| This question <118|90> overall <86|88> Hayduke: <38|138-5>. |
| Question 179: Explain Marx's metaphor that “value not have it branded on its forehead what it is.” |
| [87] Hayduke: Value Branded The metaphor “value not have it branded on its forehead what it is” describes how value does not have a fixed, inherent basis. Rather, as Marx notes when quoting Galiani: “Value is a relation between persons” (V167:footnote 29). Because relations are fluid and constantly changing, value cannot be “branded on its forehead.” Furthermore, Marx clarifies this quote by saying Galiani should have added “concealed beneath a material shell.” This clarifies how this view differs from what it might first look at. The nature of fetishism is that we see the material shell and assume that that is the value, and ignore the social relations underneath. |
| A similar metaphor is used again a little later to express contrast, although it is not as clear in the Vintage edition. On 173:1/oo it says “These formulas, which bear the unmistakable stamp of belonging to a social formation...” Perhaps they were hoping for clarity, but this translation inexplicably destroys Marx's metaphor. As technical as most of this writing is, it really seems a shame to rephrase a colorful literary device with more technical phrasing. The German is very straightforword: “Formen, denen es auf der Stirn geschrieben steht, dass sie einer Gesellschaftsformation angehoeren...(Hans' Annotations, pg. 97).” The translation from Hans' Annotations is much more literal: “These forms, which have it branded on their foreheads that they belong to a social formation...” |
| This metaphor is a continuation of the metaphor of values NOT having what they are branded on their foreheads. The forms in the second metaphor are value and magnitude. Marx is drawing a difference here: value may not be a fixed entity, but its role in a capitalist society is fixed, and can be branded, i.e. that “production process has the mastery over men.” |
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