Marxist Criticism



Marxist Criticism

Outline

The criticism to literature takes many forms. Criticism to literature can be seen as a complete social science and the Marxist criticism is one of the most important approaches to the literary criticism. The Marxist literary criticism basically works for showing the text as the text cannot know itself. This theory is based on the ideas of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. This approach is significant in order to observe the impact of constant changes on the functionality of societies (Raymond, 1978 Pp. 200-224).

History of the Marxist Approach

The history of the Marxist approach can be traced back to the nineteenth century. Experiments for communal living were conducted in that era under the Marxist approach. The contribution of Marx laid the foundations of criticism to the literary works. Moving on to the twentieth century, the capitalist system and class conflicts emerged and the Marxist approach was able to deal with such conflicts by evolving interest in people about the Marxist approach in comparison with the formalistic approach which was inadequate to deal with the growing trends of class conflicts and capitalist system (Terry, 2002 Pp. 50-86).

Focus of Marxist Approach

The Marxist approach basically focuses on the 'philosophical' aspect of 'constant change.' The evolution of capitalist system made the workers to alienate thus creating hurdles to live their lives to the fullest. The Marxist approach emphasized on economics especially within the context of production, distribution and consumption in order to compensate the aggression caused by the capitalist system against the upper or higher classes (Lawrence, 1966 Pp. 1-36).

The Marx approach also focuses on the relationships between test and reliability. Marx laid down the foundation of tools which analyze the tensions and contradictions within societies. The Marxist approach views literature as the linkage to social power contributing towards the analysis of literature with bigger social questions. The Marxists look up to literature as the means to understand tensions and conflicts which usually remain unresolved. Moreover, the Marxist approach creates a direct linkage between the base and the superstructure in literature. Base refers to concepts like capital, real economic relations and labor whereas, superstructure refers to concepts like art, law, religion and politics (Selden 2005 Pp. 125-150).

Various Classes of Marxist Approach

Marxist Approach is basically divided into two main classes namely classical Marxism and neo Marxism. The classical Marxism depends upon the base and superstructure linkage created by Marx. The social structure is seen as a system where various elements interact with each other in order to promote the societal benefits. The Marxist communication theory can take various approaches (Lawrence, 1966 Pp. 1-36).

The neo Marxism refers to the recent changes made to the Marxist approach in order to enhance its utility. Various philosophers like Max Horkheimer and Leo Lowenthal contributed to the neo Marxism approach. Neo Marxism witnesses success during the early seventies mainly in Britain. It focuses greatly on the communication practices of the individuals and thus of the society. The focus on language is immense by the approach ...