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    Q3 Lesson 3

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    Janaica Ross Belleza
    The document provides an overview of Marxist criticism and how to apply it when analyzing literary works. Marxist criticism examines how economic forces influence literature and sees works as reflections of class struggle. When reviewing a text through this lens, one should consider the economic status of characters, how this impacts their circumstances, and how the work addresses issues of class conflict, materialism, and the ideologies of different socioeconomic groups. The document also provides keywords and guidance for writing a Marxist critique, such as identifying how a work presents or challenges Marxist ideology.

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    Q3 Lesson 3

    Uploaded by

    Janaica Ross Belleza
    79 views24 pages
    The document provides an overview of Marxist criticism and how to apply it when analyzing literary works. Marxist criticism examines how economic forces influence literature and sees works as reflections of class struggle. When reviewing a text through this lens, one should consider the economic status of characters, how this impacts their circumstances, and how the work addresses issues of class conflict, materialism, and the ideologies of different socioeconomic groups. The document also provides keywords and guidance for writing a Marxist critique, such as identifying how a work presents or challenges Marxist ideology.

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    Marxist Criticism

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    Q3-Lesson-3

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    The document provides an overview of Marxist criticism and how to apply it when analyzing literary works. Marxist criticism examines how economic forces influence literature and sees works as reflections of class struggle. When reviewing a text through this lens, one should consider the economic status of characters, how this impacts their circumstances, and how the work addresses issues of class conflict, materialism, and the ideologies of different socioeconomic groups. The document also provides keywords and guidance for writing a Marxist critique, such as identifying how a work presents or challenges Marxist ideology.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
    79 views24 pages

    Q3 Lesson 3

    Uploaded by

    Janaica Ross Belleza
    The document provides an overview of Marxist criticism and how to apply it when analyzing literary works. Marxist criticism examines how economic forces influence literature and sees works as reflections of class struggle. When reviewing a text through this lens, one should consider the economic status of characters, how this impacts their circumstances, and how the work addresses issues of class conflict, materialism, and the ideologies of different socioeconomic groups. The document also provides keywords and guidance for writing a Marxist critique, such as identifying how a work presents or challenges Marxist ideology.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
    of 24

    MARXIST CRITICISM

    Agenda Layout
    01 Explain Marxist criticism;

    02 Discuss the gist of the short story “The Necklace;” and

    03 Write a Marxist criticism of a chosen literary piece

    04
    05
    “The Marxist analysis has nothing to do with what
    happened in Stalin’s Russia; it’s like blaming Jesus
    Christ for the Inquisition of Spain.” ~ Tony Benn,
    British Labour Politician
     
    Read the short narrative and answer the questions provided:
    YOU ARE A WORKER IN OUR FACTORY
    The factory makes chair. You get paid 300 pesos an hour and in an hour
    you make an average 10 chairs. You work 8 hours a day and have an hour for
    lunch (not paid). The chairs sell for 1,300 each. The cost of raw materials,
    overheads (bills etc.) works out to be about 300 pesos per worker per hour.
    The work just gives you just enough to support your family in the house you
    are living. You love carpentry and spend much of your free time messing
    around with wood in your shed. However, you don’t particularly enjoy your
    job as you rarely see a finished chair or a satisfied customer.
    1. How much do you earn in a day? ________________
    2. How much do you in reality get paid for each chair you make?________________
    3. How much does your boss get for each chair you make in an hour?__________________
    4. Who owns all the buildings, machinery, tools and raw materials?__________________
    5. How can you try and earn more money?_________________________________________
    6. What would happen to you if the factory closed?__________________________________
    7. You hear there a group of immigrant workers living near your factory willing to work for 200
    pesos an hour. How does this makes you feel? _____________________
    8. What job would you prefer to do? What kind of job would you feel more satisfying?
    ________________________________
    What is Marxist criticism?
    Marxism is a philosophical and ideological belief
    which is derived from the philosophical standpoint of Karl
    Marx, a Jewish-German philosopher and political scientist
    who advocated that the events in history are nothing but a
    record of struggle between two opposing classes in society,
    the “proletariat” and the “bourgeoisie;” which will ulti-
    mately lead to the fall of capitalism and an ushering of
    communism where everyone is equal with another, being
    one gets equal share of the society’s wealth according to his
    needs and according.

     
    Historical Background

    Karl Marx

    Karl Marx was a 19th century German philosopher who


    became a part of the Communist League. Marx is
    revered as one of the most influential socialist thinkers
    of the 19th century.
    Some of his major works include:
    The Communist manifesto (1848)
    Das Kapital (1867)
    Historical Background

    Friedrich Engels

    Engels was pretty much Marx’s best friend. He shared Marx’s


    socialist beliefs and provided support financially as well as in-
    tellectually while Marx developed his theories.
    Some of his major works include:
    The Conditions of the Working Class in England (1844)
    The Communist Manifesto (1848)
    What is Marxist criticism?
    What is Marxist criticism?
     
    Marx argued that communism or Marxism is the
    best form of government where there is equality
    in the allocation and distribution of wealth. It at-
    tempts to debunk the principles of
    capitalism. 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. Instead, Marxism uti-
    lizes socialism’s concept of public ownership.
    What is Marxist criticism?
    Marxism theorizes that in order to remove the
    proletariat from its poor economic situation, a
    socialist revolution must occur to remove the un-
    concerned ruling class from government. Follow-
    ing the revolution, a new, socialist government is
    created that subsequently becomes communist
    in nature.
    What is Marxist criticism?
    Marxist criticism is the belief that litera-
    ture reflects this socio-economic struggle and
    economic determinism. Like new historicism, 

    it examines how history influences litera-


    ture; the difference is that Marxism focuses on
    the lower classes. It looks at how literature
    functions in relation to other aspects of the su-
    perstructure, 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 condi-
    tions.
    What is Marxist criticism?
     Marxist criticism promotes the idea that literature
    should be a tool in the revolutionary struggle.
     It aims to arrive at an interpretation of literary text in
    order to define the political dimensions of literary work
     It attempts to clarify the relationship of literary work to
    social reality in a political sense.
     It believes that the literary work has always a relation-
    ship to the society.
     It highlights and lauds solution from the critic (if ever
    s/he could come up with one).
     It judges literature by how it represents the main strug-
    gles for power going on that time, how it may influence
    those struggles.
    Reading as a Marxist critic
    When reading a literary piece using the Marxist lens, one should take a careful eye on the
    following:

    • What is the economic status of the characters?


    • What happens to them as a result of this status?
    • How do they fare against economic and political odds?
    • What other conditions stemming from their class does the writer emphasize?
    • To what extent does the work fail by overlooking the economic, social, and political implications of
    its material?
    • In what other ways does economic determinism affect the work?
    • How should the reader’s consider this story in today’s developed or underdeveloped world?
     
    Keywords to look for using Marxist criticism

    Economic power. In analyzing a text using Marxist criticism, remember that eco-
    nomic system is the moving force behind human history. Thus, to explain any so-
    cial context or genre, take time to  really understand the surrounding historical cir-
    cumstances involved.

    A. For instance: In the given story, the society depicted an unequal distribution
    of goods and services, thus, gangster are common which rob the rich seem-
    ingly due to limited opportunities given to them.
    Keywords to look for using Marxist criticism

    Materialism vs. Spiritualism. 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.

    A. For example: The characters are shown eating a meal with meager amount
    of food and certain emotions are involved showing their material needs and
    wants not to be easily satisfied by spiritual acts or rituals.
    Keywords to look for using Marxist criticism

    Class conflict. Conflict here principally means the friction be-


    tween the proletariat (working class) and
    the bourgeoisie (ruling class).

    A. For instance: In the drama “Romeo and Juliet,” features a


    love story between two lovers who come from different
    classes of society as it seems everyone else are not in favor
    of it…
    Keywords to look for using Marxist criticism

    Ideologies, arts, literatures. According to Marx, the dominant or stronger


    class do control art, literature, and ideologies leaving the minority or weaker
    class no choice but to acquiesce or simply, out of desperation, give in and
    waste their lives.

    A. For example: In the story “The Necklace,” Mathilde Loisel can’t even af-
    ford to buy a nice piece of dress save for the jewelry to accentuate it due
    to the poverty she is mired into. She has no choice but to borrow a neck-
    lace from a friend, Madamme Forrestier
    Writing your Marxist criticism
     Clarify your understanding of the ideology of the work;
     Identify the elements of the text that present the  ideology;
     Determine how those elements promote it – that is, convince the reader
    to accept it; and
     Assess how sympathetic or opposed it is to Marxist principles.
     Examine the introduction/setting/over-all status of the society as re-
    gards 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?
    What struggles or conflicts are presented from the beginning? Does
    any of these run towards the ending of the story?
    Writing your Marxist criticism
    Drafting and Revising
     Introduction. Introduce your chosen Marxist scenario from the se-
    lection and explain its relation to Marxist ideology at the outset.
    After this introduction, the rest of your essay will be greatly con-
    cerned with with where and how the ideology is worked out.
    Alternatively, you may begin by narrating an incident in the se-
    lection that illustrates the social relationships of the charac-
    ters or some other socioeconomic aspect of the society as
    preparation for your statement of the work’s over-all world-
    view.
    Writing your Marxist criticism

     Body. The central part of your essay is your acceptance or


    rejection of the Marxist principles in the text  you are ana-
    lyzing. You may:
    describe a major character/s;
    assess the nature of the social institutions depicted;
    point out the struggles between groups of people.
    Writing your Marxist criticism
     Conclusion. The conclusion of a Marxist  criticism often takes either
    form of:

    an endorsement of a classless society in which everyone has equal


    access to power and goods;
    a criticism of repressive societies when that is not the case;
    making a case for social reform, pointing out that the selection has
    either supported or rejected social change.
    Writing your Marxist criticism

    TAKE NOTE! In any cases, to wrap up your conclusion, you will need to con-
    sider how the ideology in the text affirms or conflicts your own. You may find it in-
    teresting to reflect on what the work has revealed to you about you own ideology.
    Explaining your realization can provide a powerful ending to your analysis
    SAMPLE LITERATURE

    EXAMPLE:
     
    THE NECKLACE
    Guy Maupassant
    THANK YOU!

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