Compulsory Reading Summary 1/3 - Dominant - Residual - Emergent

“Dominant, Residual, and Emergent” is the eighth chapter of a book called Marxism and Literature. In this chapter the author, Raymond Williams, explores some cultural examination, and comparisons between alternative ways to analyse cultural systems and the social state of aspects within these systems. The content of this chapter first discusses how cultural analysis of history reveals ‘movements and tendencies’ within dominant cultural processes (Williams 121). Yet the author also writes that it is important when analysing the dominance of certain cultural aspects, to correlate those shifts and patterns with the cultural system which the hegemonic originated from in its entirety. The chapter also follows the literal meaning in its title, going on to explore the concept of residual and emergent cultural elements parallel to the dominant ones. Williams makes the difference clear between the residual cultural aspects and ‘archaic’ ones, residual being cultural concepts which are still in existence and used culturally in the present because they are still practical and advantageous. Williams states that the archaic, on the other hand, are cultural concepts from the past, only used in a deliberate rekindling sense. Williams also discusses the emergent components of cultural processes and how the can be hard to distinguish between truly emergent cultural systems or part of new dominant ones.

Work cited:

Williams, Raymond. Marxism and literature. Oxford: Oxford U Press, 2009.