Postmodern Theory and Maxwell Street

by Dom Benson assisted by Vicky Kontou <Dominic.Benson@brunel.ac.uk> Date: Sun, 21 Feb 1999


The thrust of Derrida and Foucault's philosophy was that the everything can work together even if they seem to be contradictory. While nothing can be definite, everyday things such as politics, performing arts, social constructs, class, culture, etc., all have positive and negative interactions. Consequently there is no single, unifying bond between all the strands of our social fabric.

The basis of their philosophy was that there is no such thing as a priori knowledge. Our existence depends not on prior knowledge but on a structure consisting of different signs. These signs do not necessarily bear any positive relation to each other - in fact it is their contradictions that makes knowledge possible. History is made up of names, dates and facts. Therefore to argue that conservation "retards time" is fatuous and glib. It does not bear scrutiny! It is the exact opposite of the Universities stated mission.

Is the conservation of Maxwell Street to be a place for blues fans only or will it serve the community. If the buildings in Maxwell Street are replaced by a place of study for the elite, how does that serve the community? Of course it will create some jobs but something of unique symbolism will be destroyed in so doing.

Here are some quotes pertinent to the discussion (although being merely a political debate that shows no attempt to address concrete issues, postmodern literary theory may be argued in opposing ways without providing any solutions whatsoever - i.e. no sense makes):

-----by John Griffiths, "Deconstruction Deconstructed" p.96 in Deconstruction: Omnibus Edition, edited by Andreas Papadakis, Catherine Cooke and Andrew Benjamin, London: Academy Editions, 1989. ISBN 0-856709964.

-----by Julia Kristeva (interviewed by Alexia Defert), The Question of Exile, p.16 in De-, Dis-, Ex-. Vol. 2, The Anxiety of Interdisciplinarity, edited by Alex Coles and Alexia Defert, London: BACKless Books in association with Black Dog Publishing, 1998. ISBN 1-901033-75-9.

-----by Louis Martin, Writing and Post-structuralism, p. 67 in De-, Dis-, Ex-. Vol. 2 (ibid).


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