MARXISM LITERARY CRITISM

Group 6 :

- Fhadila Muliana Tengo

- Utari Apriliyani Dumbela
- Dewi Rahmawati Maku

Marxism
1. DEFINITION OF MARXIST
What is Marxism? Marxism is the intellectual tradition that arose out of the writings of Karl
Marx and Friedrich Engels. It encompasses a whole range of ideas, including an approach towards
history, an analysis of capitalism and a new vision of the future.
Marx realized through his interpretation of history that capitalism is but one form under
which society has organized itself, and a relatively new one at that. Before capitalism there was
feudalism, which had completely different social relations. Capitalism is generally seen to have
emerged during the Industrial Revolution, though in some countries capitalism didn't emerge until
well into the 20 th century.

2. HISTORY OF MARXIST
Marxism is a worldview and method of societal analysis that focuses on class relations
and societal conflict, that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, and
a dialectical view of social transformation.
Marxist methodology uses economic and sociopolitical inquiry and applies that to the
analysis and critique of the development of capitalism and the role of class struggle in
systemic economic change.
In the mid-to-late 19th century, the intellectual tenets of Marxism were inspired by
two German philosophers: Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Marxist analyses and
methodologies have influenced multiple political ideologies and social movements. Marxism
encompasses an economic theory, a sociological theory, a philosophical method, and
a revolutionary view of social change.
In Marxist theory and socialist literature, working class is often used synonymously with
the term proletariat, and includes all those who expend either mental or physical labor to
produce economic value, or wealth in non-academic terms, for those who own means of
production.
 Marxism sees the proletariat and bourgeoisie (capitalist class) as occupying conflicting
positions, since workers automatically wish their wages to be as high as possible, while
owners and their proxies wish for wages to be as low as possible.

Marxist literary criticism is a loose term describing literary criticism informed by the

philosophy or the politics of Marxism. Its history is as long as Marxism itself, as both Karl
Marx and Friedrich Engels read widely (Marx had a great affection for Shakespeare, as
well as contemporary writings like the work of his contemporary Heinrich Heine). In the
twentieth century, many of the foremost writers of Marxist theory have also been literary
critics, including Georg Lukács, Leon Trotsky, Franz Mehring, Raymond Williams,
and Fredric Jameson.

The English literary critic and cultural theorist Terry Eagleton defines Marxist criticism
this way:
“Marxist criticism is not merely a ‘sociology of literature’, concerned with how novels get
published and whether they mention the working class. Its aim is to explain the literary work
more fully; and this means a sensitive attention to its forms, styles and meanings. But it also
means grasping those forms, styles and meanings as the product of a particular history.”

The simplest goals of Marxist literary criticism can include an assessment of the
political “tendency” of a literary work, determining whether its social content or its literary
form are “progressive”; however, this is by no means the only or the necessary goal.
From Walter Benjamin to Fredric Jameson, Marxist literary critics have also been
concerned with applying lessons drawn from the realm of aesthetics to the realm of politics,
as originated in the Frankfurt School‘s critical theory.
3. TYPES OF MARXIST LITERART CRITISM
- Society in the Piece of Literature

Marxist criticism is interested in the society created by the author in the piece of literature
concerned. Let's look at this in terms of a relatively new piece of literature, The Hunger Games, which
is a trilogy by Suzanne Collins. In it, various districts are struggling economically and socially and
eventually rise up against their government. The Marxist critique would go as far as to say that it was
those conditions that caused the series to unfold the way it did. It was simply people rebelling against
an unfair way of life.

Okay, now let's try looking at the society created in a classic piece of literature, The
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. This book takes place in the American South in the
19th century and follows a white boy, Huck, as he helps a black slave, Jim, escape his situation. Here
we've got quite a bit more detail. Instead of just two large classes, society is really divided into several
smaller ones.

As a result, a Marxist critique would focus not only on those classes, but also what happens
when they break down. After all, Huck and Jim form a bond that society would have forbidden.
Because of this, it would be argued that Twain wanted society to get rid of race-based castes
altogether, since they only kept humanity in bondage.

- Society of the Author

Marxists might argue that literature doesn't just demonstrate class struggle, but are products of
them. In a work, the society of the author often leaks through, and could be interpreted as a
commentary of that society.

Let's go back to The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. It could be argued that Twain was
commenting on his own society. After all, there was still a distinct stratification between rich and
poor, and white and black on the Mississippi in the late 19th century. Marxist literary critique would
argue that this is Twain's way of highlighting differences in his own society.