Literary description flourishes precisely when human beings become reified

Evidence

Thus description begins when external things are felt to be alienated from human activity, come to be viewed as static things-in-themselves; but it is fulfilled when even the human beings who inhabit these lifeless settings become themselves dehumanized, become lifeless tokens, mere objects in motion to be rendered from the outside. — Fredric Jameson, Marxism and Form, 402

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Epic restoration requires social transformation, not the novelist’s will — Fredric Jameson, Marxism and Form, 367; Realism began as description of existing works before becoming prescriptive dogma — Fredric Jameson, Marxism and Form, 386; Literary description signals the breakdown of human relation to action — Fredric Jameson, Marxism and Form, 402 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Mass culture literalizes reification by making living people resemble objects #exemplifies (0.88) — Theodor W. Adorno, The Culture Industry, 137
• Literary description signals the breakdown of human relation to action #expands (0.82) — Fredric Jameson, Marxism and Form, 402