Labors of Imagination

241 Pages·2006·1.15 MB·English

by  Jan Mieszkowski

Labors of Imagination
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Labors of Imagination
Aesthetics and Political Economy
from Kant to Althusser
Jan Mieszkowski
fordham university press
new york 2006
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Copyright(cid:2)2006FordhamUniversityPress
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,
storedinaretrievalsystem,ortransmittedinanyformorbyany
means—electronic,mechanical,photocopy,recording,orany
other—exceptforbriefquotationsinprintedreviews,withoutthe
priorpermissionofthepublisher.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Mieszkowski,Jan.
Laborsofimagination:aestheticsandpoliticaleconomyfrom
KanttoAlthusser/JanMieszkowski.—1sted.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN0-8232-2587-9(cloth:alk.paper)
1.Aesthetics. 2.Economics. 3.Politicalscience—
Philosophy. 4.Philosophy. I.Title.
BH39.M48 2006
111(cid:2).85—dc22
2006004264
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
08 07 06 5 4 3 2 1
Firstedition
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Tomyfamily
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contents
Acknowledgments ix
Preface xi
Introduction:Production,History 1
1. TheArtofInterest 13
2. BreakingtheLawsofLanguage 47
3. OnthePoeticsandPoliticsofVoice 75
4. EconomicsBeyondInterest 111
5. Ideology,Obviously 147
Conclusion 174
Notes 177
Bibliography 211
Index 223
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acknowledgments
This book grew out of work I began as a graduate student at the Johns
Hopkins University. I am especially grateful to my advisors, Werner Ha-
macherand RainerNa¨gele.PeterFenves,NeilHertz,andDavidWellbery
all offered valuable advice at important stages. Completion of the project
was aided by the Dean’s Office at Reed College and by a Mellon Post-
DoctoralFellowshipattheUniversityofPennsylvania,whereSimonRich-
ter, Wendy Steiner, and Liliane Weissberg helped create a lively, collegial
atmosphere.
Many friends, teachers, and colleagues have been involved in this re-
searchin waysthat theymay recognize farbetter than I.Special thanks go
to Roger Blood, David Ferris, U¨lker Go¨kberk, Patrick Greaney, Kate Jen-
ckes, and Thomas Pepper. Sarah Roff, always my standard of intellectual
creativity,willhopefullyfindsomethingofherselfoneverypage.
Finally,IwanttoexpressmyappreciationforHelenTartarandtheentire
staff at Fordham University Press for their excellent editing and design
work.
The final section of chapter 1 appeared in Modern Language Notes 116,
no.5.Amuchearlierversionofchapter2waspublishedinStudiesinRoman-
ticism39,no.1,andpartofchapter5wasindifferences:AJournalofFeminist
Cultural Studies 14, no. 2. I thank the publishers for permission to reprint
thismaterialinitsrevisedform.
ix
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