MARXIST LITERARY THEORY

Marxism is an important  philosophy of the world. Marxism is not a theory; it is a school of social, economic and political aspects. It is the important ideology of the 20^th century. Two German, writers, philosophers and critics – Karl Marx (1818-1883_) and Friedrich Engel (1820-1895) – co-authored a text in 1848 that proclaimed, Marxism‘s basic doctrines, ‘the Communist Manifesto’ Unlike other schools of literary criticism, Marxism did not begin as an alternative theoretical approach to literary analysis. Before the 20^th century, writers and critics embraced the principles of Marxism and formulated these ideas in the working classes of society as an opportunity to change their world and their lifestyles. Marxism provides the working class to improve their socioeconomic condition by giving them a philosophical system and plan of action, to bring out a change in society. Marxism offers /gives a humanitarian attitude for the social, political, economic and cultural understanding to the writers, philosophers, thinkers and downtrodden people of the society. These and similar ideas become the basis of socialism and communism.

Marxist aesthetics is a theory of aesthetics based on or derived from the theories of Karl Marx. It involves a dialectical approach to the application of Marxism to the cultural sphere, specifically areas related to taste such as art, beauty etc. Marxists believe that economic and social conditions affect every aspect of an individual’s life, from religious beliefs to legal systems to cultural frameworks. The role of art is not only to present such conditions truthfully but also to seek to improve them.

Marx and Engels produced no systematic theory of literature and art. They explained the nature of art and its paths of development, its tasks in society and social aims. Marxist aesthetics, like the whole teaching of Marx and Engels, are subordinated to the struggle for the communist reorganization of society

Georg-Lukacs, Antonio Gramsci, Raymond Williams and Terry Eagleton immensely

contributed to the development of Marxist critical standards and Marxist aesthetics.

Ideology manifests itself in various ways in all stages of life. Lukacs showed that there was a correspondence between the economic forms of the society, the cultural forms, the forms of expression and its literary forms.

Gramsci states that literature participates in the struggle for hegemony in society. It may help counter oppressive hegemony by suggesting and popularizing new ones. Organic intellectuals play an important part here.

In Marxism and Literature, Williams states that ideology is incorporated through educational institutes

All contemporary literary theory is a theory of consumption, especially symbolized in terms like taste and sensibility. Art is a practice. We have to discover the nature of practice and then its conditions. We have to look for the processes of transformation or mediation that the components have gone through. Art and society should be compared with the whole complex of human actions and feelings. Culture, for instance, must be analyzed in terms of class, industry, democracy and art. Culture/ art must be treated as social uses of the material means of production. The focus is on the social organization of culture, as a realized signifying system, embedded in a whole range of activities, relations and institutions of which only some are manifestly cultural.

In the philosophy of Karl Marx and Fredrich Engel says, ‘Capitalists and bourgeoisie (middle class/ upper class) had successfully enslaved the working class or the proletariat (inferior class) through literary writings, economic policies, arts etc. This philosophy emphasises and provokes to working or proletariat class and they should understand all the means of enslavement.

In addition to this work, Marx himself authored ‘Das Capital’. The text of Das Capital becomes the foundation for Marxism, Socialism and communism. According to Karl Marx, history is a record of the past, which is dominated by bourgeoisie (upper and middle class) people through, literature, and economic policies.  Marx maintains that an intricate web of social relationships emerges when any group of people are in the current scenario. A few, for example, will be the writers, but many more will be readers and learners. It is the writer (bourgeoisie) who has the words power and who will readily gain social and political control of their society. Eventually, this writer of established culture will articulate their beliefs, their values, and even their art. Consciously and unconsciously they will force these ideas or what Marx calls their ideology, upon their working class. In such a system, the bourgeois becomes more powerful and the proletariat becomes feeble and marginal.  

Taken together,’ The Communist Manifesto and ‘Das Capital’, provide us with a theory of history, economics, politics, Sociology, and even metaphysics. In these writings Marx did not give a direct connection to access the literary genres (literary kind) but indirectly based on the production of goods and the social relationships that develop from this situation, he necessarily assumed that the totality of a people’s experience –social interaction, employment, and other day-to-day activities was directly responsible for the shaping and development of an individual’s personal consciousness. That our place in society and our social interactions determine our consciousness or existence.

 

Really Marx highlights various social aspects throughout his writings and his literary approach to evaluating text it was common during Marx’s time. Sociological assumptions were one of the factors of it but Marxism emphasizes the historical setting, the author’s life, the time period in which the work was written, and the cultural milieu of the text and author, all of these being related to sociological issues. Marxism emphasises critics should understand the literary text not only the inner side but also the outer side of the text. He must understand the social relationship between the text and the author then the critic could evaluate it successfully. Marxism expands the traditional historical approach to literary analysis by dealing with sociological issues that concentrate only on the characters in a work of fiction but also on the authors and the readers. Marx believed in links between literature and society and how it reveals truths, concerning our social interaction.

 

Marxism challenged the bourgeoisie's approach towards literature. The renowned and famous critics Terry Eagleton  and ‘Frank Lentricchia’, supported this by saying that, the Marxist approach is base of all sociological theories. Even the pioneers and supporters of structuralism, deconstruction, feminism and New Historicism agreed that Marxist philosophy is the basic foundation for the evaluation of the literary text.

Marxism is not a literary theory that can be used to interpret a text. Unlike other schools of criticism, it is first a set of social, economic  and political ideas that its followers believe will enable them to interpret and more importantly change their world.

 

Marxism discovers two terms in the literary arena ‘Base’ and ‘Superstructure’. Base relates economic production to the social relationship and economic structure of society. Other hands ‘Superstructure’ relates with and called it a multitude of social and legal institutions, political and educational systems religious beliefs, values and a body of art and literature. ‘Base’ and ‘superstructure’ of the society is under the control of the upper class(bourgeoisie )  then common people or poor people are suppressed due to its effect on the system.

The exact relationship between ‘base’ and ‘superstructure’ however is not easily defined. Some Marxist critics argue that ‘base’ directly affects the ‘superstructure’, and some critics say these two terms are interrelated and interdependent. Whatever position held by Marxists today, most would agree that the relationship between the base and the superstructure is complex and will continue to remain a contentious point in Marxist theories.

The relationship between the ‘base’ and ‘superstructure’ becomes clearer when we consider capitalistic America. Marxism declares capitalists hold economic power in society in this way centre of power society in this way they control the base (base means economic production and economic and social relationships). If they called a controlled ‘base’ then they would formulate a ‘superstructure’ relates to ideology, system, values, laws etc. as per their interest. In this way, these people capitalistic/bourgeoisie people exploit the working class people by providing a false reflection of society through literature. Therefore  Marxism says the ‘base’ and ‘superstructure’ of the country are in the hands of the upper class/ ruling class then it is very - very difficult to get justice for the common/economic class of the people of the society. Therefore critics must understand the social and common values for the evaluation of the text. When the bourgeoisie establishes a superstructure, it is called false consciousness.

The metaphor of "base" and "superstructure," is used by Marx in his argument that the economic relations of production in a society determine the forms of the state and social consciousness, or, more broadly, all social and ideological structures, such as law, politics, religion, education, art, etc. This is one of the most important parts of Marxist theory for literary and cultural studies, especially as it relates to the theory of ideology and the role of art in the production of ideology. Following 2nd International theorists Georgi Plekhanov and Karl Kautsky, traditional Marxists interpreted "base" to mean "material reality" and "superstructure" to mean something like "social and intellectual phenomena" and interpreted Marx's argument to mean that there is a relationship between straightforward mechanical causality between the base and superstructure. According to this argument, a feudal economic order will inevitably produce the particular forms of government, law, art, religion, etc., characteristic of the middle ages, while a capitalist economic order will produce those of modernity. But this straightforwardly mechanistic understanding of the relationship between base and superstructure is seen as too simplistic by most contemporary Marxist critics, and Marx himself provides various more complex statements on the problem

Consciously and unconsciously this social elite inevitably forces its ideas upon the working classes. Almost without their knowing it, the working classes have become trapped in an economic system. Therefore their leisure time habits and entertainment are to be decided by the bourgeoisie people. Those things are in favour of their interest and it exploits the poor people.

Bourgeoisie  (middle and upper class) people dominate literature and they reflect elite ideology through it which is responsible for the exploitation. Therefore critics need to understand these things while evaluating any literary things. Marxism emphasises thinkers and authors should understand the reality of life because the economic base directly determines the literature. The literature will mirror the economic base.

Marxism’s methodology is a dynamic process declaring a proper critique. Marxists argue the study of literature and the study of society are intricately bound together. Such relationship demands that the Marxist approach to a text must deal with more than the conventional literary themes, matters, of style, plot, characteristics, and the usual emphasis on figures of speech and other literary devices utilized by other approaches to literary analysis. Marxism must move beyond these literary elements and must uncover the author’s world and his or her worldview. It is the ideology expressed by the author as evidenced through his or her fictional world and how this ideology interacts with the reader’s personal ideology.

Karl Marx dealt with Socialism, economic and social doctrine, a political movement inspired by this doctrine, and the system or order established when this doctrine was organized in a society. The socialist doctrine demanded state ownership and control of the fundamental means of production and distribution of wealth, to be achieved by reconstruction of the existing capitalist or other political systems of a country through peaceful, democratic, and parliamentary means.

Some extremist socialists, however, insist on the complete abolition of the capitalist system and of private profit. The ultimate goal of all socialists, however, is a classless cooperative commonwealth in every nation of the world.

Marxists believe in the abolition of property, and therefore of class mistreatment, would make it possible for individuals to contribute according to their abilities and take according to their needs. Karl Marx believes that there has always been a struggle between the working class and the ruling class and it is this conflict brings people to ruin. According to his theories, society will overcome this status-driven way through revolutions. Society will eventually become classless.

 Really, Marxism is outstanding philosophy which compels us to think about literature in different ways. Marxism is an evergreen branch of criticism and will remain the same up to the doom’s day of the world.  

 

 

TERMINOLOGY

• Base vs. Superstructure: Base in Marxism refers to the economic base. Superstructure, according to Marx and Engels, emerges from this base and consists of law, politics, philosophy, religion, art.
• Ideology: the shared beliefs and values held in an unquestioning manner by a culture. It governs what that culture deems to be normative and valuable. For Marxists, ideology is determined by economics. A rough approximation: "tell me how much money you have and I'll tell you how you think."
• Hegemony: coined by the Italian theorist Antonio Gramsci, this "refers to the pervasive system of assumptions, meanings, and values -- the web of ideologies, in other words, that shapes the way things look, what they mean, and therefore what reality is for the majority of people within a given culture" (See the glossary in case studies in contemporary criticism book).
• Reification: often used to describe the way in which people are turned into commodities useful in market exchange. For example, some would argue that the media's obsession with tragedy (e.g.the deaths of Jon Benet Ramsay, Diana, JFK Jr., and the murders at Columbine High School in Colorado) make commodities out of grieving people. The media expresses sympathy but economically thrives on these events through rating boosts.

·        Proletariat: "The proletariat is that class in society which lives entirely from the sale of its labour power and does not draw profit from any kind of capital; whose weal and woe, whose life and death, whose sole existence depends on the demand for labour...

·        Bourgeoisie: The class of people in bourgeois society who own the social means of production as their Private Property, i.e., as capital.