Quote: "In this thinking of the structure of societies, literary texts are one register of the superstructure, which is determined by the economic base of any given society."
The study of literature from a Marxist perspective, examining how social and economic structures shape literary works.
Marxist theory: An overview of the key theories and concepts of Marxism, including historical materialism, class struggle, and the labor theory of value.
Historical materialism: The Marxist theory that social and economic structures are determined by material conditions, with the mode of production being the primary determinant of social relations.
Class struggle: The Marxist theory that society is divided into classes that are in perpetual conflict, with the working class being exploited by the ruling class.
Dialectical materialism: The Marxist theory that emphasizes the importance of contradictions and conflict in driving social change, based on the idea that all things are in a constant state of motion and development.
Capitalism: An economic system based on private ownership of the means of production and the pursuit of profit, which is the target of Marxist critique.
Alienation: The social and psychological detachment that workers experience from their labor, their products, and their social relationships in capitalist societies.
Imperialism: The economic and political domination of one country over another, with Marxist analysis focusing on the exploitation of resources and labor in poorer countries by richer ones.
Ideology: The set of beliefs, values, and assumptions that shape our understanding of the world, often used to justify and reinforce existing power structures.
Feminism: A set of political and social movements targeting gender inequalities, which are often integrated into Marxist analysis to consider the role of gender in capitalist relations.
Postmodernism: A philosophical and literary movement that challenges grand narratives and ideas of objective truth, often criticized by Marxists for neglecting the role of political and economic structures in shaping social reality.
Semiotics: The analysis of how meaning is constructed through signs and symbols, which has been used in Marxist literary studies to consider the ideological assumptions embedded in texts.
Globalization: The growing interconnectedness of economies and cultures worldwide, which has been characterized by Marxists as intensifying capitalist exploitation and inequality.
Environmentalism: The movement to address climate change and environmental degradation, which has been of increasing importance in Marxist analysis due to the impact of capitalist production on the natural world.
Intersectionality: The theory that individuals can hold multiple identities and experiences of oppression, such as race, class, gender, and sexuality, which can intersect and compound to produce unique forms of marginalization.
Cultural studies: An interdisciplinary field that analyzes cultural artifacts and their production, distribution, and reception, often examining the ways these artifacts reproduce and reinforce power relationships.
Historical Materialism: This approach focuses on the material conditions of production and the social and economic structures that underlie them.
Ideology: This approach looks at how literature reflects and reinforces dominant ideologies, especially those of the ruling class.
Base and Superstructure: This approach emphasizes the relationship between the economic base (class relations in production) and the cultural superstructure (art, literature, religion, etc.).
Critical Theory: This approach emphasizes a critical engagement with capitalism and seeks to undermine its hegemony.
Feminist Marxism: This approach emphasizes the intersection of gender, class, race, and sexuality in producing and reproducing social relations.
Postcolonial Marxism: This approach emphasizes the intersection of capitalism and imperialism and the ways in which they have shaped literary and cultural production around the world.
Cultural Marxism: This approach emphasizes the importance of mass culture and the ways in which it produces and reproduces dominant ideologies.
Marxist Ecocriticism: This approach emphasizes the relationship between capitalism and the environment and explores how literature reflects this relationship.
Quote: "Most Marxist critics who were writing in what could chronologically be specified as the early period of Marxist literary criticism, subscribed to what has come to be called 'vulgar Marxism.'"
Quote: "Literary texts are a reflection of the economic base rather than 'the social institutions from which they originate.'"
Quote: "Even literature itself is a social institution and has a specific ideological function, based on the background and ideology of the author."
Quote: "Marxist criticism is not merely a 'sociology of literature', concerned with how novels get published and whether they mention the working class. Its aim is to explain the literary work more fully."
Quote: "Its aim is to explain the literary work more fully; and this means a sensitive attention to its forms, styles and meanings."
Quote: "...those forms, styles, and meanings as the product of a particular history."
Quote: "In Marxist criticism, class struggle and relations of production are the central instruments in analysis."
Quote: "For all social institutions, or more precisely human–social relationships, are in the final analysis determined by the economic base."
Quote: "Literary texts are a reflection of the economic base"
Quote: "Most Marxist critics who were writing in what could chronologically be specified as the early period of Marxist literary criticism, subscribed to what has come to be called 'vulgar Marxism.'"
Quote: "Its aim is to explain the literary work more fully."
Quote: "Even literature itself is a social institution and has a specific ideological function."
Quote: "Grasping those forms, styles, and meanings as the product of a particular history."
Quote: "Sensitive attention to its forms, styles, and meanings."
Quote: "Human-social relationships are in the final analysis determined by the economic base."
Quote: "Class struggle and relations of production are the central instruments in analysis."
Quote: "Based on the background and ideology of the author."
Quote: "To explain the literary work more fully"
Quote: "Literary texts are a reflection of the economic base rather than 'the social institutions from which they originate.'"