter

Autorentext
Johannes Beetz is a doctoral researcher at the Centre for Applied Linguistics at the University of Warwick, UK. He studied sociology, philosophy, and American studies at the Johannes Gutenberg-University in Mainz, Germany. His research interests include Critical Theory & Marxism, Discourse Studies, and Post-Structuralist Theory.

Klappentext
This clear and concise book investigates the relation between materiality and the subject in Marxism, (post-)structuralism, and material semiotics. It introduces the three approaches in an accessible way and serves as an introduction to different kinds of materialism and theories of the subject. For each approach, the modalities of materiality of the respective materialism are defined and the relationship between these multiple materialities and the subject are presented as specific to the theoretical approaches discussed. Beetz argues for a non-reductionist materialism, which conceives of materiality as more than matter or matter in motion. In such a materialism the subject is seen as an effect of material conditions, relations, processes, and practices. He shows how the constitution and decentering of the subject is conceptualized in the approaches presented and highlights the role of material instances in these processes.
Johannes Beetz is a doctoral researcher at the Centre for Applied Linguistics at the University of Warwick, UK. He studied sociology, philosophy, and American studies at the Johannes Gutenberg-University in Mainz, Germany. His research interests include Critical Theory & Marxism, Discourse Studies, and Post-Structuralist Theory.

Inhalt

1. Introduction.- 2. Prelude: The Cartesian Subject and German Idealism.- 3. The Materiality of Conditions and the Subject of Ideology.- 4. Structural Causality and Material Ideology.- 5. The Materiality of Language and the Decentered Subject.- 6. Material Semiotics and the Rhizomatic Subject.- 7. Conclusion.