Writing Sites

Based on the premise that as we enter the postmodern world we need to set in historical context the arguments about postmodernism, Writing Sites is one of the few studies of post-structuralism and post-modernism that successfully situates these intellectual movements historically.

Through a provocative synthesis of the theories of Marx, Foucault, Baurdrillard, and Derrida, Jon Stratton provides a basis for an analysis of the relationship between capitalism and the metaphors of writing. He argues that these theorists share not only a specific philosophical orientation, but their articulation at a specific historical moment: the deployment of consumption capitalism and the privileging of representation over presence.

In providing his genealogy of the postmodern world, Stratton provides a history of representation, examining “sites of writing” at three historical moments. His study reveals the link between three epistemes – classical, modern, and postmodern – and three forms of capitalism – mercantile, production, and consumption – which produce the three moments of otherness – the colonial, the working-class and the mind.

Stratton displays an impressive command of historical material, ranging from the fifteenth through the twentieth centuries, and uses a variety of sources to illuminate his analysis, from literary texts through histories of colonization and travel writings.