Marxist Criticism (1930s-present)
Summary: This resource will help you begin the process of understanding literary theory and schools of criticism and how they are used in the academy.
Contributors:Allen Brizee, J. Case Tompkins--OWL Purdue University
Last Edited: 2010-04-21 08:25:17
Last Edited: 2010-04-21 08:25:17
Whom Does it Benefit?
Based on the theories of Karl Marx (and so influenced by philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel), this school concerns itself with class differences, economic and otherwise, as well as the implications and complications of the capitalist system: "Marxism attempts to reveal the ways in which our socioeconomic system is the ultimate source of our experience" (Tyson 277).
Theorists working in the Marxist tradition, therefore, are interested in answering the overarching question, whom does it [the work, the effort, the policy, the road, etc.] benefit? The elite? The middle class? And Marxists critics are also interested in how the lower or working classes are oppressed - in everyday life and in literature.
The Material Dialectic
The Marxist school follows a process of thinking called the material dialectic. This belief system maintains that "...what drives historical change are the material realities of the economic base of society, rather than the ideological superstructure of politics, law, philosophy, religion, and art that is built upon that economic base" (Richter 1088).
Marx asserts that "...stable societies develop sites of resistance: contradictions build into the social system that ultimately lead to social revolution and the development of a new society upon the old" (1088). This cycle of contradiction, tension, and revolution must continue: there will always be conflict between the upper, middle, and lower (working) classes and this conflict will be reflected in literature and other forms of expression - art, music, movies, etc.
The Revolution
The continuing conflict between the classes will lead to upheaval and revolution by oppressed peoples and form the groundwork for a new order of society and economics where capitalism is abolished. According to Marx, the revolution will be led by the working class (others think peasants will lead the uprising) under the guidance of intellectuals. Once the elite and middle class are overthrown, the intellectuals will compose an equal society where everyone owns everything (socialism - not to be confused with Soviet or Maoist Communism).
Though a staggering number of different nuances exist within this school of literary theory, Marxist critics generally work in areas covered by the following questions.
Typical questions:
- Whom does it benefit if the work or effort is accepted/successful/believed, etc.?
- What is the social class of the author?
- Which class does the work claim to represent?
- What values does it reinforce?
- What values does it subvert?
- What conflict can be seen between the values the work champions and those it portrays?
- What social classes do the characters represent?
- How do characters from different classes interact or conflict?
Here is a list of scholars we encourage you to explore to further your understanding of this theory:
- Karl Marx - (with Friedrich Engels) The Communist Manifesto, 1848; Das Kapital, 1867; "Consciousness Derived from Material Conditions" from The German Ideology, 1932; "On Greek Art in Its Time" from A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy, 1859
- Leon Trotsky - "Literature and Revolution," 1923
- Georg Lukács - "The Ideology of Modernism," 1956
- Walter Benjamin - "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction," 1936
- Theodor W. Adorno
- Louis Althusser - Reading Capital, 1965
- Terry Eagleton - Marxism and Literary Criticism, Criticism and Ideology, 1976
- Frederic Jameson - Marxism and Form, The Political Unconscious, 1971
- Jürgen Habermas - The Philosophical Discourse of Modernity, 1990
In the first chapter of Portrait, Joyce shows a conflict between Stephen’s family members in order to portray the political conflicts of the time period. At the family Christmas dinner, Dante and Mr Casey begin to argue about politics. As Stephen’s first Christmas at the table with the adults, it is also the first time Stephen’s family exposes him to the political disagreement in the family. They begin the quarrel with discussion of the mix between religion and politics. According to Mr. Dedalus, the priests should not be able to “preach politics from the altar” (Joyce 27) because religion and politics should be separated. Mr Casey agrees with Mr Dedalus but Dante thinks they are insulting the priests. Dante believes “God and morality and religion” (Joyce 33) come before everything. On the other hand, Mr Casey wants to do “away with God” (Joyce 34) because of the blurred lines between religion and politics. Dante and Mr Casey also talk about Parnell, an Irish politician who was killed. At the beginning of the novel, Dante supports Parnell, but soon finds out his crime of adultery. She then loses all support for him. Mr Casey, however, does not allow Parnell’s one sin to ruin his view of him as he still refers to him as his “dead king” (Joyce 34). As shown by the conflict, Dante values God and religion and following the laws of the church. At that point in his life, Stephen has the same values because the Jesuit college teaches him to accept them. The dinner is the first time he sees another viewpoint about religion, as shown by Mr Casey. By creating conflict between Dante and Mr Casey, Joyce allows Stephen to see the difference of opinions within his family, beginning an important character shift away from accepting all ideas presented to him before first considering them.
ReplyDeleteMarxist Criticism:
ReplyDeleteThe church unites all social classes because they practice the same religion. When Stephen knelt at the last bench in the church, “He bowed his head upon his hands, bidding his heart be meek and humble that he might be like those who knelt beside him and his prayer as acceptable as...the carpenters, the fishermen, poor and simple people following a lowly trade, handling and shaping the wood of trees, mending their nets with patience” (Joyce 123). Stephen believes if he humbles himself to be like the poor people around him, God might accept his prayer. As he prays, the priest gains everyone’s focus as he enters the confession box. The people look upon the priest with such intent because he can pardon their sins, and this shows the priest’s social rank is higher than the members of the church praying for forgiveness and confessing their sins. After Stephen’s confession, the priest pardons him of his sins which relieves Stephen and purifies his heart. By writing this passage, Joyce represents a holy place where God looks down on all of the social classes equally and the priest is the only one with divine power. However, the only reason the social classes come together is to pray and ask God to forgive their sins, which they would never commit if the competition to be in a high social class did not exist.
Works Cited:
Joyce, James, John Paul. Riquelme, Hans Walter Gabler, and Walter Hettche. “A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man: Authoritative Text, Backgrounds and Contexts, Criticism.” New York: W.W. Norton, 2007. 123. Print.
James Joyce’s novel opens expressing the importance of politics and social structure. Stephen’s family is wealthy sending Stephen to a private school where he lives and spends the majority of his time until he becomes sick and must return home. As the story progresses, Stephen’s family slowly declines in social stature. After discovering he was not going back to Clongowes, the fact that his father “was in trouble and that this was the reason why he himself had not been sent back to Clongowes” (Joyce 44) was uncovered. The trouble that Stephen’s father was in was economic therefore lowering his social stance which the Marxist criticism is based upon. The Marxist criticism is based on politics and socialist views making ones economic situation key in this novel. The Dedalus family continued to steadily decline as “Two great yellow caravans had halted one morning before the door and men had come tramping into the house to dismantle it.” (Joyce 45). As their economic situation worsens, Stephen begins to realize the change more and more as he ages. Their move back to the city was another indicator of their change in economic situation.
ReplyDeleteMarxist Criticism
ReplyDeleteJames Joyce’s novel, A Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man, follows the early life of Stephen Dedalus, a young man growing up in Ireland during the late nineteenth century. The society in which he lives has very apparent gaps between the haves, such as magistrates and marshals, who are “higher than magistrates,” and the have-nots, such as “the carpenters [and] the fishermen, poor and simple people following a lowly trade, handling and shaping the wood of trees [and] mending their nets with patience” (Joyce 17, 123). Stephen, coming from a wealthy family which declines monetarily during the novel, experiences both lifestyles. The people throughout this novel with true power, however, are neither the magistrates nor the marshals. James Joyce portrays the clergy of the Catholic Church as the most powerful men in Ireland. Men with “the power of the keys, the power to bind and loose from sin, the power of exorcism,” and the power over the minds of the Irish population (Joyce 138). The church used its incredible influence to turn public opinion against Parnell after he was accused of adultery. In addition, they are always educated and generally live wealthy life styles. Their say in politics is unprecedentedly more influential than any other force in Ireland, making them the most powerful caste, so to speak.