Marxist literary criticism?

[Sixiang]

Has anyone heard of this? It's got a brief page on wikipedia. I'm curious if anyone is well read on it or not. Does anyone have any recommendations of must-read books on Marxist criticism (as in, what it is and how to use it when reading)? There is a brief blurb about it in the textbook for my English class I'm taking this year. It's just a paragraph and all it really says is that many Marxist literary critics are fond of Dickens' work. It's right next to all of these other forms of literary criticism like psychoanalytic and so forth.

[Rooster]

I'm not sure but I'm guessing it has to do with Marx's idea of dialectics. Either through contradictions within characters as the main drive of the story or over all such as contradictions between characters and settings that drive the story along. I'm sure Sartre wrote about this but it's late and I don't fancy digging for anything. I think Slavoj Zizek uses it with in his series about films. I haven't seen them though but a quick youtube or google search on him and that topic will bring it up.

[28350]

I imagine it's similar to Critical Theory. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_theory)

My father is a Dickens professor and a Marxist, fwiw.

[Sixiang]

I imagine it's similar to Critical Theory. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_theory)

My father is a Dickens professor and a Marxist, fwiw.

Very cool. As in, he teaches at a university? Where at?

[Amphictyonis]

m6nJ-A0ZWts

It's related to this-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedagogy_of_the_Oppressed

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_pedagogy


(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_pedagogy)

[Apoi_Viitor]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_materialism

Also, view this thread: http://www.revleft.com/vb/materialist-view-art-t145680/index.html?t=145680

[Sixiang]

Thanks for all of the links so far, people. So basically it's like regular Marxism: it's complex and takes a lifetime to understand. :D

[Apoi_Viitor]

Thanks for all of the links so far, people. So basically it's like regular Marxism: it's complex and takes a lifetime to understand. :D

I'll try and sum it up briefly. Basically, Marxist Literary Theory tries to take into account the historical circumstances that took place while writing the piece (particularly the dominant mode of production, the myths - prominent discourse at the time, and the material conditions surrounding the text), and shows how those elements are reflected in the text itself. Err...I've never really thought of Marxist Literary Theory as anything more than a completely contextual way of looking at literature.

[Sixiang]

I'll try and sum it up briefly. Basically, Marxist Literary Theory tries to take into account the historical circumstances that took place while writing the piece (particularly the dominant mode of production, the myths - prominent discourse at the time, and the material conditions surrounding the text), and shows how those elements are reflected in the text itself. Err...I've never really thought of Marxist Literary Theory as anything more than a completely contextual way of looking at literature.

Thanks. I guess I always was interested in that aspect of literature anyway. I always like to read about the author before, during, and after I read one of their works to understand where they were coming from so that I can better try to see what they were trying to say with the work.

Since posting this thread, I found a few sites with brief lists of overall principles that Marxist literary criticism is generally about. Here are some if anyone is interested:

http://www1.assumption.edu/users/ady/hhgateway/gateway/Marxistlitcrit.html

http://www.wsu.edu/~delahoyd/marxist.crit.html