Marxist Literary Theory aka “Dialectical Materialism,” “Historical Materialism,” “Sociological Criticism” A text is written by its [material] context.

Slides:



Advertisements
Similar presentations
Marxism – the basics. Understand all sociologists and social theorists by knowing a little about the time they lived in.
Advertisements

Literary Theories in very brief summary.
Karl Marx: “The Father of Communism” Future Marxists At An Early Age: Lenin and Stalin.
L11 - L12: Revolutionary Changes in Economic Life: Marxism Agenda Objective: 1.To understand the theory, principles, and ideas of Marxism as laid out by.
Marxist Criticism. Literary Theory and Criticism Literary theory and criticism are interpretive tools that help us think more deeply and insightfully.
Critical Approaches to Literature
Intro to Feminist Literary Theory Also Known as: “Gender Criticism” Sociological Approach.
KARL MARX FOUNDER OF COMMUNISM AND THE CONFLICT THEORY.
COMMUNISM Historical Context, Theory, and Practice.
What is Marxist Criticism?
Marxism The ideology of marxism and how it can be applied to the way we „read“ texts.
Karl Marx and Marxism.
Karl Marx Industrial Revolution Do you Know? 1. Idea 2. Marx’s books (co-author) 3. Government role in Industry 4. Why humans have different results 5.
English 126 Mariel Uceta.  Marxism is a set of political and philosophical doctrines derived from the work of Karl Marx, German philosopher and revolutionary.
Marxist Literary Criticism Kyle Connor Melissa Luster Lawder Paul.
Chapter 23: Comparative Economic Systems Section 2
AS YOU WALK IN – 1/5/15 1.Welcome Back!!! – I hope you had some great time with your family! 2.Gather your book and binder, I will be checking to see if.
ALL ABOUT ADAM SMITH Father of Capitalism. What book did he write? Inquiry into the Nature & Causes of the Wealth of Nations (a.k.a…The Wealth of Nations.
Karl Marx Mason Fed Jessica Kim Victoria JochSociologist May 5th, 1818-March 14, 1883.
Marxist Literary Theory aka “Dialectical Materialism,” “Historical Materialism,” “Sociological Criticism” A text is written by its [material] context.
MARXIST CRITICISM. KARL MARX  Karl Heinrich Marx (5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist,
Karl Marx & Marxism. biography  Born 1818 in French/German town of Trier  Jewish extraction  Studied philosophy and economics in Berlin  Married Jenny.
Marxist Media Theory by Gabor Bohus Course: American Media Today
Marxist Theory.
Marxism and Marxist Literary Criticism
Marxist Literary Criticism Lord of the Flies
Marxist Literary Theory A form of critique or discourse for interrogating all societies and their texts in terms of certain specific issues – including.
AN INTRODUCTION TO MARXIST THEORY
Marxist Literary Theory aka “Dialectical Materialism,” “Historical Materialism,” “Sociological Criticism” A text is written by its [material] context.
Literary Theory Source - and
Twentieth Century Literature Major Critical Approaches.
Marxism History is the judge — its executioner, the proletarian.
Classless: an introduction to Marxism. Karl Marx Philosopher from Germany Published books such as: Communist Manifesto and Das Kapital Was exiled from.
Karl Marx By Anna Nicchia, Chris Tolentino, Huseyin Bayram.
HISTORICISM aka “New Historicism,” “Historical Criticism,” “Cultural Studies,” “Cultural Materialism” Literature is made of culture.
Marxism. Karl Marx : a theorist and historian After examining social organization in a scientific way, he perceived human history to have consisted of.
1 Literary Criticism Exploring literature beneath the surface.
A Marxist Critical Lens “All people are born alike – except republicans and democrats.” – Groucho Marx By Kate Munsell, Natalie Gill, Kelly Cannon and.
In a nutshell. Definition: “establishment of principles governing literary composition, and the assessment and interpretation of literary works” (Norton.
MARXIST CRITICISM. KARL MARX  Karl Heinrich Marx (5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist,
A Marxist Critical Lens “All people are born alike – except republicans and democrats.” – Groucho Marx Adapted from a presentation by Kate Munsell, Natalie.
Marxist & Critical Race Theory
Marxism and the Ideologies of the Russian Revolution.
LITERARY THEORY AND SCHOOLS OF CRITICISM.  Characterized by close reading  The text is studied without a consideration of era or author  Questions.
CRITICAL APPROACHES TO LITERATURE Literary Theory.
Using the Marxist Lens AKA “Marxist Criticism”. Marx in a nutshell “The history of all previous societies has been the history of class struggles.”
QUEER THEORY MARXIST CRITICISM Week 10. Lesbian-gay Criticism  L-G literary theory is a new one and became a distinct field by the 1990s.  A multidisciplinary.
NOTES – Organizing the Working Class. Industrial workers formed socialist political parties and unions to improve their working conditions. Karl.
Industrialization and the Marxist Response pgs Jake Crossley and Hailey Jefferies.
Marxist Literary Theory Concerned with class differences, economic and otherwise, as well as the implications and complications of the capitalist system.
Critical Approaches to Literature
Marxism the basics.
Critical Approaches to Literature
Marxism By Freddie Mulligan.
MARXIST THEORY.
Marxist Criticism This criticism examines the relationship between the text and the society that reads it.
Bell Ringer Please get out your phone and download the “Goodreads” app (if you don’t have it already) and create an accout 
MARXIST THEORY.
AKA “Marxist Criticism”
Marxist Criticism.
MARXIST LITERARY CRITICISM
Industrial Revolution: Political Responses
AKA “Marxist Criticism” (Add to your feminism notes…)
AND THE CONFLICT THEORY
Critical Approaches to Literature
Critical Approaches to Literature
Marxism.
Critical Approaches to Literature
Critical Approaches to Literature
Critical Approaches to Literature
Presentation transcript:

Marxist Literary Theory aka “Dialectical Materialism,” “Historical Materialism,” “Sociological Criticism” A text is written by its [material] context

In 1848, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels wrote The Communist Manifesto. They were concerned about workers’ rights, conditions of the working classes, and freedoms for underprivileged people groups. Marxism was essentially a way to view and analyze world conditions and historical developments. Eventually, their ideas spread across Europe, revolutions, and were adapted by Lenin and Stalin. Today in the “Western” world, Marxism mostly survives in academia as a protest against Capitalist excess.

MAIN IDEAS - History is a cycle of struggles between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat

MAIN IDEAS - Workers are alienated from their labor and from themselves

MAIN IDEAS - All cultural products can be analyzed as if they were works of literature

MAIN IDEAS - Writers and writings are shaped by economic context

MAIN IDEAS - Literature can be a political tool

Some Questions Marxist Literary Critics Ask: Does your novel support the economic and social status quo, or does it advocate change? What role does the class system play in your novel? What is the author's analysis of class relations? What does the author's work say about oppression? Are social conflicts ignored or blamed elsewhere? Does the text raise criticism about the emptiness of a life in bourgeoise society? Are characters from all skill levels equally sketched?

ONE MAIN QUESTION: How was this text “written” by its material conditions [economics, work, society, class, politics]?

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.

[Potentially] Positive Aspects of Marxist Criticism It has real-world applications It makes connections with work, politics, money, etc. It is concerned about the conditions of oppressed people

[Potentially] Negative Aspects of Marxist Criticism It is really easy to fake It always gets entangled with politics It quickly moves away from the text into (only) context It readily makes value judgments on literature

THE CONTEXT WRITES THE TEXT

Sources Barry, Peter. Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory. 2 nd edition. NY: Manchester UP, Print. Brizee, Allen, and J. Case Tompkins. “Literary Theory and Schools of Criticism.” Copyright © by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. Web. 13 Sept Sim, Stuart and Borin van Loon. Introducing Critical Theory: A Graphic Guide. Totem Books, Print.