Literary Criticism A User’s Guide

What is it? A way of analyzing and interpreting literature through a particular lens. A theory is just a way to look at literature, poetry or art with a particular focus area.

Types We Will Focus On 1. Marxist 2. Gender Studies(including feminism and queer theory) 3. Historicism 4. Mythological or Archetypal 5. Psychological(can include Biographical) 6. Structuralism/New Criticism/Formalism

Basic Marxism Marx and Engels looked at how a society develops. When industry evolves, a proletariat forms and a bourgeoisie. The bourgeoisie influence the ruling class. Industry develops and only some people(b-word) control the means of production. They then control most of the money.

Basic Marxism Socialism develops because the B don’t want to be controlled by a dictator. However, any ruling class becomes corrupt and dictators form. The working class suffers and will eventually revolt.

Marxist Criticism Views society based on the economic and cultural theory of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engles. Assumes that each society is made up of a set of concepts, beliefs, values, and ways of thinking influenced by economic and class structures.

Marxist Criticism Generally focuses on the clash between the dominant and repressed classes” (Siegel). Discussion of money & power vs. morality & justice. Are they mutually exclusive?

Proletariat- working class Key Terms Proletariat- working class Bourgeoisie-those who own the means of production

Applying it to Literature, Art, Poetry I Have a Dream Martin Luther King Jr. How does Marxism apply to this? I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self- evident, that all men are created equal." I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

Use Marxism to Discuss This

Peaches http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmaF6IOODFc http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/3629/ http://pusa.cutthatout.com/peaches.html