Marxism lecture

Basic tenets
• The world is always dominated by a
ruling class
• Marx argues that all mental
(ideological) systems are the
products of real social and economic
existence.
• The material interest of the dominant
social class determine how people
see human existence, individual and
collective.

• Marx described this view in terms of an
architectural metaphor, the
superstructure (ideology, politics) rest
upon the base (socio economic
relations).
• In the book, The German ideology, Marx
and Engel talk about morality, religion
and philosophy as “phantoms formed in
the brains of men” which are the echoes
of real life processes.

• Marxist believes that economic aspect of
the society is the ultimate determinants
of the other aspect.
• Greek tragedy is considered a peak of
literary development and yet it coincides
with a social system and a form of
ideology.
• Marxist view that “canons of great
literature are socially generated.

• The “greatness” of Greek tragedy is
not universal and unchanging fact of
existence, but a value which must be
reproduced from generation to
generation.

SOVIET SOCIALIST
REALISM
• Socialist Realism, is the official
communist “artistic method” seems to
drab and blinkered to Western
Readers.
• The theory addressed certain major
questions about the evolution of
literature, its reflection of class
relations and its function in society.

PARTINOST
• Commitment to the working class is
caused by the Party.
• This is derived almost exclusively
from Lenin's essay “Party
Organization and Party Literature”
(1905)
• Lenin argues that while writers are
free to write what they liked, they
could not be expected to be

NARODNOST (Popularity)
• A work of art of any given period
achieves this quality by expressing a
high level of social awareness,
revealing the a sense of the true
social conditions and feelings of a
particular epoch.
• It will also possess a “progressive
outlook” glimpsing the developments
of the future in the lineaments of the

of social development from the point of
view of the mass of working people.

KLASSOVOST
• The theory of the class nature of art.
• In this theory, there is a double
emphasis on the writer’s commitment
or class interest on the one hand, and
the social realism of the writer’s work
on the other.

GEORG LUKACS
• The first major Marxist critic
• Lukacs’ use the term “reflection” is
characteristics of his work as a
whole.
• He returns to the old realist view that
the novel reflects reality, not be
rendering its mere surface
appearance, but by giving us a “truer”
more complete and more vivid and

• To reflect is to frame a mental
structure transposed into words.
• A novel may conduct the reader
towards a more concrete insight into
reality, which transcends a merely
common-sense apprehension things.
• A literary work reflects not the
individual phenomena in isolation, but
“the full process of life”.

• The reader is always aware that the
work is not in itself a reality but rather
a special form of reflecting reality.
• A correct reflection of reality,
therefore according to Lukacs,
involves more than the rendering of
external appearances.
• He describes the truly realistic work
which gives us a sense of the “artistic

• They possess an “intensive totality”
which corresponds to the “extensive
totality” of the world itself.
• Reality is not a mere flux, a
mechanical collision fragments, but
possesses an order which the
novelist renders in an intensive form.
• The writer does not impose an
abstract order upon the world, but
rather presents

• The reader with an image of the
richness and complexity and subtlety
of lived experience.

BERTOLT BRECHT
• Brecht’s early plays were radical,
anarchistic and anti-bourgeois but not
anti-capitalist.
• After reading Marx in about 1926, his
iconoclasm was converted to
conscious political commitment,
although he remains to be a
maverick, and not a party man.

• He opposed Socialist Realism and which
offended the German authorities.
• His best known theatrical device, the
alienation effect, recalls the Russian
concept of defamiliarisation.
• Socialist Realism favored realistic
illusion, formal unity and positive heroes.
• Brecht, called his theory of realism “anti-
Aristotelian” a covert way of attacking his
opponents.

• Aristotle emphasized the universality
and unity of the tragic action and the
identification of audience and hero in
empathy which produces ‘catharsis’
of emotions.
• Brecht rejected the entire Aristotelian
theatre.
• The dramatist should avoid a
smoothly interconnected plot and any

Inevitability or universality.
• The facts of social injustice needed to
be presented as if they were
shockingly unnatural and totally
surprising.
• To avoid lulling the audience into a
state of passive acceptance, the
illusion of reality must be shattered by
the use of alienation effect.

• The actors must not lose themselves
in their roles or seek to promote a
purely emphatic audience as both
recognizable and familiar, so that the
process of critical assessment can be
set in motion.

Who started it?
He was a 19th century
German philosopher that
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)

But we can’t have Marx without...
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)

GEORG LUKACS:
Reflectionism or Vulgar Marxism
-Believed that the text will reflect the
society that has produced it.
-Stressed that historical approach is
different to reflectionism
-Reflectionists attribute the separation
that they discover to the ills of
capitalism.

Argued that literature and art affect the
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.

• Bourgeoisie : the name given by
Marx to the owners of the means of
productions 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.

Engels and Marx founded the social and economic
system of Marxism in the 19th century. Essentially, it is
the opposite of capitalism. **
Proletariat
$ $ $
Capitalist
$$$$$
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.

Instead, Marxism utilizes socialism’s concept of
public ownership.
Angry Mob Capitalist
!
Marxism theorizes that in order to remove the
proletariat from its poor economic situation, a
socialist revolution must occur to remove the
unconcerned ruling class from government.

$$ $$ $$ $$
Following the revolution, a new, socialist
government is created that subsequently
becomes communist in nature.

• Marxist Criticism is the belief that literature
reflects this class struggle and materialism.
• It looks at how literature functions in relation to
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.

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 reader’s consider this story in
today’s developed or underdeveloped world?

• 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 in order to define the political
dimensions of literary work.

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

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.

• 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.

Conflict here principally
means the friction between the
proletariat and the bourgeoisie.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

1.1. Clarify your understanding of the
work.
1.2. Examine the introduction/setting/over-all
status of the society as regards
economic, social, and cultural aspects.
At the beginning, try to seek and
understand the apartheid or the inequality
present in the society. What class does the
character belong to?

2.1. The Introduction
-Tell the ideology and how it is related to Marxist principles
2.2. The Body
- It will depend on the style of the critic
- Reveal, in detailed points, the proofs of
having inequality, oppression, and control of
wealth.
2.3. The Conclusion
- Endorse that lower class be given chance to
access equal wealth and power.
- It may be a suggestion of social reformASAP.
- You may tell the impact of Marxist principles
into your life as a critic.

Bawat palo ng martilyo sa bakal mong pinapanday
alipatong nagtilamsik, alitaptap sa kadimlan;
mga apoy ng pawis mong sa Bakal ay kumikinang
tandang ikaw ang may gawa nitong buong Santinakpan.
Nang tipakin mo ang bato ay natayo ang katedral
nang pukpukin mo ang tanso ay umugong ang batingaw,
nang lutuin mo ang pilak ang salapi a lumitaw,
si Puhunan ay gawa mo, kaya ngayon'y nagyayabang.

kung may gusaling naangat, tandang ikaw ang pumasan
mula sa duyan ng bata ay kamao mo ang gumalaw
hanggang hukay ay gawa mo ang krus na nakalagay.
Kaya ikaw ay marapat dakilain at itanghal
pagkat ikaw ang yumari nitong buong Kabihasnan.....
Bawat patak ng pawis mo'y yumayari ka ng dangal,
dinadala mo ang lahi sa luklukan ng tagumpay.
Mabuhay ka ng buhay na walang wakas, walang hanggan,
at hihinto ang pag-ikot nitong mundo pag namatay.

Jose Corazon De Jesus’ poem entitled Manggagawa presents
the reader an exaltation of the lower class vividly represented by the
main subject, the worker (Manggagawa). Moreover, it shows a great
disparity of the rich (the bourgeoisie) and the workers (the
proletariat). The poem generally gives clear scenario of the contrast
of the former and the latter, and towards the end, it provides a loud
clamor for equality between these classes.
The apartheid is evidenced in many aspects through the
appropriate use of words or descriptions in the poem. Through the
products that the latter made, the higher class is greatly benefitted.
The cathedral during that time was a vital place for the elite. The
silver/bronze (money) is vividly attributed to the rich, the capital
(puhunan) to the businessmen. Flaunting members of the rich class
became clear in the poem by the use of the word ostentatious
(nagmamayabang).

On the third stanza, greater hardships of the lower class were
pointed out through the use of more emphatic descriptions. The
gigantic buildings are attributed to the affluent or elite only, since
these are their typical workplace. Having erected such buildings,
the members of the lower class gained a lucid position of being
below the wealthy.
The last two lines of the third stanza, on the other hand,
underscored the greatest evidences of oppressed lower class. The
contrasting “from birth to death [of working]” prepositional phrases
point to the perennial activities of the lower class that are primarily
typical in the culture. That means that a particular member of the
lower class has a very low percentage of elevating his status in the
society. As regards the government, the poem reflects that it has a
less control on the elitism, which firmly shows the strength and
influence of the elite in the society. Therefore, a clear view of
capitalism is embedded and reflected in the poem.

After presenting the evidences of having a capitalistic
attitude in the society, the persona boisterously clamor that the
lower class be given recognition and they be given due credit
and due respect for what they do for the betterment of economy
and the whole populace in general. Pointing the value of each
oozing sweat, the persona acknowledges his great debt of
gratitude to the proletariat or the workers in contributing to the
progress of the nation. He gives closure to the poem by wishing
them a long life and reiterating their value in the development of
the world. Certainly, in this poem, the elite conduct themselves
with no thought to the peasants beneath them. Because of their
accumulation of mundane treasures, they falsely view
themselves as having passed into the realm of divinity, which
give them the right to destroy, starve, and maim with impunity
the blighted workers whose fate lies in the palms of the ruling
class.

“Manggagawa” by Jose Corazon de
Jesus is a sharp lesson to materialistic
societies of the rank evils of social systems
that base their economy on an undervalued
working class. By taking the reader from
the affluent, who run the system to the
poor, the lowly workers are giving the
readers a broad picture of the methods
used by an unchecked bourgeoisie to
destroy families and rob individuals of their
humanity.

Marxism lecture

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