Unit 5:Unit 5:Commodification of the Commodification of the Medieval PeriodMedieval PeriodPart II“The Fetishism of Commodities and the Secret Thereof”from Marx, Capital

For Today. . .For Today. . .Has everyone filled out the sign-up

sheet?Discuss possible date change for finalHand back papers

◦Feel free to make an appointment with me to discuss your paper

Discuss Abrams, “Marxist Criticism”Discuss Marx, “The Fetishism of

Commodities and the Secret Thereof”View the last few scenes of Shrek

Coming soon. . .Coming soon. . .The deadline for turning in the

URL and the hard copy of your revisions has been extended to Thursday, March 13th.

The hard copy of your revised paper, as well as the original, will be due IN CLASS on March 13th. The URLs will be due by midnight.

Guidelines for the Guidelines for the presentations. . .presentations. . .Three to five minute presentation of your

websiteNavigate through the website and

explain any unique features, including hotspots, images, additional pages, hyperlinks

Share with the class your thesis statement, as well as two or three particularly interesting points that support your thesis

Conclude by stating your thoughts about the preparation of the project in general

Abrams, “Marxist Abrams, “Marxist Criticism”Criticism”As Abrams states, Marxist Criticism is based

on the “economic and cultural theory of Karl Marx (1818-83) and his fellow-thinker Friedrich Engels.”

Concerned with notions of:◦ Material production◦ How the mode of material production changes

class structures in society Dominant vs. subordinate classes and their struggle

for “economic, political, and social advantage”◦ “Human consciousness is constituted by an

ideology—that is, the beliefs, values, and ways of thinking and feeling through which human beings perceive, and by recourse to which they explain, what they take to be reality.” Ideology is a result of the “position and interests of a

particular class” in a given economic structure

Abrams, “Marxist Abrams, “Marxist Criticism”Criticism”How does this apply to literature?

◦“[. . .]a Marxist critic typically undertakes to explain the literature in any historical era, not as works created in accordance with timeless artistic criteria, but as ‘products’ of the economic and ideological determinants specific to that era.”

◦Abrams then goes on to give various examples from various Marxist critics with their own unique take on these theories

Abrams, “Marxist Abrams, “Marxist Criticism”Criticism”Effects on our understanding of New

Media:◦“[. . .]changing material conditions in the

production of the arts” have revolutionized the way we think about a work of art

◦Before photography, radio, cinema, or the internet, art was solely in the purview of the elite, who treated it as an object of reverence

◦Art now allows for interaction with the audience, reproducibility, etc.

◦Examples???

Marx, “The Fetishism of Marx, “The Fetishism of Commodities”Commodities”Marx is critiquing the way that

the bourgeoisie view the economy.◦From dictionary.com:

Bourgeoisie: “(in Marxist theory) the class that, in contrast to the proletariat or wage-earning class, is primarily concerned with property values.”

Marx, “The Fetishism of Marx, “The Fetishism of Commodities”Commodities”Marx’s discussion of the fetishism of

commodities is a way to explain why the bourgeoisie misunderstand the way in which capitalism works.◦From dictionary.com:

Fetish: “An object that is believed to have magical or spiritual powers, especially such an object associated with animistic or shamanistic religious practices.”

So fetishism refers to the way in which we attribute a material object with magical or spiritual powers.

Marx, “The Fetishism of Marx, “The Fetishism of Commodities”Commodities”Commodities are weird. . .Remember that an object

becomes a commodity if it satisfy’s our wants.

A commodity has both use value and exchange value.

Commodities gain exchange value through market exchange.

Marx, “The Fetishism of Marx, “The Fetishism of Commodities”Commodities”The value of these goods comes

about not from their usefulness, but from their ability to be exchanged for other things.

Because of this, labor gains value because it allows for this exchange to occur ◦If it wasn’t for someone making the

object, it couldn’t be exchangedLabor now becomes something that

can be bought and sold.

Marx, “The Fetishism of Marx, “The Fetishism of Commodities”Commodities”When looking at our economy,

we don’t see relationships between laborers, we see relationships between things ◦How much of product A can we get

for product BWe lose sight of the labor that

went into producing the object

Marx, “The Fetishism of Marx, “The Fetishism of Commodities”Commodities”Marx then gives examples from other

economies, one of which is a medieval economy, to show that not all economies hide the social relations of labor.

He also presents a scenario where he imagines what a community of free individuals could accomplish if the goods are shared according to the amount of labor that went into making them.

Marx, “The Fetishism of Marx, “The Fetishism of Commodities”Commodities”In a capitalist society, we are no

longer the masters of production, production has mastery over us. . .

It seems as if commodities appear on their own, independent of the people who produce them.

Without us, commodities would have no value.

We give commodities value through our labor.

How does Marx’s notion of How does Marx’s notion of commodity fetishism apply commodity fetishism apply to the commoditization of to the commoditization of the medieval?the medieval?

Practical Applications. . . Practical Applications. . . Media makes it concrete, makes

it something that can satisfy our wants and needs. . .

But what kind of labor goes into producing these media objects???

And what kind of objects are produced as a result of the popularity of the original object?

ShrekShrekBeyond the production of DVDs,

consider, for example, the production of Shrek merchandise:◦Fiona/Shrek costumes◦Plush dolls◦Games

ShrekShrekThe magical quality we attribute

to these objects leads to an obscuration of the labor that went into making it and of its materiality◦Everyone wants these objects

Not just applicable to the medieval, but also other things as well Tickle Me Elmo

So this is how we can use So this is how we can use Marx to examine cinematic Marx to examine cinematic media and its offshoots—the media and its offshoots—the products that result from the products that result from the object’s popularity. . .object’s popularity. . .

But how does Marxist But how does Marxist Criticism in general apply Criticism in general apply to literature?to literature?

Practical Applications. . .Practical Applications. . .Consider the notion of labor. . .How are class systems represented

within various examples of literature?◦A Marxist reading of Shrek, for example,

would consider the ideologies inherent in the presentation of the subject matter and the social systems represented: Kings Princesses Lords Peasants

ShrekShrekFor example, consider the

souvenir shop in Lord Farquad’s castle:◦Shrek is poking fun at Disney and

the sale of plush toys to capitalize on the popularity of its films

◦At the same time, Shrek itself is guilty of much the same thing

Coming full circle. . .Coming full circle. . .We began this class by evaluating the way in

which we perceive the medieval periodWe then considered the way in which new

media influences our understanding of the medieval

We also considered issues of gender and the way in which men and women interact with each other and among themselves in both the medieval and successive periods

We conclude by thinking about the way in which the medieval is presented today, through the use of media, and what that means in terms of our understanding of a capitalist economy

For Tuesday. . .For Tuesday. . .Discuss expectations for the final

examWeb Authoring Project

Presentations◦Even if you are not presenting on

Tuesday, you are still expected to come to class.

Last Moodle post due this Sunday. . .