Marxist Criticism

Kristil Abi Q. Andoy & Maria Gliceria

Valdez
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Karl Heinrich Marx
(1818-1883)
• 19th century German Philosopher,
economist and revolutionary socialist.
• He published (with Friedrich Engels)
Manifest der Kommunistischen Partei
(1848), commonly known as The
Communist Manifesto, the most
celebrated pamphlet in the history of the
socialist movement.
• He was also the author of the
movement’s most important book, Das
Kapital.
• These writings and others by Marx and
Engels form the basis of the body of
thought and belief known as Marxism.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Friedrich Engels
(1820-1895)
• a German philosopher, social scientist,
journalist, and businessman.
• He founded Marxist theory together with
Karl Marx. In 1848, he co-authored The
Communist Manifesto with Marx, and
he also authored and co-authored
(primarily with Marx) many other works.
• Later he supported Marx financially to do
research and write Das Kapital.
• After Marx's death, Engels edited the
second and third volumes.
• Additionally, Engels organized Marx's
notes on the Theories of Surplus Value,
which he later published as the "fourth
volume" of Capital.
WHAT IS MARXISM?
• Political, economic,and social theories of Karl
Marx that argued that the means of
production controls a society’s institutions and
beliefs.
• History is determined by economic conditions,
progressing toward the eventual triumph of
communism.
• Class Struggle- driving force behind history
that would eventually lead to a revolution in
which workers would overturn capitalist, take
control of economic production and abolish
private property by turning it over to the
government to be distributed fairly- abolishing
class distinctions.
MARXISM CONCEPTS
MARXISM CONCEPTS
Material circumstances- economic conditions
underlying the society
Historical situation- the ideological atmosphere
the material circumstances generate
Bourgeoisie- the one who control the means of
production
Proletariat- controlled by bourgeoisie whose
labor produces their wealth
MARXISM CONCEPTS (CONTINUATION)

Commodification- attitude of valuing things

for their resale possibilities (exchange value)
Base- the methods of production
(eg. people, relationships between them, the
roles that they play, and the materials and
resources involved in producing the things
needed by society)
MARXISM CONCEPTS (CONTINUATION)

Superstructure- social, political, ideological

systems and institutions the base generate
False consciousness- a cultural conditioning
that leads the people to accept a system that
is unfavorable for them without protest or
questioning
MARXIST LITERARY
CRITICISM
 WHAT IS IT ALL ABOUT?

• Marxists generally view literature "not as works created in

accordance with timeless artistic criteria, but as 'products'
of the economic and ideological determinants specific to
that era" (Abrams 149)
• 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 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. (Eagleton, Terry)
MARXIST CRITICS
Georg Lukacs
(1885-1971)
Hungarian critic responsible for
what has become known as
reflectionism or vulgar Marxism.
Named for the assumption that a
text will reflect the society that has
produced it. Such examination lead
to the understanding of that system
and the author’s worldview.
MARXIST CRITICS
Louis Althusser
(1918-1990)
French philosopher whose views
were not entirely consonant with
Lukacs. Althusser asserted
literature and art can affect society,
even lead to revolution. The
working class is manipulated to
accept the ideology of the dominant
class known as interpellation.
Althusser’s ideas are referred to as
production theory.
BEST KNOWN MARXIST CRITICS
1. Fredric Jameson- talks about the political
unconscious, exploitation, and oppression
buried in a work.
2. Terry Eagleton- British critic, examination
of the interrelations between ideology and
literary form. The constant in his criticism is
that he sets himself against the privileged
class.
Sources
Abrams, M.H. “Marxist Criticism.” A
Glossary of Literary Terms, 7th ed. Fort
Worth: Harcourt Brace College Publishers,
1999. 147-153
Dobie, A. B. Theory into practice: An
introduction to literary criticism, 4th ed.
Cengage Learning, 2015.