Marxist CriticismTayebul Aftab

Marxist Criticism

▪ Based on political and economic theories of Karl Marx

▪ Representatives of this School

▪ Cristopher Caudwell▪ George Lucas▪ Luciene Goldman▪ Walter Benjamin 1818-

1883

Marxism

▪ Economic Structure is the main driving force behind all social condition and historical changes.

▪ Considers human history as a series of struggle between classes.

▪ Aim Classless Society Common ownership, Means of productions, Distribution, Exchange.

Beginning

▪ Began when Marx and Engels met together

1818-1883

1820-1895

Karl Marx Friedrich

Engels

Marxist

Marxist Literary Criticism

▪ Sees society as constituted by a “base” and a “superstructure”, which is the “cultural” world of ideas, art, religion, law and so on.

▪ Marxist view says latter things are determined by the nature of the “economic base”.

▪ Known as ECONOMIC DETERMINISM and the central part of Marxism.

Marxist Literary Criticism

▪ It maintains that a writer’s social class and ideology have a major bearing on what is written by a member of a class.

▪ They see the authors as constantly formed by their social class and ideology that even they themselves don’t admit.

▪ Traditional Marxist Criticism deals with history, social classes and clashes of large historical forces.

Leninist Marxist Criticism

▪ Argued that literature must be an instrument of PARTY.

▪ “Literature must become part of the organized, methodical and unified labors of the Social-democratic party”.

▪ Experimentation banned later.▪ Steiner says, The Leninist Marxist Criticism insists on the

need for art to explicitly committed to the political cause.

The present: Althusserian Influence

▪ Recent Marxist thinking has influenced by the work of French Marxist theoretician Louis Althusser.

▪ Ideology is the key term for all of Marxist, according to him.

▪ Athusser defines, “Ideology is a system of representation endowed with an existence and historical role at the heart of a given society”.

Decentering

▪ Also a key term in Althusser.▪ It indicates structures which have no essence, focus or

centre.▪ This notion implies, there is no overall unity rather art

has a relative autonomy and is determined by the economy ‘in the last instance’.

CenterEconomy

ArtReligio

nLaw

Economy

Interpellation

▪ Choosing when we even have no choice at all.▪ It only makes us feel as free but not at all.▪ Interpellation is term for the way the individual is

encouraged to see himself/herself as a free and independent entity.

▪ It controls by the structures but not by physical force (Thus the trick can be relate to the term hegemony in a way)

Concepts

▪ Marxist idea sees society as constituted by a “base” and a “superstructure”.

▪ Marxist theory argues that the way we think and experience our world are conditioned by the way the economy is organized. (The material conditions control thoughts, not vice versa)

Basic Assumptions of Marxist Criticism

▪ Economic and social condition affect all aspects of life including art and literature.

▪ Art reflects the social and economic conditions (and class conflict)

▪ Art aims at improving the social and economic conditions.

▪ As literature represent ideology Marxist critics see it as a way to understand social structures.

▪ Marxist critics explain class structure and relation in a literary work.

Any Query?