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TOPIC: MARXIST CRITICISM Department of English Language and Literature, Islamic International University, Islamabad

Marxist Criticism

Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels were the joint founders of the theory of Marxism. Marxism can be defined as a system of economic, social, and political philosophy based on ideas that view social change in terms of economic factors. The aim of Marxism is to bring a classless society which is based on the common means of production, distribution and exchange. Marxism is a materialist philosophy because money occupies the central position in it. Class struggle is one of the basic concepts of Marxism. Marxism is of the view that a society progresses when different social classes struggle and compete with each other for the power. This competition is for economic power, social power and political power. Economic power is always related to social and political power. The one who has money will have power. That is why a class is often referred as socioeconomic class rather than just economic class. The differences in the socioeconomic class divide people in to two categories: the haves and the have nots. Haves are the bourgeoisie i.e. those who control the worlds natural, economic and human resources. Have nots are the proletariat i.e. those who do not own the resources and who perform the manual labor to earn a living.

In this struggle the proletariat class, is exploited by the bourgeoisie class. The result of this exploitation is alienation. Alienation is when the worker is deskilled by doing the same work again and again without even knowing the purpose of the work being done. Marx observed that these alienated workers undergo the process of reification. Reification is when the profit and loss becomes the main purpose of the capitalist. So the capitalists just look for their own benefit and thus the workers are not cared about. They are just thought of as hands or laborer force and thus they are bereft of all humanity and concern. The simplest Marxist model of the society consists of two things: base and superstructure. Base forms the economics of the society i.e., the material means of production, distribution and exchange. All other institutions other than the economic institution are included in the superstructure. Superstructure is the cultural world of ideas, art, religion, government, law etcMarxist criticism says that base shapes or determines the superstructure. This concept is known as economic determinism. In Marxist terminology, Economic conditions are referred as material circumstances. While the social, political or ideological atmosphere generated by material conditions is called historical condition. Marxist theory, in other words, is also known as historical materialism. Marxist thinking on literature has been influenced by French Marxist, Althusser. He gave a number of concepts. Some of them are: Over determinism refers to the effects produced by a variety of causes, acting simultaneously. This means that literature is not only affected by a single cause i.e., economics but there are also other causes. This concept denies one to one correspondence between base and superstructure. Relative autonomy refers to the view that in spite of the close connections between culture and economics, art has a certain degree of independence from the economics. This concept strengthens the view that superstructure is not entirely determined by the base or economics. Althusser also gave the concept of repressive structures and ideological apparatuses( state ideological apparatuses). State power is maintained by repressive structures that operate by means of external force. These structures include institutions like the law courts, prison, the police force and the army. The state power is also controlled subtly by means of ISAs. These are such groupings as political parties, schools, the media, churches, the family, and art. These institutions induce the ideology which is sympathetic to the aims of the state and the political status quo. Thus we feel that we are freely choosing, what is in fact being imposed on us. Althusser defined ideology as: ideology is a system of representations (images, myths, ideas or concepts according to the case) endowed with an existence and an historical role at the heart of the society. The poor people dont develop the class consciousness because they are oppressed not only by the RSAs but also by ISAs or the ideologies. Ideologies blind the person from the truth and people see the repressive ideologies as the natural way of seeing the world. In

this way ideologies keep the people in power. Some of the ideologies which are prevalent in our society but go unnoticed are: Sexist ideology: it states that men are superior to women physically, intellectually and emotionally. American Dream: it tells that financial success is simply a product of initiative and hard work. Classicism: it equates ones values as a human being with the social class to which one belongs. This ideology propounds the view that people at the top of the social class are naturally superior to the other classes. High class people are trustworthy, intelligent, responsible, ethical etc. while people of the lower class are dishonest, lazy, irresponsible etc.. Patriotism: it is an ideology that keeps poor people fighting wars against poor people from other countries in the name of patriotism. Religion: it is the ideology that keeps the poor people satisfied with their lot. It inculcates the belief in the poor people that God made the whole world so it is forbidden to try to change it and act against the government. The ideology satisfies the poor people by saying that if they remain patient in this world then they will be rewarded in the heavens. Karl Marx said that, Religion is the opium of the masses. It is called as the opium because it satisfies the people after being suppressed by the society. Rugged Individualism: it is the ideology in which an individual focuses on his own interest even above the needs and survival of other people. By focusing on me instead of us this repressive ideology works against the wellbeing of the society. Consumerism: this ideology states that: I am only as good as what I buy. So people buy costly products so that people may think that they are rich. Capitalism: it supports the belief in the society that everyone must own some property. All these ideologies present some sort of ideal situations so, people try to reach that ideal state. Even if the ideologies dont produce the desired results yet people aspire to them. This is what Marxism calls as false consciousness. False consciousness is when an ideal functions to mask its own failure. Its purpose is to support those who are in power. Althussers concept of ISAs or ideologies is closely related to the concept of hegemony, given by Gramsci. Gramsci contrasts rule, which is direct political control maintained by force, and hegemony. Hegemony is the whole livid social process as practically organized by specific and dominant meanings, values and beliefs of a kind which can be abstracted as a world view or class outlook. In brief when an ideology is internalized than it becomes hegemony.

Interpellation is yet another term propounded by Althusser. Interpellation is when an individual is encouraged to make a choice, independent of social forces. However, in reality the choice is not available. One of the most damaging effects of Marxism is that a commoditys value does not lie in what can do, i.e. its use value, but in the money or other commodities for which it can be traded i.e. its exchange value, or in the social status that it confers on its owner (sign- exchange value.) an object becomes a commodity only when it has exchange value or sign exchange value. In the Marxist society commodification is prevalent. Commodification is the act of relating to objects or persons terms of their exchange value or sign exchange value. Human relations are also commodified when people structure their relations so as to promote their financial and social advancement. In a nutshell Marxism propounds that society should be based on a classless society. Marxism unveils a number of ideologies that the political parties propagate to serve their own purpose.