“The Contradictions of Postmodernism” by Terry Eagleton: Summary and Critique

🔴 Postmodernism Mirrors Capitalism, Not Opposes It
Eagleton argues that postmodernism is both a critique of and complicit in capitalist ideology. It mimics the logic of the market with its celebration of fluidity, plurality, and relativism, thus undercutting its own radical potential. He writes:

“Postmodernism is both radical and conservative together, springing as it does from this structural contradiction at the core of advanced capitalism itself” (Eagleton, 1997, p. 5).
Rather than being a force of resistance, postmodern culture has become a commodity, functioning “thoroughly under the sway of the commodity form” (p. 3).

🟢 Culturalism Is a Reductive Ideology
Eagleton critiques culturalism—the belief that everything is culturally constructed—as just another “ism”, as reductive as biologism or economism:

“Culturalism inflates the importance of what is constructed…as against what human beings have in common as natural material animals” (p. 1).
This form of thinking ignores shared material conditions and can be just as politically neutral or conservative as other ideologies.

🔵 Historicism Is Not Inherently Radical
Eagleton also challenges the assumption that historicism naturally aligns with leftist or progressive politics. He states:

“Much historicism in Europe has been firmly in possession of political conservatism” (p. 2),
reminding readers that historical awareness alone does not guarantee subversive or liberatory outcomes.

🟣 Culture as a Site of Contradiction
In postmodern society, culture becomes both a means of resistance and domination. Eagleton traces this back to a re-merging of the symbolic and the economic, where art and culture no longer sit outside the marketplace:

“Cultural production rejoins general production…now thoroughly under the sway of the commodity form” (p. 3).
Thus, culture no longer offers refuge or critical distance but becomes entangled with the very forces it critiques.

🟡 The Irony of Postmodernism’s Global Export
He highlights the irony that postmodernism, which preaches difference, contributes to cultural homogenization, especially in emerging economies like China:

“Postmodern theory has arrived along with the latest shipment of Coca-Cola” (p. 6).
This philosophy of difference is paradoxically used to universalize Western norms in the name of pluralism.

🟠 The Enlightenment Debate: Gains vs. Losses
Eagleton argues for a dialectical view of Enlightenment, recognizing both its emancipatory aspirations and historical failures:

“The doctrine which has traditionally tried to redeem the positive kernel of Enlightenment…is known as socialism” (p. 6).
He cautions that postmodern rejection of Enlightenment risks losing its most valuable legacies, such as civil liberties and universal rights.

🟤 Postmodern Culture as Ideological Displacement
Culture, Eagleton explains, has become a primary terrain of political struggle, especially in the wake of the decline of classical class-based politics:

“Culture becomes part of the very terms in which political interests articulate themselves” (p. 4).
This shift is seen both as an enrichment and a distraction, potentially displacing more direct forms of material struggle.

⚫ Subversion and Plurality Are Not Automatically Radical
Eagleton dismantles the myth that all forms of difference and marginality are inherently progressive:

“There is nothing automatically radical about either margins or minorities… some forms of plurality are radical, whereas others are as native to the free market as violence is to the United States” (p. 2).
He insists that political content matters more than formal characteristics like difference or hybridity.

🔴 Contribution to Marxist Literary Theory
Eagleton reasserts Marxist materialism within cultural critique, arguing that postmodernism’s relativism masks deep structural contradictions of capitalism. He revives base-superstructure analysis, noting:

“The more market forces level all distinct value and identity… the more their ideological superstructures… will need to insist… upon absolute values and immutable standards” (p. 5).
✅ Impact: Refocuses Marxist literary theory on economic determinism beneath postmodern cultural pluralism.

🟢 Critique of Postmodern Literary Theory
He delivers a foundational critique of postmodernism’s claims to radicalism, showing it to be structurally aligned with the logic of the capitalist marketplace:

“Postmodernism is both radical and conservative together… miming the logic of the capitalist marketplace itself” (p. 5).
✅ Impact: Challenges the postmodern celebration of fragmentation and multiplicity as inherently emancipatory.

🔵 Intervention in Cultural Studies
Eagleton critiques culturalism—a core tenet in cultural studies—for its overemphasis on constructed identity and neglect of material realities:

“Culturalism inflates the importance of what is constructed, coded, conventional… as against what human beings have in common as natural material animals” (p. 1).
✅ Impact: Warns literary theorists against reducing all analysis to cultural codes, advocating instead for materialist grounding.

🟣 Contribution to Historicism Debates
He critiques both radical and conservative uses of historicism, disrupting the idea that historical contextualization is always politically progressive:

“Much historicism in Europe has been firmly in possession of political conservatism” (p. 2).
✅ Impact: Complicates the assumption within literary theory that historicizing texts naturally produces critical or emancipatory readings.

🟡 Engagement with Ideology Critique
Refines the role of ideology in literary and cultural texts—not all ideologies operate by naturalizing the present:

“One can be a doughty defender of capitalism or Stalinism without suffering from the delusion that things were always like that” (p. 2).
✅ Impact: Challenges literary critics to look beyond simplistic views of ideology as merely “false consciousness.”

🟠 Revision of Enlightenment Narratives
He offers a dialectical take on Enlightenment—neither wholly dismissed nor blindly embraced—urging theorists to retain its emancipatory goals:

“The doctrine which has traditionally tried to redeem the positive kernel of Enlightenment… is known as socialism” (p. 6).
✅ Impact: Encourages reevaluation of Enlightenment values within postmodern literary theory rather than total rejection.

🟤 Critique of Liberal Humanism in Literary Studies
Questions the viability of liberal humanism as a mediating force in literary meaning, particularly in an era when culture itself is commodified:

“It is clearly much harder to sustain [liberal humanism] once culture… becomes part of the very terms in which political interests articulate themselves” (p. 4).
✅ Impact: Pushes literary theorists to move beyond humanist ideals and confront ideological embeddedness of culture.

⚫ Global Contextualization of Literary Theory
By discussing China and postmodernism, Eagleton highlights the limitations of exporting Western literary theory uncritically:

“Western postmodern theory has arrived along with the latest shipment of Coca-Cola” (p. 6).
✅ Impact: Sparks reflection on cultural imperialism in the global spread of Western literary and cultural theories.