Fredric Jameson’s The Years of Theory: Lectures on Modern French Thought offers an ambitious engagement with key figures in French theory from the mid-20th century. The book is not a typical review of their ideas but a reflection on the intellectual landscape of the period, tracing the evolution of French thought through figures like Jean-Paul Sartre, Michel Foucault, Louis Althusser, Jacques Lacan, and others. Jameson navigates through existentialism, structuralism, poststructuralism, and psychoanalysis, revealing their interconnectedness within the larger sociopolitical contexts of postwar Europe.

The book’s tone is more of a dense philosophical dialogue than a casual introduction, aimed at readers already familiar with these intellectual movements. Jameson delves into these theories with a critical lens, questioning how they both shaped and responded to the cultural and ideological crises of their time.

What makes The Years of Theory particularly elusive is its focus on the transitions and subtleties between these thinkers, rather than offering a simple chronological or thematic narrative. Jameson’s reading is often nuanced, emphasizing contradictions and points of rupture in the development of modern French thought. He highlights how these theories were not only academic exercises but also interventions in political and cultural debates, reflecting the tensions of their historical moment.

For readers unacquainted with the background of these philosophers, the book might be challenging, as Jameson assumes a certain level of theoretical literacy. However, for those invested in understanding the intellectual currents that have shaped critical theory and continental philosophy, The Years of Theory provides a deep, layered analysis of a pivotal moment in modern thought.

In summary, the book is elusive in its refusal to offer simple conclusions or definitive interpretations. Instead, Jameson invites readers into an ongoing conversation about the legacy and continued relevance of French theory, making it a work that requires engagement and reflection.

RIP to one of the best American Marxists we had.

Years of Theory: Lectures on Modern French Thought is a brilliant, accessible text that outlines the basic concepts guiding post-WWII (and post-critical theory) leftist cultural and political theory. 

A 500-page lecture series on theory might not sound accessible, but Jameson effectively scratches the surface of all major strains of French thought without requiring the reader to have much background. While some basic knowledge of Hegel, Marx, and Freud would be useful, not much else is needed. Unlike theory itself, Jameson's lectures are completely readable for beginners. 

Young leftists looking for a cursory overview will surely benefit from reading Years of Theory cover to cover. Others may find it useful to pull out sections on existentialism, psychoanalysis, or semiotics if those fields are of particular interest. Jameson is not laying out each thinker's program in great detail, but he provides their major concepts to give readers a starting point for how to approach these theorists. What I particularly love about the lectures is the way Jameson contextualizes theorists in terms of their biography, politics, and social relationships to other thinkers. Anyone who can begin a lecture on French feminism with Bataille or who finds it necessary to mention David Cronenberg in the larger discussion of Baudrillard is surely providing these connections in a comprehensive, holistic way. 

This is an absolutely fantastic text for beginners and should be required reading for all students of philosophy, sociology, and cultural studies. Whether you're interested in this text because you need someone to explain Deleuze to you or you'll fucking kill them, because you've been avoiding Lacanian psychoanalysis but see how it influences everything else you're reading, because you love unhinged schizophrenic theorists who strangle their wives, because you're a self-identified Marxist with no sense of intellectual history, or you're simply trying to keep up with leftist memes, this book is for you. 

This is not a 5-star rating because the book permanently changed my life, but because this is the text I desperately needed when I was 20. Thank you to NetGalley and Verso for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to read something that would continue my love of Sartre further, and also help me keep in touch with my major of International Relations, this did both wonderfully. The thinkers introduced, from Sartre to Foucault, all were done with an ease that comes with an abundance of knowledge, and a mastery over their theories.

What an amazing collection of lectures! I am so grateful I came across them on NetGalley, and actually got this book as an ARC.

Thanks to NetGalley and Verso Books.

The Years of Theory is scholar Jameson’s lectures on French philosophers.
In terms of coverage, the range is rich and Jameson’s discussions are engaging and accessible ever.
Consider these as essays/seminars with layered readings and Jameson’s expertise interwoven.
I have read Jameson before and incorporated his theories into my work. He is one of my favourite scholars.
As with all Jameson’s, I will need to read a few of the seminars in this book to fully grasp the depths of his analyses.