Mariano Marcos State UniversityCOLLEGE OF TEACHER EDUCATION

Laoag City

LIT 106: Literary Criticism

MARXISM

Hi… I am CAPTAIN BARBELL. I usually help people in distress. I give solutions to your problems. I am so happy that I am here today at the Sunshine City of Laoag! Let’s meet my first client.

Hello…My name is Nicholas, “NICK” in short. Captain Barbell, I have a problem about learning this literary approach called “MARXISM”. Can you help me with this?

Sure! Did you hear it? Nick needs our help. So let us try to help him! Come on. Let’s do it.

So, let us begin helping Nick. But before delving deeper, let us first define the term? What is Marxism? Let us consult my HEAVY-DUTY BARBELL!

We also need to meet the brains behind this literary approach. Here, I only included the top five proponents.

If anything is certain, it is that I myself am not a Marxist.Reported by Friedrich EngelsLetter to Eduard Bernstein

He was a 19th century German philosopher that became a part of the Young Hegelians, and later, the Communist League. He was revered as one of the most influential socialist thinkers of the 19th century.

1

1

General Description

Sources of the Trend

Karl Marx

Marxist literary criticism is the belief that literature reflects class struggle and materialism. It looks at how literature functions in relation to other aspects of the superstructure, particularly other articulations of ideology.

Like feminist critics, it investigates how literature can work as a force for social change, or as a reaffirmation of existing conditions.

Like New Historicism, it examines how history influences literature; the difference is that Marxism focuses on the lower classes.

WORKS:The German Ideology (1845): introduced the concept of dialectical materialism (argued that the means of production controls a society’s institutions and beliefs, and contended that history is progressing toward the eventual triumph of communism)Communist Manifesto (1848): identified class struggle as the driving force behind history and anticipated that it would lead to a revolution in which the workers would overturn the capitalists, take control of economic production, and abolish private property by turning it over to the government to distribute fairlyDas Kapital (1867): argued that history is determined by economic conditions and urged an end to private ownership of public utilities, transportation, and the means of production

CORE MARXIST PRINCIPLES: Proletariat. Lower class Bourgeoisie. Upper class Capital. Means of gaining profit Hegemony. Upper class dominates the lower class False consciousness. Lower class doesn’t realize the effect that the upper class has on them.

He shared Marx’s socialist beliefs and provided support financially as well as intellectually while Marx developed his theories.

WORKS:The Condition of the Working Class in England (1844): argues that the Industrial Revolution made workers worse off.Co-authored The Communist Manifesto (1848)

He was a literary theorist and philosopher who was widely viewed as one of the founders of “Western Marxism”.

CONTRIBUTION:Reflectionism or Vulgar Marxism

Believed that the text will reflect the society that has produced it Stressed that historical approach is different to reflectionismReflectionists attribute the separation that they discover to the ills of

capitalism.

He was commonly referred to as a structural Marxist.

CONTRIBUTION: Interpellation

Argued that literature and art affect the societyBelieved that the working class is manipulated to accept the ideology

of the dominant one

2

Friedrich Engels2

Georg Lukács3

Louis Althusser4

He was a leading Italian Marxist theoretician and politician.

CONTRIBUTION:Developed the theory of cultural hegemony, to explain why the "inevitable" revolution of the proletariat predicted by orthodox Marxism had not occurred by the early 20th century.

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.

Base The methods of production in a given societyBourgeoisie The name given by Marx to the owners of the means of production in a societyCapitalism An economic system that is based on private ownership of the means of

production and the creation of goods or services for profitHegemony Control or dominating influence by one person or group, especially by one

political group over society or one nation over othersIdeology A belief system

Proletariat The name given by Marx to the workers of the societySocialism a political theory or system in which the means of production and distribution are

controlled by the people and operated according to equity and fairness rather than market principles

Superstructure The social, political, and ideological systems and institutions – for example, the values, art, and legal processes of a society – that are generated by the base

We already helped “Nick” on some of his problems. But I believe we should teach him now the principles under Marxism. This will be a comprehensive view for him to better understand the said literary approach.

That’s right Captain Barbell. So please help me read this table. Come on! Let’s delve deeper in the world of Marxism.

General Precepts Underpinnings of the General Precept

Marxist literary criticism promotes the idea that literature should be a tool in the revolutionary struggle.

In Communist Manifesto (1848), Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels identified class struggle as the driving force behind history and anticipated that it would lead to a revolution in which the workers would overturn the capitalists, take control of economic production, and abolish property by turning it

3

Antonio Gramsci5

Table of General Precepts and Underpinnings about Marxism

Trivia Corner

Definition of Terms

It attempts to clarify the relationship of literary work to social reality.

It judges literature by how it represents the main

over to the government to distribute fairly.

Louis Althusser pointed out that there remains a possibility that the working class will develop its own culture, which can lead to revolution and the establishment of a new hegemony, or power base. This idea is referred to as production theory.

The concept of dialectical materialism argued that the means of production controls a society’s institutions and beliefs, and contended that history is progressing toward the eventual triumph of communism.

Georg Lucáks viewed the text as a reflection to the society that has produced it. This is also known as reflectionism.

Marxist reflection theory advocates that readers who recognize the influence of capitalistic classes on human behavior and the perpetuation of injustice and inequality should propose workable solutions.

Lucáks’s Vulgar Marxism seeks to determine the nature of a given society, to find “a truer, more concrete insight into reality” and look for the “full process of life.”

Althusser’s Interpellation stated that the working class is manipulated to accept the ideology of the dominant one.

Frederick Jameson stressed on the political unconscious, the exploitation and oppression buried in a work. The critic, according to Jameson, seeks to uncover those buried forces and bring them to light.

To write well is more than a matter of ‘style’; it also means having at one’s disposal an ideological perspective which can penetrate to the realities of men’s experience in a certain situation.

In Joseph Conrad’s Nostromo, the pessimistic view is rather a unique transformation into art of an ideological pessimism rife in his period—a sense of history as futile and cyclical, of individuals as impenetrable and solitary, of human values as relativistic and irrational, which marks a drastic crisis in the ideology of the Western bourgeois class to which Conrad allied himself.

To explain any social or political context, any event or product, it is necessary to first understand the material and historical circumstance in which they occur.

4

struggles for power going on that time, how it may influence those struggles.

It should follow rules laid down by literary tradition.

Marxism is the basis of a system of thought that sees inequitable relationships as the source of class conflict.

Literary works are forms of perception, particular ways of seeing the world which is the ‘social mentality’ or ideology of an age.

For Antonio Gramsci, literature is a tool of the privileged class.

Joseph Stalin stressed that literature should promote Socialism.

Writers and critics alike began to use Marxist interpretations and evaluations of society in their work. Through this, it became interestingly important to ask how a given text contributed to the solution of social problems based on Marxist principles

Marx described his own works in a letter to Engels as forming an ‘artistic whole’, and was scrupulously sensitive to questions of literary style.

Marxist criticism is not merely a ‘sociology of literature’ concerned with how novels get published and whether they mention the working class. It should be sensitive to forms, styles and meanings.

1. Who are the powerful people in the society depicted in the text? Who are the powerless people? Are they depicted with equal attention?

2. Why do the powerful have that power? Why is it denied to others?3. Do you find evidence of class conflict and struggle?4. Do you find repression and manipulation of workers by owners?

5

CONTENTShould be portrayed as being oppressive to most people

ELEMENTFollows the rules laid down by

literary tradition

WRITEROn the side of the oppressed

READEREnlightened about the relationship of the powerful few to the powerless many

WORK

Anatomy of Marxist Literary Criticism

Guide Questions for Marxist Literary Criticism

5. Is there evidence of alienation and fragmentation?6. Does the bourgeoisie in the text, either consciously or unconsciously, routinely repress and

manipulate less powerful groups? If so, what are the tools they use? News? Media? Religion? Literature?

7. What does the setting tell you about the distribution of power and wealth?8. Is there evidence of conspicuous consumption?9. Does the society that is depicted value things for their usefulness, for their potential for resale or

trade, or for their power to convey social status?10. Do you find in the text itself evidence that it is a product of the culture in which it originated?11. What ideology is revealed by the answers to the preceding questions? Does it support the values

of capitalism or any other "ism" that institutionalizes the domination of one group of people over another--for example, racism, sexism or imperialism? Or does it condemn such systems?

12. Is the work consistent in its ideology? Or does it have inner conflicts?13. Do you find concepts from other schools of literary criticism--for example, cultural studies,

feminism, postmodernism--overlapping with this one?14. Does this text make you aware of your own acceptance of any social, economic, or political

practices that involve control or oppression of others?

Preview the short story titled The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant and be ready to answer the questions which will be given to you by the reporter.

You are going to watch a video titled The Fox and the Sick Lion by Aesop. Concentrate watching it so that you can find some of the Marxist principles present in the video.

Are you done? Do you like the video? Were you able to find there the principles of Marxism? Now, fill up the table below.

QUESTIONS ANSWER PROOF/REASONWho is the bourgeoisie?

Who are the proletariats?

What is the capital that is being depicted in the video?

Is hegemony present in the video?

6

Take a Glimpse

Task 1. If Your Eyes Can See

Does the video present false consciousness?

Form groups of four. Invent a very brief story based on one of the pictures below. (Note: The picture that will be given to you will depend on your groupings.) Be guided on the following Marxists principles to come up with the work.

1 The characters should consist of both bourgeoisie and proletariats.2 Gaining a capital should be depicted in the story.3 False consciousness, as well as hegemony, is evident in the work.

Are you done? Now, be ready to share it in class.

Based on the discussion and your experience you had in analyzing literary works in a Marxist approach, I believe you are now ready for our last task.

Formulate your own definition of Marxism. Write your answer below. Be ready to share it in class.

My Own Definition of Marxism

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

7

Task 3. Define Me

Task 2. Be a Marxist!

Wow! We just helped ‘Nick’ on his problem. Well, I enjoyed my stay here at Laoag City. I enjoyed being with you ‘Nick’ and our friends. Until next time!

Thank you for coming to our city Captain Barbell. I hope you will come back. Thank you for helping me in my problems.

I am ‘Nick’. I am a Marxist.

Because of ‘Nick’ and with the help of Captain Barbell, I was able to become a better critic of a literary work. I am not already blind with what is

happening around me. I am proud to be a Marxist critic! Thank you, guys.

REFERENCES

Eagleton, Terry A. (1976). Marxism and Literary Criticism (pp. 551-573). University of California Press

Shor, Ira. Literary Criticism: Marxism. Helena HighDobie, Ann. Theory into Practice: Marxist Criticism (pp. 79-96).

JESPER C. SILVABSEd III-A, English

DR. JAHNESE D. ASUNCIONProfessor

8

Your name here:

_______________________________

BSEd III-A, English

LIT 106: Literary CriticismOctober 14, 2015S.Y. 2015-2016

9