Type of Literary Criticism: Marxist Criticism

Proponent/s: Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels

Definition:
What is Marxist criticism? The Marxist criticism definition is an approach to diagnosing political and
social problems in terms of the struggles between members of different socio-economic classes. Drawing
from this approach, criticism does not aim at the flaws of particular individuals, even if they have attained
positions of power. Instead, such an approach focuses on how social life is structured by class oppositions
that are determined by laboring relationships. Or in other words, Marxist criticism seeks to show how the
economically powerful exploit and dominate the economically disadvantaged. Moreover, Marxist
criticism also points to how class conflict is obscured and hidden in ideology.
Examples:
Several concepts are indispensable for Marxist criticism:
 Class - Class is a grouping of people with a similar social situation with regard to labor and
exchange. The proletariat, for example, are a social class defined by their need to sell their labor
power because they do not have sufficient property to generate income. In short, they are the
'have-nots.' The bourgeoisie, on the other hand, are a social class defined by owning the means of
production, and they have sufficient property to generate wealth without needing to labor.
 Alienation - The concept of alienation is meant to capture the ways in which workers are
separated from the fruits of their labor and from others. When a worker creates something, but
they cannot take pride in their work, their work only puts them in competition with others, and
they receive no profits from the quality of their work. In this case, they are alienated laborers.
 Ideology - Ideology is a system of values and beliefs of a society or group. Ideology tends to be
explicit, or at least have a significant explicit component, and it serves to protect the material
conditions of a society by distorting them. For instance, capitalist ideology includes the value of
self-reliance and being 'self-made,' while also insisting on free competition. This obscures the fact
that those who are born into rich families have a significant edge in competition.
 Base and Superstructure - The base and superstructure of any society consists of material
conditions and then explicit institutions, art, and ideology, respectively. In other words, the base
of any society, the driving reality behind any experience or political action, is its economic
conditions. This includes the methods of production as well as the relationships that constitute
social production and exchange. The superstructure is every aspect of society beyond material
necessity, including ideologies, art, and institutions. This includes religion as well as normative
political views, e.g., liberalism. Institutions include government as well as social clubs. While the
ideologies and institutions of a society may appear open and impartial, Marxist criticism holds
that they are a tool used by the powerful to oppress the weak and obscure the very mechanisms of
that oppression. Marxist criticism examples would include Charles Beard's work on the American
Revolution and the self-interest of the moneyed class in designing the constitution.
Sources:
https://study.com/learn/lesson/marxist-criticism-overview-examples.html
Both modules given by the teacher