论作为西方马克思主义分支的文化唯物论

On culturalmaterialism:a branch of Marxism

出于发达资本主义社会中文化产业化的现实,雷蒙德·威廉斯提出了文化唯物论,反对马克思的上层建筑与经济基础的理论,主张恢复完整的社会物质过程,特别是要恢复文化生产作为社会的、物质的过程的一面,亦即反对区分精神生产与物质生产。“生产实践”是文化唯物论的落脚处,由此衍生出“实践意识”“文化实践”这两个概念,它们共同支撑了威廉斯的文化社会学:因“实践意识”概念,“意识形态”便能转回到具体的、实践的维度中去了。因“文化实践”概念,便可以用作为整体的社会过程的“文化”来取消物质生产与精神活动的区分,用文化传统与文化实践取消经济基础与上层建筑的区分,并以“霸权”概念强调整体的社会过程中的主导性与控制性,亦即一种政治性。可以看出,对社会内部的各种相互关系作出分析以认定文化唯物论的根本观点,便是文化社会学。威廉斯的理论是错误的:第一,只有在满足了衣食住的需求后,人们才能从事其他方面的生产。第二,与经济生产的产品亦即物质产品的功能是物质性不同的是,文化生产的产品的功能是精神性的,因而必然具有或明或暗的意识形态性。这两点恰恰是威廉斯所不愿意看到的。第三,威廉斯没有弄明白的是,文化产业化,是文化产品的物质载体的产业化,这是经济活动,但它没有改变文化产品的精神属性。第四,当威廉斯全力强调文化生产作为社会的、物质的过程的一面时,他显然不会也不能承认意识形态的相对独立性及其自身的传承性。所以,当威廉斯将他的文化唯物论运用于文学领域说明其文学观时,他的理论的错误就体现得更加明显了。

Cultural materialism proposed by Raymond Williams grew out of the cultural commodification in advanced capitalist societies.It challenges Marx’s theory of the superstructure and economic base and advocates the restoration of a complete social material process,particularly the need to restore cultural production as a social and material process.In other words,it rejects the distinction between mental and material production.Some argue that Williams’theory is flawed.Firstly,it is deemed that people cannot engage in other forms of production before their basic needs for clothing,food,and shelter are met.Secondly,unlike the material nature of economic production and its products,cultural production’s functionality is inherently spiritual and therefore inevitably carries explicit or implicit ideological elements.These two points are precisely what Williams seems unwilling to acknowledge.Thirdly,Williams fails to understand that the industrialization of culture is in essence the industrialization of the material carriers of culture.During the process,the spiritual nature of culture products goes unchanged.Fourth,Williams perceives cultural production as a social and material process,but he neglects the independence and continuity of ideology.This flaw becomes immediately obvious when he applies the theory to literature and tries to explain his literary views.