＂Some Things Must Be Left Unsaid!＂ On How Macherey Is Dialogically Engaged with Post-Marxism1

This paper aims to examine how Macherey is dialogically engaged with post-Marxism in formulating his reading strategy. First Macherey thinks that the author must have left something unsaid in his text. The unsaid or the narrative rupture is responsible for the multiplicity of the voices in the text, enabling the text to exist. Most of all, Macherey argues that a text, embedded in History, is where the author represents ideology inaccurately. And it is from this inaccuracy where the narrative rupture emerges. At this point, Macherey is dialogically correlated with several major post-Marxists, such as Althusser, Eagleton, and Jameson. First, all three of them give their own definitions to ideology, and they all define the relationship between the text, ideology, and History in a similar fashion. For Althusser, ideology is men＇s imaginary relation to History and is insufficiently reflected in the text, which perfectly corresponds to Macherey＇s claim. For Eagleton, a text absorbs ideology and puts it into contradiction, establishing its relationship with History. As Eagleton himself has stated, his so-called ＂ideological contradiction＂ is tantamount to Macherey＇s so-called ＂narrative rupture.＂ In Jameson＇s opinion, ideology is designed to repress social contradictions, and a text, a symbolic act, is supposed to offer imaginary solutions to them. Above all, they end up as the latent meanings of a text. As for History, it is the inaccessible Real. In speaking of ＂the latent meanings of a text,＂ Jameson literally echoes Machery＇s said/unsaid model. Thus, we can confirm how Macherey is dialogically engaged with post-Marxism.

To Reason Unreasonably—On the Undercurrent of Irrationality in Edgar Allan Poe’s Detective Stories

It is generally believed that Edgar Allan Poe’s detective stories feature the ratiocination of C.Auguste Dupin,a detective Poe has created.However,this paper aims to demonstrate that there is actually an undercurrent of irrationality in Poe’s detective stories.First of all,ratiocination,by definition,refers to inference,or deductive rules.It is also a type of the Enlightenment thinking that is closely related to reason or rationality.In detective fiction,it is the detective’s ability to analyze the clues and reason out the truth.It is true that Dupin’s ratiocination predominates in Poe’s detective stories.However,a closer look will reveal that Dupin’s ratiocinative processes in these stories are in fact blended with his speculation or imagination,namely,elements of irrationality.That is,beneath Dupin’s seemly seamless ratiocinative model is indeed an undercurrent of irrationality.To find out the origin of this undercurrent,we have to research the historical background of Poe’s detective stories.In the era of Poe’s detective stories,the Enlightenment is the dominant thinking,while there is also a resistant force developing at the same time,Gothicism.The Enlightenment puts a premium on reason;in contrast,Gothicism is often equated with irrationality,whose manifestations include horror or imagination.Poe,who is deemed as the“romantic ironist”,is a writer who is uniquely capable of making two statements with opposite meanings simultaneously.So as he indicates that ratiocination will lead to the truth in his detective stories,he may as well implies that imagination or speculation will also fulfill the same purpose.In addition,Poe excels in absorbing contraries;thus,he infuses both rationality and irrationality into his detective stories.For Poe,the latter has to be subdued by the former.As a consequence,the former plays a pivotal role in Poe’s detective stories,while the latter ends up as an undercurrent.

“It Could Have Been Said!”—On the Dialogical Space Between Machery and Deleuze

This paper aims to parallelize the theorizations of Pierre Macherey and Gilles Deleuze.First,the author,according to Macherey,must have left something unsaid in his text.The unsaid or the narrative rupture is responsible for the multiplicity of the voices in the text,enabling the text to exist.Above all,Macherey argues that the unsaid or the narrative rupture emerges from how the author chooses to represent ideology.That is,Macherey’s so-called unsaid or narrative rupture is actually what the author could have said;it is in fact a potentiality embedded in the text.On the other hand,when postulating his virtual(ity)/actual(ity)couplet,Deleuze asserts that the virtual(ity)is actually a potentiality that can be tapped.To be more precise,the virtual(ity)has its own reality,and once actualized,it will be transformed into something entirely new and different.Here,the dialogical space between Macherey and Deleuze is plain to see:Macherey’s so-called unsaid or narrative rupture is literally Deleuze’s so-called virtuality.When the unsaid is said,a virtuality is actualized.And a potentiality is thus tapped.By such a reading strategy,we readers are presented with an enactment of an alternative case scenario of the text,namely,how the text could have been made over.In the end,an example of this reading strategy is provided:Macherey argues that Marquis de Sade’s desire-ruled society is more oppressive.What de Sade has left unsaid is the problematic relationship between desire and oppression.And it is exactly the potentiality in his works.

＂From a Utopia to a Dystopia＂ On Mark Twain＇s Compliance with and Deviation from Heterotopology in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur＇s Court

In this paper, the author intends to parallelize Mark Twain＇s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur＇s Court with Foucault＇s theorizations about heterotopia, or heterotopology. For Foucault, heterotopia is a paradox because it is paces that are both real and placeless. Twain＇s novel is a time travel story, which juxtaposes the temporalities of the 6th and 19th centuries. In the story, Hank, the hero, is allowed access to Camelot, King Arthur＇s court. Above all, he has introduced to it quite a few elements of modem technology and civilization. So far Twain seems to have complied with Foucault＇s heterotopology. That is, there is a textual heterotopia created in his novel. However, the last principle of Foucault＇s heterotopology states that a heterotopia can be comparable to a utopia because of its contrastive function. A typical time travel story has the same contrastive function as well. That is, in either case there should be a utopia, a dystopia, or a mixture of them. However, Twain＇s novel fails to contrast the 6th century with the 19th century simply because the heterotopia Hank has created leaps from a utopia to a dystopia. It is at this point where Twain has deviated from heterotopology. The shifting nature of this heterotopia not only disables its contrastive mechanism but also jeopardizes its thematic clarity. Most of all, it indicates that Twain has a considerably ambivalent attitude towards the industrial civilization, and that as a consequence, he is indecisive about the direction of this novel.

＂A Walk in Between＂--On Hart Crane＇s Imagination of Representational Space and Representations of Space in The Bridge

In this paper, Henri Lefebvre＇s theorizations about representational space and representations of space will be employed to examine Hart Crane＇s imagination of them in The Bridge. First, according to Lefebvre, representations of space are created with violence for the purpose of accumulating capital. On the other hand, representational space is directly lived or affectively felt, opened up by inhabitants＇ imagination. In addition, Lefebvre points out that in abstract space, representational space will be invaded by representations of space. In The Bridge, Crane＇s affective experience with the Brooklyn Bridge or the subway indicates that he treats New York as a representational space. Besides, Crane expresses his concern for how capitalism has encroached on it. It would seem that Crane has followed Lefebvre＇s line of thinking in The Bridge. However, it is actually a specious analysis because both the Brooklyn Bridge and the subway are representations of space. And in this long poem, Crane feels the urban space through history, which plays a key role in creating representations of space. Thus, we can conclude that Crane is actually taking ＂a walk in between＂ in The Bridge. With his imagination, Crane has combined representations of space and representational space into his own poetic vision.