Cultural Theory: An Anthology

Abstract

Imre Szeman and Timothy Kaposy, eds. Cultural Theory: An Anthology. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011. Pp. 558. $52.95US At studies workshop hosted by University of Winnipeg 25 May 2011, participant suggested--tongue in cheek--that sign of establishment of studies is that field has number of door stoppers at its disposal. Indeed, there are several anthologies, some of them more than six-hundred pages long, which suffice as able booster seats as well as doorstoppers. So when I received my review copy of Imre Szeman's and Timothy Kaposy's Cultural Theory: An Anthology, question that immediately came to mind was, Do we really need another one? No doubt having anticipated such response to their anthology, Szeman and Kaposy point out in introduction that in focusing on the theories and concepts ... which have had determinate impact on direction and shape of field [of studies] (2), it departs substantially from others. They also suggest that While there are many existing anthologies of studies available today, for most part these assemble work done on various artifacts and practices with intent of showcasing rich and complex work taking place under aegis of this term around (2). A perusal of some studies anthologies reveals that there is no shortage of essays that perform, as opposed to explore theoretical foundations of, studies. Szeman and Kaposy themselves cite some examples, including Ackbar Abbas and John Nyuget Erni's Internationalizing Cultural Studies: An Anthology (2004), Pepi Leistyna's From Theory to Action (2004), and Michael Ryan's Cultural Studies: An Anthology (2008), which cover everything from world of Yoruba taxi driver to economy of appearances. This tendency to proffer an exciting yet delectably utilitarian banquet of sorts has provoked ire of many, prompting Greg Noble to remark that studies has often been criticized for its imperial desires (406). When studies anthologies do focus on foundational ideas and concepts, they tend to provide list of usual suspects (that is, canon), leading to number of anthologies that ultimately reiterate another--a phenomenon, which, following George Elliott Clarke, nevertheless reinforces sense that studies is recognizable and well-established field.1 Instead of focusing on work of studies, or critical reflections about field itself, Szeman and Kaposy offer collection of essays under umbrella of theory, term they use to describe a place of critical reflection where insights gained and lessons learned in study of culture are consolidated into general frameworks and organizing principles for future analysis and investigation (1). Many of essays included, such as Max Horkheimer's and Theodor Adorno's The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception, are predictable offerings for theory anthology, while others, to borrow words of Nicholas Lawrence, whose review of Szeman's and Kaposy's anthology is excerpted on first page, are refreshingly unexpected. In addition to including some of more canonized theorists, Szeman and Kaposy include essays that emerge from, are rooted in, or speak to non-Euro-American contexts. Essays by Frantz Fanon, Arjun Appadurai, Roberto Schwarz, Ranajit Guha, and Paul Gilroy are juxtaposed with work of Herbert Marcuse, Doreen Massey, and Jacques Lacan, offering sense of diversity of theory. Significantly, such inclusions highlight fact that much of theory that we might call cultural originates outside of Europe and North America and has exerted profound influence on field. As with studies, theory need not trace its pedigree to London or Birmingham, New York or Urbana, Paris or Melbourne, but rather, Robert Stam and Ella Shohat suggest that one can imagine more diffuse and diasporized genealogy going back to such figures as Roland Barthes and Henri Lefebvre in France, Leslie Fiedler and James Baldwin in United States, Aime Cesaire and Frantz Fanon in Caribbean [. …

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