Marxism and Literature

Marxism is a sociological approach to literature that viewed works of
literature or art as the products of historical forces that can be analyzed by

looking at the material conditions in which they were formed. Marxism
generally focuses on the clash between the dominant and repressed
classes in any given age.
Marxist theory's influence on Modern art and literature is clear by its
influence of writers, and the works they produced, and on readers, and the
way critics use Marxist theory to interpret the works.
Under the influence of Marxist theory, an author is interested in
examining history as Historical Materialism. The author hopes to show
how all human relations are at root a class struggle between oppressor
and oppressed, and/or a struggle for control of the means of production.
These include "human relations" writ both large and small: both on a
global and political level (like war, the fall of Rome, the spread of
Christianity etc) or on a personal level (how two characters or a family
relates to one another). Example: Heart Of Darkness, Things Fall Apart.
Besides, Writing As A Means of Controlling Ideology: Marxist theory
suggests that if hegemony is maintained through ideology, the oppressed
must gain control of their own ideology. This is explicitly the argument
presented by Virginia Woolf in A Room Of One's Own; women will
break the cycle of oppression by writing their own stories and defining
themselves as human, intelligent, equal etc. This theory also inspired
writers of color both in the US and throughout the world, to tell their own
stories and redefine the cultural image of the Black man, the Latino, the
African etc.
Under the influence of Marxist theory, a reader or critic is probably

interested in examining the Work As Ideology: Simply put, Marxism
argues that any work of art functions either consciously or unconsciously
as ideology; it does not define some eternal representation of "Truth" so
much as it represents the ideologies that serve to oppress or an attempt to
rebel against that oppression. When combined with a dose of Nietzsche,
this way of thinking about art will have a profound effect on so called
"Post Modern" critical theories.
For example, under this model, a Marxist reading of Wordsworth's
Romanticism as an means through which the urban, middle to upper class
English elite attempted to maintain hegemony over the rural, agricultural
peasant class; that is, "pastoralism" really masks nothing more than the
modern aristocracy keeping control over the peasant class, as it had
always done. Besides, As A Record Of Historical Relations: A Marxist
influenced reading of, say a Jane Austen novel would be interested in the
role of women as the oppressed and the negotiation of romantic relations
and marriage as deeply, if not entirely, influenced by a struggle for
domination or freedom. A Feminist Marxist reading of Austen would see
the novel's women as the oppressed.
Karl Marx was a proponent of the classless society. He attacked the elites
(bourgeoisie) and theorised a political and economic system that would
eliminate the heirarchical structure in society. It would bring equality,
brotherhood and liberty to societies. He wrote the communist manifesto,
which was sort of like a handbook for communistic leaders. It influenced
modernism because without it, communism would not have been nearly
as strong. This view has profound implications in aesthetics, especially in
literature.
Marx' ideas inspire a generation of avant-gardists, modernists and
bohemians to defy artistic conventions, to write their self, to write
experience, to conceive of writing in wholly new ways. Two of the most
telling examples of Marx' influence on modernism in literature are to be
found in Virginia Woolf and James Joyce. Their works convey an
experience of the self and of society. In certain modernist texts we see the
erasure of monumental history and of class boundaries through the
representation of common human experience. This is a telling
contribution of Marx' philosophy.
To conclude, In keeping with the totalizing spirit of Marxism, literary

theories arising from the Marxist paradigm have not only sought new
ways of understanding the relationship between economic production and
literature, but all cultural production as well. Marxist analyses of society
and history have had a profound effect on literary theory and practical
criticism.

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Marxism is a sociological approach to literature that viewed works of

literature or art as the products of historical forces that can be analyzed by

Under the influence of Marxist theory, a reader or critic is probably

To conclude, In keeping with the totalizing spirit of Marxism, literary

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