You don’t have to be a Marxist to do a Marxist analysis of literature. In literary theory, a Marxist interpretation reads the text as an expression of contemporary class struggle. Literature is not simply a matter of personal expression or taste. It somehow relates to the social and political conditions of the time.
Similarly, how can the concept Marxism be used to analyze a literary text?
A Marxist analysis of a text will explore the ways in which the ruling influencers of society can be said to oppress the lower class in some shape or form, while acting with their own interests. This includes the act of commodification and exploitation of the labour of the working class.
In respect to this, how does Marxism impact literature?
Influence On Writers
Under the influence of Marxist theory, an author is probably interested in examining: a) History As Historical Materialism: The author hopes to show how all human relations are at root a class struggle between oppressor and oppressed, and/or a struggle for control of the means of production.
How does Marxist theory apply to literature by Terry Eagleton?
Terry Eagleton brought out a Marxist account of Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights in his book, Myths of Power: A Marxist Study of the Brontes. In Criticism and Ideology (1976), he argues that a literary text is not merely an expression of ideology, but the production of ideology.
What are the basic principles of Marxist literary criticism?
Marx believed that economic determinism, dialectical materialism and class struggle were the three principles that explained his theories. (Though Marx does attribute a teleological function to the economic, he is no determinist.
What are the main features of Marxist theory of literature?
The main features of the Marxist theory of literature are that literature, like all forms of culture, is governed by specific historical conditions, and that literature, as a cultural product, is ultimately related to the economic base of society.
What is ideology in Marxist literary criticism?
To Marx, ‘ideology critique’ is the exposure of how class interests really operate through cultural forms, whether political, legal, religious, philosophical, educational, or literary.
What is Marxism in English literature?
Marxism is a materialist philosophy which tried to interpret the world based on the concrete, natural world around us and the society we live in. It is opposed to idealist philosophy which conceptualizes a spiritual world elsewhere that influences and controls the material world.
What is the relation between literature and ideology?
One can see a particular ideology influencing and determining a writer’s consciousness as also the way in which that consciousness shapes characters, voices, responses and situations in a literary work. An alert reading of literature is sure to grasp the broadly political function of an ideology.
Which piece of modern literature is a good example of Marxist criticism?
Marxist criticism is interested in the society created by the author in the piece of literature concerned. Let’s look at this in terms of a relatively new piece of literature, The Hunger Games, which is a trilogy by Suzanne Collins.