SOURCE: “LA Lore,” in New Statesman & Society, March 15, 1991, p. 34.

In the following review, Howe offers an unfavorable assessment of Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism.

Fredric Jameson is a cool operator. Like the last (and therefore first) man to wear flares, he knows when it’s smart to buck the trend. Being a Marxist, a dialectician, and a historicist right now does not exactly place you in the front ranks of the intellectual beau monde. Yet carry the stance with enough style and dexterity, enough sheer bravado—with any criticism already incorporated into your own scheme—and you emerge ahead of the game.

So postmodernism is supposed to herald the death of all “grand narratives”, with Marxism top of the hit-list? With one huge theoretical leap, courtesy of Hegel, you can surround that notion with a new totality. You can celebrate diversity, pastiche, kitsch and consumerism...