History as ground must be conceived as an absent cause resisting reification

Evidence

It would seem therefore more useful to ask ourselves , in conclusion, how History as a ground and as an absent cause can be conceived in such a way as to resist such thematization or reification, such trans­ formation back into one optional code among others. — Fredric Jameson, The Political Unconscious, 2294

Categorization

• QUESTION: The ‘absent cause’ formulation is the crux of Jameson’s anti-reification strategy — worth chasing how it differs from Althusser’s structural causality.
• XREF: connects to: Reification is an illusion, so grounds for refusal persist — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man: Studies in the…, 884; Bare antiquity never justifies a legal rule once its original grounds lapse — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1247; Harmony in interpretation requires grounding activity in the site’s own true history — Freeman Tilden, Interpreting Our Heritage, 478 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Reification is an illusion, so grounds for refusal persist #expands (0.80) — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man, 884