Marxist Criticism

Marxist analysis of human events and productions focus on relationships among socioeconomic classes, both within a society and among societies, and it explains all human activities in terms of distribution and dynamics of economic power ” (Tyson 52).

Description of Theory:

Marxism is the belief that every ill of the world (racism, consumerism, capitalism, sexism, homophobia, feminism, religion, patriotism, etc.) is due to class barriers between the haves and the have nots:  the bourgeoisie – those who control the world’s natural, economic, and human resources and the proletariat – the majority of the global population who live in substandard conditions and perform the manual labor.  The world is in a state of wealthy vs. poverty, survival of the fittest.  Marxism is a political and economic theory and philosophy that analyzes the present (why the poor stay poor and the rich stay rich) and predicts where society is headed and it calls for a revolution in order to create a new society.

Benefit of Theory:

Marxist literature show how texts can be a benefit of social change either by illustrating the ills of society and/or creating a solution to the problem.

Disadvantage of Theory:

Because the theory believes classism is the reason for all ills, this theory only focuses on addressing and solving this one-sided problem.

Questions of Marxist Theorists to Interpret a Text:

These questions are important because these types of texts help Marxist theory pave the way for a societal revolution and form the basis for other critical theories whom also want to spark a revolutionary change.

  • How does the work reflect the social/historical conditions?
  • Where does the text show class conflict as the source of struggle and tension?
  • Does the work enforce or showcase capitalist or classist values and power structures?
  • In what ways does the work seem to support a Marxist agenda, but also exhibit a false consciousness that returns to the status quo instead? Where does the work contradict or deconstruct itself?

Notable Theorist/s:

Karl Marx created this  understanding of texts produced by cultures with the focus on how does the text reinforce or resist (or both) the capitalist “material conditions” of the time of its writing or how does the character/s do that within the story promoting a Marxist agenda to the outside reader.  Marx tried to expose the elitist forces at work that keep the lower people from igniting a revolution of change for which has yet to happen.