Marxist Literary Theory

A form of critique or discourse for interrogating all societies and their texts in terms of certain specific issues including race, class, and the attitudes shared within a given culture.

Historical Development
Karl Heinrich Marx (1818-1883) Friedrich Engles (1820-1895)
German Writers, Philosophers, Social Critics Coauthored The Communist Manifesto Declared that the capitalists, or the bourgeoisie, had successfully enslaved the working class, or the proletariat, through economic policies and control of the production of goods

Who was Karl Marx?

Born in Trier, Germany in 1818 German philosopher who rejected the tenets of Romanticism in favor of philosophy of dialectical materialism. Criticized the injustice inherent in the European class/capitalist system of economics operating in the 19th Century. Believed that capitalism allowed the bourgeoisie to benefit at the expense of the workers. The Communist Manifesto. Das Kapital, analyzes the capitalist form of wealth production and its consequences for culture.

Assumptions
In America, for example, the capitalists exploit the working classes, determine their salaries and working conditions, and other elements of their lives. From this base, arises the superstructurea multitude of social and legal institutions, political and education systems, religious beliefs, values, and a body of art and literature that one social class uses to keep members of the working class in check.

Marxist Criticism
A Marxist critic may begin such an analysis by showing how an authors text reflects his or her ideology through an examination of the fictional worlds characters, settings, society, or any other aspect of the text. The critic may then launch an investigation into

Marxist Criticism
1. The authors social class 2. Its effects upon the authors society 3. Examining the history and the culture of the times as reflected in the text 4. Investigate how the author either correctly or incorrectly pictures this historical period

Marxist Literary Theory

Focuses on the representation of class distinctions and class conflict in literature Focuses more on social and political elements than artistic and visual (aesthetic) elements of a text

Questions Raised By the Marxist Literary Lens

How does the authors social and economic class show through the work? Does the work support the economic and social status quo, or does it advocate change?
What roles does the class system play in the work?

Questions Raised By the Marxist Literary Lens

What role does class play in the work; what is the authors analysis of class relations? How do characters overcome oppression?
What does the work say about oppression; or are social conflicts ignored or blamed elsewhere?

Questions Raised By the Marxist Literary Lens

Does the work propose some form of utopian vision as a solution to the problems encountered in the work?

In what ways does the work serve as propaganda for the status quo; or does it try to undermine it?
Does the literature reflect the authors own class or analysis of class relations?

Key Terms
Proletariat

Bourgeoisie
Capitalism Materialism Classism Commodification

Ask Questions
Is there an objection to socialism? Does the text raise criticism about the emptiness of life in bourgeois society? What does the author portray about society? What is emphasized, what is ignored? Are characters from all social levels equally sketched? Are the main problems individual or collective?

How to Use
Expose class conflict Who or what is the dominant class? What does the dominant class believe? How do they impose their beliefs on others? Show how the working class is trapped Show how the working class is oppressed Show how the working class can end their own oppression

Marxist Literary Theory

Materialist Criticism Social Criticism

Committed Criticism

Applying Marxist Literary Theory to Texts

Excerpt from Run with the Horsemen by Ferrol Sams

The colored folk were beginning their revival service, which they called Big MeetingThey were, however, having dinner on the grounds today, and the boy was eager to go. He had extracted an invitation from Ole John Tom the evening beforeThere were certain unwritten but nonetheless welldefined barriers of mutual respect between the races. Nowhere has the doctrine of religious freedom been more openly extended than in the rural post-Reconstruction South, except, of course, to Catholics and Jews. As long as a group designated itself Baptist, almost any code of behaviour was acceptable. One did not, however, attend a strange church out of idle curiosity. Certainly one did not traverse racial lines as a titillated spectator. Although no one had ever bothered to tell the boy that he should not go to a colored church, he knew within his heart that such a venture was strictly taboo. He consequently went about obtaining permission to go with Ole John Tom in a very circuitous fashion (Sams 241).

Excerpt from Run with the Horsemen by Ferrol Sams

The boy stayed busy on the farm all that summer. Buddy came to him early in the season and persuaded him to talk to his father. As a result he and Buddy had five acres of watermelons that they were raising on halves. The father furnished the land, the mules, the fertilizer, and the seed. Buddy and the boy furnished the labor. It would be their responsibility to harvest and sell the melons. When the crop was finished, they would have a settling-up day. All the money would be turned in, the fertilizer and seed bills would be presented and halved, and then the profits would be split down the middle, one half to the father, the other half to Buddy and the boy. That was standard procedure for all the tenants on the farm, except that the two boys would not have to pay a grocery bill in addition (Sams 205).

Union
Not me alone I know now But all the whole oppressed Poor world, White and black, Must put their hands with mine To shake the pillars of those temples Wherein the false gods dwell And worn-out altars stand Too well defended, And the rule of greeds upheld That must be ended. Langston Hughes

Activity Re-cap
What should we expect to see through a Marxist lens?
the political context of the text itself (places the study of literature in the context of important social questions) that we as readers are socially constructed subjects the idea that literature is a part of ideology

References
Appleman, Deborah. Critical Encounters in High School English: Teaching Literary Theory to Adolescents. New York, Teachers College Press, 2000. Brewton, Vince. Marxism. The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2002. 14 Sept. 2004 < http://www.iep.utm.edu/literary.htm >. Brizee, Allen. Karl Marx. Marxist Literary Criticism. 2000. 18 Sept. 2004 <http://athena.english.vt.edu/~hbrizee/marxindex.htm >. Karl Marx. 15 Sept. 2004 < http://ni206173181.blogspot.com >. Mansour, Dr. Wisam. Marxist Literary Theory. 2000. 16 Sept. 2004 < www.geocities.com/Athens/Academy4573/Lectures/marxism.html >. Schakel and Ridl. Approaching Poetry: Perspectives and Responses. New York: St. Martins Press, 1997. Marxism. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 14. Sept. 2004 < en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marxism >.

Works Cited
Bressler, Charles E. Literary Criticism: An Introduction to Theory and Practice. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, 1994. Murfin, Ross and Ray, Supryia. The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms. Boston/New York: Bedford/St. Martins, 2003.