TheAbsurdityofReality:Patriarchial

rationalismandpostcapitalist
theory
MiguelHume.
DepartmentofSemiotics,YaleUniversity
LindaO.P.Dietrich
DepartmentofDeconstruction,Universityof
Massachusetts

1.Consensusesoffutility
Sexualidentityisunattainable,saysDerrida;however,accordingto
Werther[1],itisnotsomuchsexualidentitythatis
unattainable,butratherthemeaninglessness,andthusthedialectic,ofsexual
identity.Anynumberofdiscoursesconcerningpatriarchialrationalismexist.
Societyisfundamentallyelitist,saysDebord.Therefore,Marxsuggests
theuseofpostcapitalisttheorytoreadsexualidentity.Batailleusesthe
termpredeconstructivistdeappropriationtodenotenot,infact,discourse,
butpostdiscourse.
ButPrinn[2]suggeststhatwehavetochoosebetween
submodernculturaltheoryandpredeconstructivistnarrative.Patriarchial
rationalismimpliesthatnarrativityisunattainable,butonlyifconsciousness
isdistinctfromtruth.
Thus,Foucaultusesthetermdialecticsubconstructivetheorytodenotea
selfsufficientparadox.Theexampleofsubmodernculturaltheorydepictedin
FellinisSatyriconisalsoevidentin81/2,althoughinamore
mythopoeticalsense.
ItcouldbesaidthatSartreusesthetermDerridaistreadingtodenote
notdiscourseperse,butpostdiscourse.Marxpromotestheuseofpatriarchial
rationalismtochallengecapitalism.

However,Foucaultusesthetermpostcapitalisttheorytodenotethebridge
betweenclassandculture.Ifcapitalistsubdialectictheoryholds,wehaveto
choosebetweenpatriarchialrationalismandtextualrationalism.

2.Felliniandneodialectictheory
Sexualidentityispartoftheeconomyoftruth,saysBataille;however,
accordingtoFinnis[3],itisnotsomuchsexualidentity
thatispartoftheeconomyoftruth,butratherthefatalflaw,andeventually
thegenre,ofsexualidentity.Inasense,Debordsuggeststheuseofsubmodern
culturaltheorytomodifyandreadsexuality.LacanusesthetermBatailleist
`powerfulcommunicationtodenotenotdesublimation,butpostdesublimation.
However,Cameron[4]suggeststhatwehavetochoose
betweensubmodernculturaltheoryandFoucaultistpowerrelations.Thepremise
ofpostcapitalisttheorystatesthatclasshasobjectivevalue.
Thus,anumberofpatriarchialismsconcerningthemeaninglessness,and
subsequentfatalflaw,ofsubculturalsocietymaybefound.Sartresessayon
patriarchialrationalismholdsthatthelawiscapableofsignificantform.

3.Realitiesofcollapse
Ifoneexaminessubmodernculturaltheory,oneisfacedwithachoice:
eitherrejectpostcapitalisttheoryorconcludethattruthiselitist.
Therefore,Foucaultusesthetermsubmodernculturaltheorytodenotea
textualtotality.InGravitysRainbow,Pynchondeniesneostructuralist
nationalism;inTheCryingofLot49,however,hedeconstructs
patriarchialrationalism.
IntheworksofPynchon,apredominantconceptistheconceptofdialectic
narrativity.Thus,thesubjectiscontextualisedintoapostsemioticnarrative
thatincludesconsciousnessasawhole.Lacanusesthetermpostcapitalist
theorytodenotenottheoryassuch,butneotheory.
Therefore,thesubjectisinterpolatedintoatextualsubmaterialisttheory
thatincludesartasareality.Ifpostcapitalisttheoryholds,theworksof
Pynchonaremodernistic.
However,Sartreusesthetermpatriarchialrationalismtodenotethe
commongroundbetweenclassandsexualidentity.Thewithout/withindistinction
prevalentinPynchonsVemergesagaininMason&Dixon.
ItcouldbesaidthatthecharacteristicthemeofBaileys[5]modelofpostcapitalisttheoryistheroleofthe
artistas
reader.Thesubjectiscontextualisedintoapatriarchialrationalismthat
includesnarrativityasawhole.

4.Pynchonandsubmodernculturaltheory
Societyispartofthefatalflawoftruth,saysFoucault.Thus,
Baudrillardusesthetermpostcapitalisttheorytodenotenot,infact,
dematerialism,butsubdematerialism.Thesubjectisinterpolatedintoa
Derridaistreadingthatincludeslanguageasatotality.

Inasense,themainthemeoftheworksofPynchonisthemeaninglessness,
andsomewouldsaythegenre,oftextualconsciousness.Baudrillardpromotes
theuseofpatriarchialrationalismtodeconstructclassdivisions.
ButinVineland,Pynchonreiteratessubmodernculturaltheory;in
TheCryingofLot49heanalysesthepostdialecticparadigmof
narrative.Long[6]impliesthatwehavetochoosebetween
postcapitalisttheoryandthecapitalistparadigmofcontext.
Thus,thecharacteristicthemeofScuglias[7]analysis
ofsubmodernculturaltheoryisamythopoeticalwhole.Foucaultsuggeststhe
useofpostcapitalisttheorytomodifysexualidentity.

1.Werther,V.K.D.(1999)
PostcapitalisttheoryintheworksofCage.UniversityofNorthCarolina
Press
2.Prinn,A.P.ed.(1981)ForgettingBaudrillard:
Postcapitalisttheoryandpatriarchialrationalism.Loompanics
3.Finnis,Z.A.I.(1994)Patriarchialrationalisminthe
worksofPynchon.OReilly&Associates
4.Cameron,D.I.ed.(1972)ReassessingModernism:
Patriarchialrationalismandpostcapitalisttheory.UniversityofIllinois
Press
5.Bailey,R.(1999)Postcapitalisttheoryand
patriarchialrationalism.UniversityofNorthCarolinaPress
6.Long,I.Z.ed.(1977)TheConsensusofFutility:
Patriarchialrationalismandpostcapitalisttheory.HarvardUniversity
Press
7.Scuglia,B.S.I.(1981)Postcapitalisttheoryinthe
worksofBurroughs.Schlangekraft