MARXIST LITERARY CRITICISM

GEORGE BANIS

KARL HEINRICH MARX

1818-1883•Born in Trier, Prussia

(now Germany)•German philosopher

and social activist•Along with Friedrich Engels, led a political

movement that inspired progression towards

Communism

HISTORY OF THE IDEALS

• Georg W. Hegel (1770-1831) --->Ludwig Feuerbach (1804-1872)---->Karl Marx

• Hegel: “Man is God, and history is the process by which man alienates himself (thus alienating God).

• Feuerbach: “History is process by which man realizes himself when he stops projecting himself in God”----->God is man alienated from himself.

• Marx led this to a political view, the alienation of social institutions------>

Marx Philosophy• Focus on the social being

• Critique of Hegel’s philosophy: “The political system is the political system of private property.”-->

• For man to be reunited with man (mixing of classes), systems of private ownership must be abolished.

• “It is not the consciousness of men that determines their being, but their social being that determines their consciousness.”

Dialectic• The method of philosophizing by means of question and

answer--->Ancient Philosophers (Socrates, Plato)

• Aims to understand things concretely in all their movement, change and interconnection, with their opposite and contradictory sides in unity.

• Plato-->applied this to logical method and reducing multiple experiences to an organized system.

• Hegel-->the ideal and the real are opposed and unified in a world spirit.

• Marx and Friedrich Engels- Dialectical Materialism:the opposing forces are human and the conflict is primarily a clash of classes---->Marxism----->Communism

• Bourgeoisie- social class that owns the means of production in a Capitalist society.

Dialectical Materialism

• Foundation of whole Marxist doctrine

• All phenomena originate from a physical cause and can be understood and explained through natural science.

• Matter--->total explanation for any aspect of existence (space, nature, man society, history, etc.)

• Hegel- History is the product of class struggles.

• Matter precedes thought.

• Overall: Material contradictions are the primary cause of motion, change, and development in the world.

Historical Materialism

• Materialist conception of History- Marx

• Looks for causes of developments and changes in society by humans producing the necessities of life.

• Mode of production of material life--->process of social, political, and intellectual life.----> Main Points:

• The basis of human society is how humans work on nature to produce the means of subsistence.

• There is a division of labour into social classes based on property ownership where some people live from the labour of others.

• The system of class division is dependent on the mode of production.

• The mode of production is based on the level of the productive forces.

• Society moves from stage to stage when the dominant class is displaced by a new emerging class, by overthrowing the "political shell" that enforces the old relations of production no longer corresponding to the new productive forces.

Marxist Economics• Labour Theory of Value: the value of a commodity is the socially

necessary labor time invested in it. (Commodity- item of practical use, ex. food)

• Capitalism--->does not pay workers full value for the commodities they produce.

• Marx believed Capitalists worked with the idea of surplus value.

• Markets use Commodity Fetishism->social relationships are transformed into objective relationships between commodities or money--->People become unaware of the relationships between the commodities and the labor they represent.

• All Commodities are produced by human labor---->materialism

Marxist Art History• Art interacts with power structures in society.

• Art is tied to specific classes

• Images contain information about the economy

• Images can make the status quo seem natural

• Clement Greenberg- Marxist Art Critic

• Avant-Garde (innovative) vs. Kitsch (low, tasteless art).

• Meyer Schapiro- Marxist Art Historian

• Commented on sculpture

• “From Mozarabic to Romanesque in Silos”--> Commented how the concurrent existence of two historical styles in a monastery showed economic upheaval and class conflict.

The Fountainhead

•Ellsworth Toohey tries to cause class equality with all mediocrity instead of exceptionalism---->like Roark

•Class struggle---> Mediocre and weak vs. Exceptional.

•Keating vs. Roark

HAMLET• Hamlet--->Strong oppositions to basic social values.

• Carnival: a class of social occasions held together by broad family resemblance---->used to represent and criticize important beliefs and practices in the official culture of his own time.

• Carnival - intense, vivid, and dramatic, makes complex social dialogue more audible.

• Many violations to social order-->masking and disguises allow for this ---------->the players

• Carnival uses misrule (Claudius), inversion, and travesty.

• Carnivalesque: literary mode---subverts and liberates dominant style or atmosphere with humor and chaos.

• Likened to common carnival activity-->social hierarchies profaned.

Shakespeare’s Purpose from Marxist View• Shakespeare----> Carnival- represents

and criticizes important beliefs and practices in the official culture of his own time (Historical Criticism)-------> illegitimacy of royalty and rulers of his time/corruption.

• Marxists use idea of Carnival--->analyze the social struggle and conflict (Shakespeare’s purpose in writing).