Robert T. Tally Jr is a professor of English at Texas State University. His recent books include The Fiction of Dread: Dystopia, Monstrosity, and Apocalypse, The Critical Situation: Vexed Perspectives in Postmodern Literary Studies, and For a Ruthless Critique of All That Exists: Literature in an Age of Capitalist Realism.
The cultural critic Fredric Jameson died on September 22, leaving behind a body of work of incomparable breadth and sophistication. Robert Tally, a critic and former student of Jameson’s, reflects on what he was like as an intellectual, teacher, and friend.
Throughout his career, the critic Fredric Jameson has pitted himself against reductive Marxist approaches to culture and a close reading tradition blind to politics. His latest book shows him at the height of his powers, carving out his novel alternative.