Reading Marx writing : melodrama, the market, and the "Grundrisse"

Employing the insights of recent cultural critics, Reading Marx Writing uses the eight notebooks (the Grundrisse) Marx worked on in 1857-58 to examine his literary, political, and scientific imagination and the fictional writers he admired. By exploring the Grundrisse, the project or plan that Marx did not carry through, the author speculates on the limits and possibilities of Marx's interpretive approach for addressing current issues in philosophy and hermeneutics, critical sociology and political economy, and aesthetics and literary criticism. The study employs certain literary works - notably a scene from Goethe's Faust and several stories from Balzac's Comedie humaine - as looking-glasses or sounding boards for Marx's political and scientific concerns and to connect themes emerging from the cultural economy of the nineteenth century. These literary works are treated less as dramatic illustrations of Marx's life or depictions of his scientific insights than as interpretive frameworks or social fictions which give shape to both Marx's text and the writings of others working in his wake. Through an innovative blend of German critical theory (Lukacs, Marcuse, and Habermas), French post-structuralism (Althusser, Lyotard, and Baudrillard), and Anglo-American cultural criticism (Jameson, Mitchell, and O'Neill), the author develops a unique method for articulating the play of image, text, and even music within Marx's human scientific discourse. A Note On Abbreviations, Citations, And Translations -- Chronology Of Marx's Works -- Foreword. Ruptures-in-reason -- 1. Science, Technology, And The Song Of The Cellar Rat -- 2. Marx Reading: On The Humanist Concept Of Essence -- 3. Reading Marx: On The Alien Character Of Revolution -- 4. The Pyramid Of Sacrifice: Marx's Unknown Masterpiece And The Problem Of Realism -- 5. The Ledger: Marxian Science Fiction In The Critique Of Political Economy -- 6. The Black Madonna: Speculations On Aesthetics And (post)marxism -- App. A. Bibliographical Note On Reading Marx -- App. B. List Of The Grundrisse's Foundational Passages -- App. C. Excerpts On Gold-weighing Machines Thomas M. Kemple. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [257]-267) And Index. Acknowledgments Contents Tables and Figures A Note on Abbreviations, Citations, and Translations Chronology of Marx's Works ForewordRuptures-in-Reason Ground Plans Outlines Compendia Faust's Study Science, Technology, and the Song of the Cellar Rat I II Marx's Desk Marx Reading I II III Reading Marx I II III Balzac's Pact The Pyramid of Sacrifice I II III IV V The Ledger I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X The Black Madonna I II III IV V Appendixes Bibliographical Note on Reading Marx List of the Grundrisses “Foundational Passages” Excerpts on "Gold-Weighing Machines” Post-Marks Notes on Notes Notes Works Cited Index This volume uses the eight notebooks "the Grundrisse" Karl Marx worked on in 1857-58 to examine his literary, political, and scientific imagination. The author speculates on the limits and possibilities of Marx's interpretive approach for addressing current issues in philosophy and hermeneutics.