Matt Stevenson & David Wang
MARXIST CRITICISM HANDOUT
EXPLANATION
Marxist criticism is the application of Marxist theory to the examination of literature, namely the role
of society and of class struggles in literature. The goal of this literary movement is to highlight the
socioeconomic advantages of communism and the ultimate flaws of capitalism. There are two principle
components of Marxist criticism: genetic and Hegelian.
Genetic Marxist criticism is the application of Marxist theory as an analytical, literary tool (Quinn, 1).
Hegelian Marxist criticism is the application of Marxist theory as a political and social device (Quinn,
2).
HISTORY
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, both German idealists, wrote the Communist Manifesto in 1848
(Krueger, 2). This work advocated that the most effective socioeconomic ideology was communism,
which would put an end to all class struggles. Capitalism, on the other hand, was doomed to fail. In the
following years, they also produced Das Kapital, a text that was very critical of capitalism, specifically
its economic faults (Krueger, 2). The ideas presented in these works became closely tied to the
communist political movement. Although their ideas eventually evolved into two separate literary
movements, genetic and Hegelian, the works of Marx and Engels contained both aspects.
The idealism of Marx and Engel ultimately culminated in the October Revolution of 1917 and the rise
of communist Bolshevik-Russia, in place of the feudalistic Tsarist-Russia (Carr, 85). The proponents of
Marxism effectively spurred on this political movement during the twentieth century, as it propagated
around the world. The prevalence of literary Marxist criticism grew accordingly. As the century came
to a close, the communist political movement waned; consequently, Marxist criticism as a literary
movement became increasingly more uncommon (Quinn, 4).
AUTHORS
Georg Lukacs was one of the first literary critics to follow the ideals of Marx and Engels (Fowler, 2).
He strove to relate historical periods with the rise and fall of literary movements through their
relationship with class struggles. Along with his disciple, Lucien Goldmann, Lukacs promoted Marxist
criticism before the rise of communist Russia (Fowler, 2).
Marxist theory was later adopted as the initial central doctrine of the newly-formed Soviet Union,
whose principal advocate was Leon Trotsky (Quinn, 4). Trotsky presented the Marxist ideas as the
original theorists had intended them to be; however, when Josef Stalin took power, he corrupted these
ideas and had Trotsky killed (Carr, 428). This marked the beginning of the end of Marxist criticism.
Structuralism impacted Marxist criticism by 1960’s, an example being the works of Louis Althusser, a
structuralist-marxist author who sees ideology as a system of social practices (Quinn, 5). Raymond
Williams was a para-marxist who rejected the ideological literary component of Marxist criticism
(Quinn, 5). Terry Eagleton was an English critic who looked past the consistency of a literary text and
exposed its inconsistencies and contradictions (Quinn, 5). The structuralist influence on Marxist
criticism is reflected off the works of Frederic Jameson who argues the flaw of structuralism is the lack
of historical analysis (Quinn, 5).
Matt Stevenson & David Wang
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Carr, Edward Hallett. The Bolshevik Revolution, 1917-1923. Baltimore, Maryland: Penguin Books,
1966.
Fowler, Roger. A Dictionary of Modern Critical Terms. New York, NY: Routledge, 1987. 141-145.
Print.
Krueger, Christine, ed. "Marx, Karl." Encyclopedia of British Writers, 19th Century, vol. 1. New York:
Facts On File, Inc., 2002. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc.
http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin=
EBWIXX273&SingleRecord=True (accessed February 4, 2010).
Quinn, Edward. "Marxist criticism." A Dictionary of Literary and Thematic Terms, Second Edition.
New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2006.Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc.
http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin=
Gfflithem0483&SingleRecord=True (accessed February 15, 2010).