Page 11 - Critical and Cultural Theory

GENERAL INTRODUCTION
with the activities of the Frankfurt School. These were carried out
between the early 1920s and the late 1950s with the aim of moving
beyond purely functional and pragmatic readings of Marx's
theories through a self-critical approach that would consistently
examine the relationship between those theories and contemporary
culture. Today, the phrase 'critical theory' is generally used in a
far less specialized fashion. Indeed, employed in tandem with
'cultural theory', it describes a cluster of approaches which - espe-
cially since the 1970s - have prompted a radical reassessment of
notions of meaning, history, identity, power, cultural production
and cultural consumption. Several subject areas and doctrines
have participated in this process: philosophy of language, semio-
tics, aesthetics, theories of representation, political theory, psycho-
analysis, feminism, ethics, epistemology and science.
Changing understandings of phrases such as 'critical theory' and
'cultural theory' remind us that it is important to register the
shifting connotations of scholarly labels. This can help us
approach history as a dynamic process rather than as a static
collection of facts. Much as a culture - any culture - is shaped by
its past, it must nonetheless be willing to question and modify past
meanings and interpretations. After all, the past tends to reach us
through inconclusive narratives, and historiography itself does not
function as an ultimate guarantee of truth. Moreover, it is by
viewing the past as a dimension amenable to ongoing redefinition
that we may also begin to entertain the possibility of an open-
ended future.

//'. Thematic variations
The examination of theoretical perspectives and methodologies
provided by this book is structured on the basis of themes drawn
from the interrelated fields of critical and cultural theory. These
themes are discussed both in terms of their relevance to contem-
porary thought and practice, and in terms of their place in
ongoing speculations about language, society, identity and related
systems of knowledge that span classical times to the present.
Accordingly, each chapter included in the book addresses a
concept as a theme, with reference to a variety of philosophical
positions, their principal proponents, and their social, historical
and ideological contexts. As a theme-based introduction, the book

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