Marxist

Literary
Criticism
Who
started it?
KARL MARX &
FRIEDRICH ENGELS

Engels and Marx founded the social and economic system of Marxism in
the 19th century.
What is Marxist Literary
Criticism
• Marxist Criticism is the belief that literature reflects this class struggle and
materialism. Marxist literary criticism bases itself on Marx and Engel's theory
that class struggle is an ongoing historical reality.

• Class, oppression, power, economy and politics are some of the main elements
that should be considered in a Marxist literary criticism.
General Principles of
Marxist Criticism
• It attempts to clarify the relationship of literary work to social reality.

• It aims to arrive at an interpretation of literary text in order to define the

political dimensions of literary work.

•  It believes that the literary work has ALWAYS a relationship to the society.

• It judges literature by how it represents the main struggles for power, how it
may influence those struggles.
Did you know that…

The principles of Marxism were not designed to serve as a

theory about how to interpret texts. Instead, they were meant
to be a set of social, economic, and political ideas that would,
according to their followers, change the world.
Marxist Criticism begs these questions
about the work
1) What is the economic status of the characters?
2) What happens to them as a result of this status?
3) How do they fare against economic and political odds?
4) What other conditions stemming from their class does the writer emphasize?
5) To what extent does the work fail by overlooking the economic, social, and
political implications of its material?
6) In what other ways does economic determinism affect the work?
7) How should the reader’s consider this story in today’s developed or
underdeveloped world?
Points of Analyzing a Text using
Marxist Theory

1. Economic Power
2. Materialism vs Spirituality
3. Class Conflict
4. Art, Literature, and Ideologies
How to Analyze Literary Text using
Marxist Approach

1 Approach the text with an eye for how the characters interact.
2 Evaluate the vocational roles of all characters.
3 Look at how characters use their free time
4 Assess the role of government in the piece of literature
5 Use Marxist writers as a guide.
 - End -
Thank you for listening!
Presented by:
Irish Apolonio
Krysthel Anne Cabillo
Jennefer Casas