criticism
Presented to:
Dr. Ali Usman Saleem
Presented by Group 1:
Arshad Nawaz Jappa
Muhammad Aqeel Akram
Syed Ali Waqar Hashmi
1st Semester, M.Phil. (2017-2018)
Department of English Literature
Government College University
Faisalabad
Some Key Points
Class System in Marxism
The proletariat
Individuals who sell their labour power
The bourgeoisie
Owns the means of production"
Buys labour power from the proletariat (recompensed by a salary)
Exploits the proletariat
The role of ideology in
Marxism
For Marxism, an Ideology is a belief system, and all belief systems are products of
cultural conditioning.
For Marxism, capitalism, communism, Marxism, patriotism, religion, ethical systems,
humanism, environmentalism, astrology, and karate are all ideologies.
The critical theories are all ideologies.
Ideology is determined according to what is in the ruling class's best
interests
Even our assumption that nature behaves according to the laws of science is an
ideology.
Culture is primary bearer of ideology. Our goal as Marxist critics is to identify the
ideology at work in cultural productions—literature, films, paintings, music, television
programs, commercial advertisements, education, popular philosophy, religion, forms
of entertainment.
French Marxist philosopher Louis Althusser says that ideology distorts our
view of our true 'conditions of existence. In Marxist usage, ideology is what
causes us to misrepresent the world to ourselves. Althusser's ideological
State apparatuses include organized religion, the law, the political system,
trade unions, the educational system, the media - in short, all the
institutions through which we are socialized and other organizations that
have in one way or another been coopted by those institutions. What is
clear is that ideology is waiting for us wherever we go and that everything
we do and everything we engage in is pervaded by ideology.
For Lacan, ideology constantly 'hails and interpellates' (gives identity) us as
'concrete subjects' it may 'interpellate' us in the different social roles that
we play.
Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci (1891-1937) in the early 1970s,
modified concept of ideology with what he calls Hegemony that is the
domination of a set of ruling beliefs and values through 'consent' rather
than through 'coercive power'.
Capitalist view of Marxist Ideologies
Repressive Ideology attempts to
manipulate people's consciousness in order
to keep them subservient to the ruling
power system.
Nonrepressive ideology, Marxism is a
nonrepressive ideology that works to make
us constantly aware of all the ways in which
we are products of material circumstances.
American dream is an ideology which tells them that financial success
is simply the product of initiative and hard work. Therefore, if some
people are poor, it is because they are shiftless and lazy.
Classism, is differential treatment based on social class or perceived social class.
Capitalism is an economic and political system in which a country's
trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than
by the state.
Communism is a theory or system of social organization in which all property is
owned by the community and each person contributes and receives according to their
ability and needs.
Socialism is a political and economic theory of social organization which
advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned
or regulated by the community as a whole.
Patriotism is an ideology that keeps poor people fighting wars
against poor people from other countries, while the rich on both sides
rake in the profits of war-time economy.
Religion, which Karl Marx called “the opiate of the masses,” is an
ideology that helps to keep the faithful poor satisfied with their lot in
life, or at least tolerant of it.
Consumerism is an ideology that says “I’m only as good as what I
buy.”
Marxism and Literature
For Marxism, literature is a cultural manifestations, it is a product of the
socioeconomic and hence ideological conditions of the time and place in which
it was written, whether or not the author intended it so.
Marxist critics focus mainly on two things:
(1) the literary work might tend to reinforce in the reader the
ideologies it embodies, or
(2) it might invite the reader to criticize the ideologies it represents.
The Content of a literary work like “action” or the theme and form
carries ideology. Realism, naturalism, surrealism, symbolism, romanticism,
modernism, postmodernism, tragedy, comedy, satire, interior monologue,
stream of consciousness, and other genres and literary devices are the means
by which form is constituted. If content is the “what” of literature, then form is
the “how.”
For some Marxists, realism is the best form for Marxist purposes
because it clearly and accurately represents the real world, with all its
socioeconomic inequities and ideological contradictions, and encourages
readers to see the unhappy truths about material/historical reality, for whether
or not authors intend it they are bound to represent socioeconomic inequities
and ideological contradictions if they accurately represent the real world.
Friedrich Engels in 1888 said that the meaning of a literary work
must be seen as independent of the political (and ideologically
colored) views of its author.
In Leninst Marxist Criticsim Lenin in 1905 had argued that
literature must become an instrument of the party. He said Literature
must become part of organized methodical and unified labors of the
social-democratic party.
Marxism and Psychoanalysis
Marxism and Psychoanalysis
Marxist and psychoanalytic readings of Arthur Miller’s greatest
familial play, Death of a Salesman (1949).
Psychoanalytic critics focuses on the individual psyche as the
product of the family.
Marxist in contrast, would focus on the ways in which the
psychological problems are produced by the material/historical
realities within which the family operates. Like rampant
consumerism, competitiveness of the business world, survival of
the fittest.
How to “do” a Marxist reading:
1. Look for examples of oppression, bad working conditions,
class struggles, etc.
2. Search for the “covert” meaning underneath the “overt,”
which is about class struggle, historical stages, economic
conditions, etc.
3. Relate the context of a work to the social-class status of
the author.
4. Relate the literary work to the social conditions of its time
period.
5. Explain an entire genre in terms of its social period.
6. Show how literature is shaped by political, economic,
labor, and class conditions.
Some Questions Marxist Literary
Critics Ask:
Who benefits if the work or effort is
accepted/successful/believed, etc.?
What is the social class of the author?
What social classes do the characters represent?
How do characters from different classes
interact or conflict?
texts Some questions Marxist critics ask about literary
1. Does the work reinforce (intentionally or not) capitalist, imperialist, or classist values? If so, then the
work may be said to have a capitalist, imperialist, or classist agenda, and it is the critic’s job to expose
and condemn this aspect of the work.
2. How might the work be seen as a critique of capitalism, imperialism, or classism? That is, in what ways
does the text reveal, and invite us to condemn, oppressive socioeconomic forces (including repressive
ideologies)? If a work criticizes or invites us to criticize oppressive socioeconomic forces, then it may
be said to have a Marxist agenda.
3. Does the work in some ways support a Marxist agenda but in other ways (perhaps unintentionally)
support a capitalist, imperialist, or classist agenda? In other words, is the work ideologically conflicted?
4. How does the literary work reflect (intentionally or not) the socioeconomic conditions of the time in
which it was written and/or the time in which it is set, and what do those conditions reveal about the
history of class struggle?
5. How might the work be seen as a critique of organized religion? That is, how does religion function in
the text to keep a character or characters from realizing and resisting socioeconomic oppression?
Marxist analysis of a Tale of two
cities
