What is Marxist Literary Theory?

A marxist approach judges all the modern literature in relation to its political effect; if it supports or refute certain structures, and connects it to all past literature in relation to its social setting. Marxist focus on the social forces that shape all people and culture like, education, jobs and class. With analysis a Marxist critic seek to reveal all the obvious and inferred assumptions of the writer and its relation to a certain time with its issues of social and economic justice.

Marxist critics believe…

• That literature is a reflection of its social, political and cultural setting; and they focus on the social forces that shape all people and culture like, education, jobs and class
• That all literature is essentially political because it either challenges or supports economic oppression
• Literature possesses for promoting a critical consciousness of culture

 

Economic Determinist

Karl Marx emphasized that the main influence on life was economic and he saw society as an opposition between the upper and the lower class. Marxist critics emphasize the role of class socially and economically with their ideology as they reflect promote and sometimes challenge the current social order.

They focus on:

• How those in power seek to maintain that power, in part by justifying through art and literature.
• The struggle that exists between the working class and ruling class.

Literature that emerged from this kind of analysis focuses on individuals in the grips of a class struggle. It emphasizes that people of lower class and their constant oppression by the upper class. The poor may try to escape their situation but ultimately fall back under the ruthless dominion of the capitalists.

Marxist Criticism

A Marxist critic may start an analysis with demonstrating how the author’s text reflects their ideology through an examination of the fictional world’s characters, settings, society, and any other feature of the text.

The critic may then go into an investigation of…

1. The author’s social class
2. Its effects on the author’s society
3. Examining the history and culture of the times as shown in the text
4. Investigate how the author either correctly or incorrectly pictures this historical period