189
See also: Karl Marx 28–31 ■ Antonio Gramsci 178–79 ■ Herbert Marcuse 182–87 ■
Jean Baudrillard 196–99 ■ Stuart Hall 200–01W
hile Karl Marx had a
keen interest in culture,
especially in literature,
he regarded the economy as the
driver of history: culture and ideas
were secondary. Later Marxist
thinkers such as Antonio Gramsci
and Hungarian theorist Georg
Lukács paid more attention to
cultural matters; but culture
only came to the center of radical
theory in the mid-20th century with
Raymond Williams’ extensive body
of work, which included his hugely
influential text Culture and Society.
Williams detaches the idea
of culture from a politically
conservative understanding of
“tradition,” enabling an analysis of
what he calls “the long revolution”:
that difficult but persistent effort to
democratize our whole way of life.The shape of culture
In his essay “Culture is Ordinary”
(1958), Williams offers a personal
reflection of a journey from the
farming valleys of South Wales
to the colleges of Cambridge,
England. For Williams, theshape of his culture includes
mountains, farms, cathedrals,
and furnaces; family relationships,
political debates, trade skills,
languages, and ideas; as well as
literature, art, and music, both
popular and serious. He describes
the shape as a characteristic
“structure of feeling,” which might
be defined as the lived experience
(ordinary life) of a community
beyond society’s institutions
and formal ideologies.
Structure of feeling operates,
Williams explains, “in the most
delicate and least tangible part
of our activities.” The concept
suggests a combination of
something that is visible and
organized enough to be the subject
of study (structure), yet elusive
enough to convey the complexities
of lived experience (feeling).
Williams’ emphasis on lived
experience served to open
up to sociological study whole
swathes of popular culture such
as television, film, and advertising,
which had earlier been seen as
culturally insignificant. ■CULTURE AND IDENTITY
CULTURE IS
ORDINARY
R A Y M O N D W I L L I A M S ( 1 9 2 1 – 1 9 8 8 )
IN CONTEXT
FOCUS
Structure of feeling
KEY DATES
1840s Karl Marx argues that
the economy determines
society’s ideas and culture.
1920s Italian Marxist Antonio
Gramsci critiques Marx’s
economic determinism.
1958 Welsh academic
Raymond Williams discusses
the concept of “structure of
feeling” in Culture and Society,
placing culture firmly at the
center of an understanding
of social networks.
1964 British sociologist and
cultural theorist Richard
Hoggart founds the Centre for
Contemporary Cultural Studies
in Birmingham, England,
and is succeeded as director
in 1968 by Stuart Hall.
1975 Jean Baudrillard
indicates that Marx’s focus on
economics as the driving force
of change is limiting.