This document provides an overview of Marxist literary criticism. It discusses how Marxist criticism analyzes literature through a Marxist theoretical lens by exploring how economic and social structures influence ideology and culture as portrayed in literary works. For example, a Marxist reading of a novel may examine how the narrative reinforces or challenges social hierarchies and economic inequalities. It also outlines some of the key thinkers in Marxist theory like Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels and defines important Marxist concepts such as class, alienation, base, and superstructure that are prioritized in Marxist criticism.

1. MARXIST
LITERARY
CRITICISM
Presented by: James Alexander M. Deza
Professor: Dr. Myrna O. Medrano
ENG 209: LITERARY CRITICISM
Laguna State Polytechnic University –
Los Banos

2. MARXIST CRITICISM
Marxist Criticism refers to both
● an interpretive framework
● a genre of discourse

3. Marxist Criticism is both a theoretical approach and a
conversational genre within academic discourse. Critics using
this framework analyze literature and other cultural forms
through the lens of Marxist theory, which includes an
exploration of how economic and social structures influence
ideology and culture. For example,
a Marxist reading of a novel might explore how the narrative
reinforces or challenges the existing social hierarchy and
economic inequalities.

4. KARL MARX
● He was a 19th-century German philosopher who
became a part of the Young Hegelians, and later, the
Communist League. Marx is revered as one of the
most influential socialist thinkers of the 19th century.
Some of his most notable works are:
● The German Ideology (1846)
● The Communist Manifesto (1848)
● Das Kapital (1867)

5. FRIEDRICH ENGELS
● Engels was pretty much Marx’s best friend. He
shared Marx’s socialist beliefs and provided
support financially as well as intellectually
while Marx developed his theories.
Some of his major works were:
● The Condition of the Working Class in England (1844)
● Co-authored The Communist Manifesto (1848)

6. Why Does Marxist Criticism Matter?
Marxist criticism thus emphasizes class, socioeconomic status, power
relations among various segments of society, and the representation of
those segments. Marxist literary criticism is valuable because it enables
readers to see the role that class plays in the plot of a text.
Marxist Criticism prioritizes four foundational Marxist concepts:
1. class struggle
2. the alienation of the individual under capitalism
3. the relationship between a society’s economic base and
4. its cultural superstructure.

7. What Are the Four Primary Perspectives of Marxism?
Key Terms Definitions
Class a classification or grouping typically based on income and education
Alienation
a condition Karl Heinrich Marx ascribed to individuals in a capitalist economy who lack a sense
of identification with their labor and products. The estrangement individuals feel in capitalist
societies, where they become disconnected from their work, the products they produce, and
even themselves.
Base
the means (e.g., tools, machines, factories, natural resources) and relations (e.g., Proletariat,
Bourgeoisie) or production that shape and are shaped by the superstructure (the dominant
aspect in society). Marxist criticism theorizes that the economic means of production within
society account for the base.
Superstructure
the social institutions such as systems of law, morality, education, and their related ideologies,
that shape and are shaped by the base. Human institutions and ideologies—including those
relevant to a patriarchy—that produce art and literary texts comprise the superstructure.

8. CRITICS OF KARL MARX
GEORG LUKACS: Reflectionism or Vulgar Marxism
• Believed that the text will reflect the society that has produced it.
• Stressed that the historical approach is different from reflections.
• Reflectionists attribute the separation that they discover to the ills of capitalism.
LOUIS ALTHUSSER: Interpellation
• Argued that literature and art affect society.
• Believed that the working class is manipulated to accept the ideology of the
dominant one.
• Jameson and Eagleton: Theories are intertwined and not just one-sided.

9. DEFINITION OF TERMS
Bourgeoisie: the name given by Marx to the owners of
the means of production in a society.
Ideology: A belief system
Proletariat: The name given by Marx to the workers in
the society.
Capitalism is an economic system that is based on private
ownership of the means of production and the creation of
goods or services for profit.

10. IDEOLOGY
A Marxist term that refers to dominant ideas that exist in a culture. Our
culture is shaped by different kinds of ideologies.
For example, religious ideologies, political ideologies, ideologies regarding
art, culture, language, and so on.
Ideologies influence how people think about these aspects of life and culture and shape
popular thinking and cultural norms. The concept of ideology is closely tied to the idea
of false consciousness. False consciousness refers to the set of beliefs and convictions that
prevent an individual from perceiving the truth about social and economic realities. For Marx,
ideology is a feature of the superstructure generated by the economic base and works to
justify the base.

11. According to
Engels, Ideology is like
an illusion, prompting
or nudging people to
believe certain things
about themselves and
the world around them.

12. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A MARXIST?
Engels and Marx founded the social and economic system of Marxism
in the 19th century. Essentially, it is the opposite of capitalism. **
Capitalism is based on private ownership and motivation by profit.
Marx criticizes capitalism for its tendency to abuse the working man,
or “the proletariat,” by paying a wage that barely guarantees the
workers’ survival.

13. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A MARXIST?
Instead, Marxism utilizes socialism’s concept of public ownership.
Marxism theorizes that to remove the proletariat from its poor economic
situation, a socialist revolution must occur to remove the unconcerned
ruling class from government.

14. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A MARXIST?
Following the revolution, a new, socialist
government is created that subsequently
becomes communist in nature.

15. MARXISM LITERARY CRITICISM: ANALYSIS
Marxist literary theory and criticism analyze literature from a Marxist perspective. There are
many ways of explaining the role of Marxism in literature and literary theory. In general, Marxist
literary theory examines
• how literature is part of the superstructure and can never fully escape the influence of its
social and economic contexts.
• how literature may sometimes, consciously or unconsciously, become a channel to articulate
certain ideologies.
• how the economic mode of production, say capitalism in most societies today, determines,
controls, or influences the creation of a text, either in content or form.
• how literary works interact with the ideologies around them.
• the extent to which the social and economic background of the author informs the literary
text.
• how literature reflects the world around in its portrayal of characters and their lives, with an
emphasis on class.

16. WHAT ABOUT MARXIST LITERARY CRITICISM?
• Marxist Criticism is the belief that literature reflects this class
struggle and materialism.
• It looks at how literature functions about other aspects of the
superstructure, particularly other articulations of ideology.
• Like feminist critics, it investigates how literature can work as
a force for social change, or as a reaffirmation of existing
conditions.
• Like New Historicism, it examines how history influences
literature; the difference is that Marxism focuses on the lower
classes.

17. MARXIST CRITICISM BEGS THESE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE WORK:
1. What is the economic status of the characters?
2. What happens to them as a result of this status?
3. How do they fare against economic and political odds?
4. What other conditions stemming from their class does the
writer emphasize?
5. To what extent does the work fail by overlooking the
economic, social, and political implications of its material?
6. In what other ways does economic determinism affect the
work?
7. How should the readers consider this story in today’s
developed or underdeveloped world?

18. GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF MARXIST CRITICISM
❑ It promotes the idea that literature should be a tool
in the revolutionary struggle.
❑ It attempts to clarify the relationship of literary
work to social reality.
❑ It is political in nature.
❑ It aims to arrive at an interpretation of literary text
to define the political dimensions of literary work.

19. GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF MARXIST CRITICISM
❑ It believes that the literary work has ALWAYS a
relationship to society.
❑ It judges literature by how it represents the main
struggles for power going on at that time, and how
it may influence those struggles.
❑ It highlights and lauds solution from the critic [if
ever s/he could come up with one].

20. POINTS OF
ANALYZING A TEXT
USING MARXIST
THEORY

21. Remember : economic system is the moving
force behind human history.
Thus, to explain any social context or genre,
understand the historical circumstances.
E.g.: In the story, the society depicted an
unequal distribution of goods.
1. ECONOMIC POWER

22. • Marx averred that reality is material not
spiritual. We are not spiritual beings but
socially constructed ones.
• As critics, we are tasked to examine the
relationship among socioeconomic
groups in order to achieve insight into
ourselves and our society.
2. MATERIALISM VS. SPIRITUALITY

23. 3. CLASS CONFLICT
Conflict here principally
means the friction between the
proletariat and the bourgeoisie.

24. According to Marx, the
dominant class or higher class do
control art, literature, and
ideologies.
Marxist critics should identify
the ideology of the work and point
out its worth and deficiencies.
4. ART, LITERATURE, AND
IDEOLOGIES

25. HOW TO ANALYZE
LITERARY TEXT USING
MARXIST APPROACH?

26. 1. Approach the text with an eye for how the
characters interact. Marxist thought relies on
relationships between individuals, and even
those aspects of relationships that are 'social'
can be part of a Marxist critique.

27. 2.Evaluate the vocational roles of all characters.
The Marxist critique includes a focus on a "class
system" where the vocations of characters provide
the most direct reference to their place within this
system. Look at the level of luxury that each
individual has and how much they have to work.

28. 3. Look at how characters use their free
time. Part of the Marxist critique is based
on the argument that individuals can use
free time productively. Examining the free
choices of individuals is actually a large
part of Marxist literary criticism.

29. 4. Assess the role of government in the piece of
literature. Is it draconian? Laissez-faire?
Marxist thought relies on government as a model for
liberty and also for communalism: look at the tools
that government uses. Does the government, in
soliciting citizenship, appeal to the capitalist
tendencies of individuals or to their innate love of
community?

30. 5. Use Marxist writers as a guide. Pick ideas
outlined by Marxist writers of past eras and
apply them to your particular study.
• As a general guideline, "rules" shouldn't be
over emphasized in literary criticism. It doesn't
have to be overly technical, just go from a
general "Marxist" viewpoint and tell something
about the story.

31. MARXISM
LITERARY
CRITICISM:
EXAMPLES

32. Romeo and Juliet (1597) by William
Shakespeare (1564–1616)
The social background behind the love story in Romeo and Juliet is more broadly developed than
in any other Shakespeare play. Romeo and Juliet are caught in the crossfire of a hereditary family
feud between the Montagues and Capulets that dates back to feudal times. It is noteworthy that
both families belong to a bourgeois social class with long-standing wealth. Shakespeare also
introduces elements in the plot that highlight the class associations and conflicts of the main
characters.
The lovers' struggle symbolizes the conflict between the rising bourgeois values against
feudalism during the transition from the middle ages towards the Renaissance. This struggle is
also palpable in the language Shakespeare uses in the play.

33. CINDERELLA – WALT DISNEY
Cinderella is a film made by Walt
Disney based on a European folk tale
written by Charles Perrault in 1697.
The film depicts the story of a girl who
is bound by the oppressive behavior of
her stepmother and step-sisters, who
in continuation wants to change her
fate in a single night.

34. The Adventures of
Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain
Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, is set when Slavery was a
prominent issue; the novel uncovers the author's anti-racist view and
depicts Jim as a character superior to the white characters the novel
confirms the ideology of equality. In the novel, Mark introduces Racism as
an ideology as well as a cultural construction, making Jim' other' and
different from others; Jim's character is stereotyped as inferior, inactive,
and dehumanized through the language used in the novel that categorizes
Jim as 'other' or different compared to other characters of the novel.

35. Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger
Games Trilogy

36. “History repeats itself,
first as a tragedy, second
as a farce”
Karl Marx – Father of Communism

37. REFERENCES
(1) Dickens, Charles. Oliver Twist. Charleston, South Carolina. CreateSpace Independent
Platform, 2013.
(2) Waugh, Patricia. Literary Theory and Criticism: An Oxford Guide. Oxford: Oxford UP,
2007
(3) https://writingcommons.org/section/research/research-methods/textual-
methods/literary-criticism/marxist-criticism/
(4) https://www.studysmarter.co.uk/explanations/english-literature/literary-criticism-
and-theory/marxism-literary-criticism/