Marxist

Literary
Theory
(from Internet)
“Don't Let the Man Keep You Down."

• This, in the proverbial

nut-shell, is what
Marxist criticism is all
about.
“Don't Let the Man Keep You Down."

• The Marxist critic

believes that the
only importance in a
piece of literature
lays in how it
supports or attacks
the socioeconomic
structure.
“Don't Let the Man Keep You Down."

• All the other schools

of literary criticism are
just missing the point.
So who Started Marxist Criticism?

This Guy
 What is capitalism?

Definition:
 Getting to Know Karl

• Karl Marx was an immensely influential

German Jewish philosopher, political
economist, and social revolutionary.
 A Product of the 19 Century
th

• He developed his
system of thought
in the 19th century
in response to the
Western industrial
revolution and the
rise of industrial
capitalism as the
predominant
economic mode.
Bourgeoisie vs. Proletariat
Oppression of the Proletariat
False Consciousness
 Marx on Religion
• Marx also condemned
religion, because its
promise of an afterlife
discouraged
oppressed peoples
from actively resisting
their oppressors and
working toward a
communist system.
Marx on Patriotism and War
Oppression and Revolution
 A Clean Sweep
• Marx recommended
that societies
overthrow their
capitalist regimes
and create a worker
society in which the
worker is recognized
as central to the
economy.
So How Does All of this Apply
to Literary Criticism?
Simply Put, Marxist Literary
Critics Apply the Insights of
Marxism to Literature.
 But Marxism is a
Political and Economic
Theory…

How Can It be
Applied to
Literature?
Base/Superstructure
• To answer this question,
we have to consider
Marx’s concept of the
base and
superstructure.
Slavery and Base/Superstructure
Slavery and Base/Superstructure

• The economic
base of that
society was
slavery, and all
labour and
economic relations
were structured by
the master/slave
relation.
 Slavery and Base/Superstructure
• All of the
ideological
institutions, such
as organized
religion, local and
national politics,
and art (especially
literature), worked
to uphold slavery
as a good
economic system.
Slavery and Base/Superstructure

• Hence, the economic base of southern,

slaveholding society determined its
superstructure.
 OK, I Get It. Literature is
Determined by the Economic Base.
But Why is This Important to
Literary Critics?
Literature as a Social Institution

• Marxist literary
critics see literature
as a social institution
with with a particular
ideological function.
Literature as a Social Institution
• It participates in
the struggles
between
oppressed and
oppressing
classes which
makes up
human history.
Literature as a Social Institution
Literature as a Challenge
to Social Institutions
Literature as a Challenge
to Social Institutions
 Literature as a Challenge
to Social Institutions

• All literature that expresses tension between

opposing classes and their ideologies is ripe
for Marxist analysis.
Terms Used by
Marxist Critics
Capitalism
• An economic system
in which the
production and
distribution of goods
depend upon private
capital and profit
taking.
 Ideology

• The body of
thought and ideas
that guides a
society and
perpetuates the
status quo.
Means of Production
• The raw
materials,
factories,
farms, and
other
economic
resources
used to
produce
goods and
services.
 Bourgeoisie

• The ruling class of a

society from which
ideologies take their
shapes.
Proletariat
• The working class of
a society, especially
those who lack
capital and must sell
their unskilled labour
in order to survive.
 and False Consciousness
• The hypothesis that
processes in a
capitalist society
mislead the working
class -- and
perhaps the other
classes -- over the
nature of
capitalism.
Important
Figures in
Marxist
Literary
Theory
 Georg Lukacs
• A Hungarian Marxist
literary critic, Lukacs
contributed the ideas of
reification and class
consciousness to
Marxist theory. His
literary criticism was
also influential in
thinking about the novel
as a literary genre.
Raymond Williams
A highly influential
Welsh academic and
critic, Williams, a
committed socialist,
was greatly interested
in the relationships
between language,
literature, and society
and published many
books and articles on
these and other
issues.
Terry Eagleton
• A British critic and
philosopher, Eagleton, an
active Marxist, has written
numerous books on
literary criticism. Literary
Theory: An Introduction,
his best-known work,
traces the history of the
literary theory, from the
Romantics to the
postmodernists of the last
few decades
Questions Marxist Critics
Ask about Literature
 Marxist Questions

• How are class

differences presented
in the work?
Marxist Questions

• Are characters aware

or unaware of the
economic and social
forces that affect their
lives?
 Marxist Questions

• How do economic
conditions determine
the characters’ lives?
Marxist Questions

• Do characters
overcome
oppression in
their lives? If
so, how?
 Marxist Questions

• Does the story

challenge or affirm
the social order it
describes?
Marxist Questions

• Does the work

reinforce capitalist,
imperialist, or other
class values?
• Does the text
criticize capitalism,
imperialism, or
class?
 Marxist Questions

• Does the work

accurately reflect the
socio-economic
conditions of the time
period being
portrayed?
Marxist Questions
• Does the work
criticize organized
religion as an “opiate
of the masses” that
discourages
characters from
resisting socio-
economic
oppression?
 Marxist Questions

• Does the work

propose some form
of utopian vision as
a solution to the
problems
encountered in the
work?
That’s All Folks!

Thanks for Paying Attention