Marxism

Marxism
Literary Criticism
The Core Principles of MARXIST thought
Reality itself can be defined and understood.
Society shapes our consciousness.
 Social and economic conditions directly influence how and
what we believe and value.
 The world as we know it can be changed from place of
bigotry, hatred, and conflict due to class struggle into a
classless society in which wealth, opportunity, education are
accessible for everyone.
MARXISM asserts that it provides answers to many of the
complex questions about how life is and ought to be
experienced.
Marxism declares that it offers a comprehensive, positive

view of human life, and history that demonstrate how
humanity can save itself from a meaningless life of
ALIENATION and despair.
Who started it? Karl Marx
-19th century German philosopher
-became part of the Hegelians, and
later, the Communist League.
-one of the most influential socialist
thinkers of the 19th century.
But we can’t have Marx without… Friedrich Engels
-Marx friend compatriot and oftentimes a
coauthor
- He shared Marx's socialist belief and
provided support financially as well as
intellectually while Max developed his
theories.
Marx and Engels articulate their views on the nature of reality in two
works
THE GERMAN IDEOLOGY (1845)
They develop what has become known as dialectical materialism, a
• Works:
core belief of Marxism.
• -The German Ideology (1846)
Dialectic – to describe a form of logical argumentation involving
• -The Communist Manifesto (1848)
conflicting ideas, propositions or both.
• -Das Kapital (1867)
(German philosopher Georg W.F. Hegel redefines the term as a
process whereby a thesis is presented followed by a
counterstatement antithesis,
Which was adopted by Engels and Marx formulating dialectal
materialism-that is their understanding of how workers can lead a
class war and established a new social order.)
Both Engels and Marx assert that
“consciousness does not determine life, life

determine consciousness”. A persons consciousness
is not shaped by any spiritual entity; through daily
living and interacting with others, human define
themselves.
In asserting their materialistic view of humanity they argue that
the economic means of production within a society – what they
call base- both engenders and controls all human institutions and
ideologies – the superstructure- including all social and legal
institutions, all political and educational systems all religions
and all arts.
THE COMMUNIST MANIFESTO (1848)
They maintain that the capitalists or the bourgeoisie have
successfully enslaved the working class, or the proletariat through
economic policies and production of goods
DAS KAPITAL (1867)

The employers (the bourgeoisie) have the economic power and
thereby gain social and political control of their society.
Marxist theory posits that society is
divided into classes based on
ownership of the means of
production. The ruling class
maintains control through ideology,
which is reflected in literature.
Marxist literary critics seek to uncover
the hidden messages in literature
and expose the ways in which
literature reinforces or challenges the
dominant ideology.
MARXIST THEORY
CONCLUSION
Marxist literary criticism provides a valuable

perspective on literature by examining the social and
economic forces that shape it. It highlights the ways
in which literature reflects or challenges the
dominant ideology of its time and exposes the
hidden messages within it. By employing concepts
such as base and superstructure, historical
materialism, and alienation, Marxist critics provide a
nuanced analysis of literature.
Critics of Karl Marx
George Lukacs: Reflectionist or Vulgar Marxism
-Believed that the text will reflect

the society that has produced it.
-Stressed that historical approach is
different to reflectionism.
-Reflectionist attribute the
separation that they discover to the
ills of capitalism.
Louis Althusser: Interpellation
-argued that literature and art affect

the society.
-believed that the working class is
manipulated to accept the ideology
of the dominant one.
The Frankurt School
-Neo-Marxist group devoted to developing Western Marxist
principles. Agreeing with Lukacs that literature reveals a culture
alienation and fragmentation.
- Assert that a text is like any other commodity produced by
capitalism.
• Theodore Adorno (1903-1969)
• Herbert Marcuse (1989-1979)
• Walter Benjamin (1892-1940)
• Max Horkheimer (1895-1973)
Marxist of
Critics Theorists
Karl Today
Marx
Antonio Gramsci
-a complex relationship exists between the base and the

superstructure.
-The bourgeoisie establish and maintain what he calls
hegemony.
(the assumptions, values and meanings that shape meaning
and define reality for the majority of people in given culture.
Marxist Theorists Today
Fredric Jameson
-American literary critic who develops dialectic criticism.
-Marxism and Form (1971)- asserts that all critics must be aware
of their own ideology when analyzing a text. (Dialectic self-
awareness)
-Political Unconscious- merged psychoanalytic and Marxist
theorist. The repressed condition of exploitation and oppression.
-function of literary analysis is to uncover the political
unconscious present in a text.
Assumptions
Marxist Theorists Today
Terry Eagleton-
-British literary critic.
-literature is neither a product of pure inspiration nor the product
of the author’s feeling .
-literature is a product of the an ideology , which is itself a product
of history.
Assumptions
methodology
-Our place in the society determines our consciousness.
-Study the relationship between a text and the society that reads
it.
-Focuses on class relations and societal conflict.
-People’s experiences are responsible for shaping and developing

an individual personal’s consciousness.
Assumptions
methodology
-Marxist Criticism is the belief that literature reflects this

class struggle and materialism.
-It looks at how literature functions in relation to other
aspects of the superstructure, particularly other articulations
of ideology.
-it assumes that the form of economic organization or mode
of production, influences all other social phenomena,
including broader social relations, political institutions,
legal systems, cultural systems, aesthetics and ideologies.

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Marxism

Marxism declares that it offers a comprehensive, positive

“consciousness does not determine life, life

DAS KAPITAL (1867)

Marxist literary criticism provides a valuable

-Believed that the text will reflect

-argued that literature and art affect

-a complex relationship exists between the base and the

-Our place in the society determines our consciousness.

-People’s experiences are responsible for shaping and developing

-Marxist Criticism is the belief that literature reflects this

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