Marxist literary theory by Sir Dr Suhail Ansari

What Is Marxist Criticism?

When you read a typical piece of literature, you're not just reading a story, but you're getting a glimpse into a different culture and society. So what is that society like? Is it like yours? Do the rich and powerful have all the control? Or is it more egalitarian? And what even inspired the author to create this society in the first place? There are all sorts of questions asked in Marxist criticism, which reviews a work of literature in terms of the society it presents.

Remember that Marxist thought gets its name from Karl Marx, the German philosopher who wrote The Communist Manifesto. In it, Marx and co-author Friedrich Engels argue that all of history is about the struggle between the haves and the have-nots. They predicted that one day, the proletariat, or the have-nots, will throw off the oppression of the bourgeoisie, or those with means and power.

Society in the Piece of Literature

Marxist criticism is interested in the society created by the author in the piece of literature concerned. Let's look at this in terms of a relatively new piece of literature, The Hunger Games, which is a trilogy by Suzanne Collins. In it, various districts are struggling economically and socially and eventually rise up against their government. The Marxist critique would go as far as to say that it was those conditions that caused the series to unfold the way it did. It was simply people rebelling against an unfair way of life.

Okay, now let's try looking at the society created in a classic piece of literature, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. This book takes place in the American South in the 19th century and follows a white boy, Huck, as he helps a black slave, Jim, escape his situation. Here we've got quite a bit more detail. Instead of just two large classes, society is really divided into several smaller ones.

As a result, a Marxist critique would focus not only on those classes, but also what happens when they break down. After all, Huck and Jim form a tie that society would have forbidden. Because of this, it would be argued that Twain wanted society to get rid of race-based castes altogether, since they only kept humanity in bondage.

Society of the Author

Marxists might argue that literature doesn't just demonstrate class struggle, but are products of them. In a work, the society of the author often leaks through, and could be interpreted as a commentary of that society.

Let's go back to The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. It could be argued that Twain was commenting on his own society. After all, there was still a distinct stratification between rich and poor, and white and black on the Mississippi in the late 19th century. Marxist literary critique would argue that this is Twain's way of highlighting differences in his own society.

The goal of Marxist literary theories is to represent class conflict as well as to reinforce class distinctions through literature. Marxist theorists frequently champion writers who are sympathetic to the working classes and those whose works challenge the economic equalities in capitalist societies. In maintaining the spirit of Marxism, literary theories developing from the Marxist paradigm have sought Modern ways of understanding the relationship between literature and economic production as well as cultural production. Literary theory has drawn a lot of influence from the Marxism analyzes society.

According to Marxists legal systems, religious beliefs, and cultural frameworks are determined by social and economic conditions. Therefore Art should represent these conditions truthfully and also seek to better them. The popularity of Marxist aesthetics has reduced in nowadays consumerist society; however it continues to pose responsible questions.

Despite Marxist critism theories having weaknesses it is a good thing that it allows intellectual freedom. Sometimes the authors writing may have been influenced in some way by the state. For instance, the communist world was totally different from what writers were allowed to show. This means that the literary work of time could not be analyzed by simply looking at the author's goal as it is proposed by new criticism. Reading the literary work very closely and particularly the language used by the author would help to analyze the work more critically. In this case Marxism is very crucial because what people read that is what they practice.

Some contemporary Marxists such Terry Eagleton have tried to rehabilitate or revise marx. She recognizes the fact that literary work like that of Shakespeare create value because by reading them we are made to think and get something out of them thus getting some values from them. This supplements new criticism theory that looks at the moral and sometimes the religious dimensions such as honesty.

Georg Lukacs contribution

In his contribution towards Marxism and literature, Georg Lukacs, maintained that the text contained in classic realist writings in describing events of ordinary occurrence and social conditions give a vivid picture of the entireness of a society and its evolution. He argues that the literature of naturalism shows the contradictions that exist in societies and within the individual in the context of a dialectical unit. He acknowledged the fact that realist novels present a partial image of a society. However, he also supported the idea that the value of a novel lies in its description of the nature of a society in a historic period. He also argued that any literary work does not reflect individual phenomena in isolation as modernist text depicts, but should be the whole process of life found in realism. Marxism theory interprets every literary work on the basis of how it responds to social inequalities. Social development is therefore an inherent part of the Marxism theory.  Marxism emphasizes the use of historical and biographical information in analyzing literary works. Marxism assumes that a literary work is a reflection of the society that produces it. This assumption is not always true. Some literary works may have had some external influenced thus depicting a society in a way that people wants to see it and thus may not be a true reflection of the society.

Marxism does not put emphasis on the use of Marx ideology of class conflict for academics but instead for social development. The Marxists hope that by analyzing literary works using class conflict ideology, the reader will be able to recognize the inequalities existing in the society and thus can find ways of overcoming them and bring about an equal society.

Karl Marx (1818-1883) was primarily a theorist and historian (less the evil pinko commie demon that McCarthyism fretted about). After examining social organization in a scientific way (thereby creating a methodology for social science: political science), he perceived human history to have consisted of a series of struggles between classes--between the oppressed and the oppressing. Whereas Freud saw "sexual energy" to be the motivating factor behind human endeavor.  Marx thought that "historical materialism" was the ultimate driving force, a notion involving the distribution of resources, gain, production, and such matters.

the labor force responsible for survival. Marx theorized that when profits are not reinvested in the workers but in creating more factories, the workers will grow poorer and poorer until no short-term patching is possible or successful. At a crisis point, revolt will lead to a restructuring of the system.

 (The Soviet Union was actually state-run capitalism.)

Marx is known also for saying that "Religion is the opiate of the people," so he was somewhat aware of the problem that Lenin later dwelt on. Lenin was convinced that workers remain largely unaware of their own oppression since they are convinced by the state to be selfless. One might point to many "opiates of the people" under most political systems--diversions that prevent real consideration of trying to change unjust economic conditions.

Marxist Criticism

According to Marxists, and to other scholars in fact, literature reflects those social institutions out of which it emerges and is itself a social institution with a particular ideological function. Literature reflects class struggle and materialism: think how often the quest for wealth traditionally defines characters. So 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). Literature reflects an author's own class or analysis of class relations.

The Marxist critic simply is a careful reader or viewer who keeps in mind issues of power and money, and any of the following kinds of questions.