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1、THEPOLITICALECONOMYOFTHEDEAD:MARX’SVAMPIRES1MarkNeocleousAbstract:ThisarticleaimstoshowtheimportanceofthevampiremetaphortoMarx’swork.Insodoing,itchallengespreviousattemptstoexplainMarx’suseofthemetaphorwithreferencetoliterarystyle,nineteenth-centurygothicorEnlightenmentrationalis
2、m.Instead,thearticleacceptsthewidespreadviewlinkingthevampiretocapital,butarguesthatMarx’sspecificuseofthislinkcanbeproperlyunderstoodonlyinthecontextofhiscritiqueofpoliticaleconomyand,inparticular,thepoliticalecon-omyofthedead.TowardstheendofVolume1ofCapital,Marxemploysoneofhisu
3、sualdra-maticandrhetoricaldevices:‘Ifmoneycomesintotheworldwithacongeni-talblood-stainononecheek,’hesays,then‘capitalcomesdrippingfrom2headtotoe,fromeverypore,withbloodanddirt’.ThecommentisareminderoftheextenttowhichthethemeofbloodandhorrorrunsthroughthepagesofCapital.Accordingto
4、StanleyHyman,thereareinCapitaltwoformsofhorror.Thefirstconcernsthebloodylegislationagainstvagabond-age,describingthewaythatagriculturalpeoplesweredrivenfromtheirhomes,turnedintovagabondsandthen‘whipped,branded,torturedbylawsgrotesquelyterrible,intothedisciplinenecessaryforthewage
5、system’.Thesecondconcernsthehorrorsexperiencedbypeopleinthecolonies,‘theextirpation,enslavementandentombmentinminesoftheaboriginalpopula-tion...theturningofAfricaintoawarrenforthecommercialhuntingof3blackskins’.Buttothesewemightaddathirdformofhorror:theconstantsuckingofthebloodof
6、theWesternworkingclassbythebourgeoisclass.Thisformisnothinglessthanthehorrorofaproperty-owningclassthatappearstobevampire-likeinitsdesireandabilitytosuckthelifeoutoftheworkingclass.TherehasinrecentyearsbeenamassofliteratureonthespectreorghostlyinMarx’swork,heavilyinfluencedbyorwr
7、itteninresponsetoJacquesDerrida’sSpectersofMarx.Whathasnotbeendiscussedatanylengthinthis4contexthasbeenMarx’suseofthevampiremetaphor.Thisisperhapssurprising,1Dept.ofPolitics,BrunelUniversity,Uxbridge,UB83PH.Email:mark.neocleous@brunel.ac.uk2KarlMarx,Capital:ACritiqueofPoliticalEc
8、onomy,Volume1(1867),trans.BenFowkes(Harm
