Marie89, Jameson

“This is, however, precisely why it seems to me essential to grasp ‘postmodernism’ not as a style, but rather a cultural dominant: a conception that allows for the presence and coexistence of a range of very different, yet subordinate features” (484).
Through this statement, it seems as though Jameson is stating that postmodernism is an ideology impressed on a culture through the ruling class. He believes postmodernism to be a culmination of the past, present, and future ideas of a dominant class and the ways in which ideas are interpreted by that class. Postmodernism does not entail only one aspect of culture, however, but a culmination of ideas and concepts ranging from architecture to artwork to the media. Jameson also states that, “Postmodern culture is the internal and superstructural expression of a whole new wave of American military and economic domination throughout the world: in this sense, as throughout history, the underside of culture is blood, torture, death and horror” (485). This statement relies on the idea that cultures seem to be influenced by that which gives them pleasure. For instance, that which gets our attention, even if it through pain, is seen as entertaining and therefore is pleasurable. Our culture relies on the ideals of military and economic domination as they are the ones with the power to influence the media, get the attention of the people, and therefore influence ideals and things that a culture deems important. The viewpoints and images expressed by the economic and military functions in a state are not necessarily pleasant, yet they grab the attention of the people as they are the ones who claim dominance. A culture cannot function without a ruling ideology in which to assume normalcy. Therefore, the facets of a culture that claim dominance entail what is postmodern and therefore normal.