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THEORIES OF LITERARY CRITISM-SOCIAL-AINNAJIHAHREBECCA

Sociological criticMaintains that a literary work cannot be separated from the social and cultural context.Literature is a reflection of a particular society and its value.Analyzes literature with the goal of explaining how a text reveals something about society.

WHO IS KARL MARX

Karl Heinrich Marx 5 May 1818 14 March 1883) was aGermanphilosopher, economist,sociologist,historian,journalist, andrevolutionary socialist.

- Marx's theories about society, economics and politicscollectively known asMarxismhold that all societies progress through the dialecticofclass struggle.

- Heavily critical of the current socio-economic form of society,capitalism, he called it the "dictatorship of the bourgeoisie",

Social Critism (Marxism)

Sees history as struggle between sosioeconomic classes and literature is a product of economic forces of the period.

Literature is a material product for consumption in a particular society. Eg : comics, western, romantic novels-Literature celebrate the values of society its representsEg : bourgeois (middle-class)

for Marx, is defined as a (social) relationship rather than a position or rank in society

-Works of literature often mirror the creators own place in society.-Most scholars view the relationship between literary texts and issues of class struggle between the economic centre of society and social superstructure as a work of fiction.

Weltys worn pathMarxist critic would pay much attention to Phoenixs impoverishment and argue that middle-class degrades the working class through economic means. (the white refuses to help the black)

Fictional literature can have a significant social impact. "For example, the 1852 novel Uncle Tom's Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe furthered the antislavery movement in the United States, and the 1885 novel Ramona, by Helen Hunt Jackson, brought about changes in laws regarding Native Americans.

Animal Farm, written in 1944 by George Orwell, is a book that tells the animal fable of a farm in which the farm animals revolt against their human masters. It is an example of social criticism in literature in which Orwell satirized the events in Russia after the Bolshevik Revolution.

A Tale of Two Cities also typifies this kind of literature. Besides the central theme of love, is another prevalent theme, that of a revolution gone bad. He shows us that, unfortunately, human nature causes us to be vengeful and, for some of us, overly ambitious.

Both these books are similar in that both describe how, even with the best of intentions, our ambitions get the best of us. Both authors also demonstrate that violence and the Machiavellian attitude of "the ends justifying the means" are deplorable. They also express their authors' disenchantment with the state of evolution of human nature.

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