Assignment #7: Marxism

Here it comes... Marxism!!!

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As it turns out, I didn't need much of a review for this, because apparently I'm a little bit Marxist!

A Marxist perspective adheres to the belief that "differences in socioeconomic class divice people in ways that are much more significant than differences in religion, race, ethnicity, or gender" (Tyson 54). Marx himself believed that economics formed the base which undergrids all social / political ideological superstructures. Therefore, to interpret history (or literature) demands that we take into account the material conditions under which historical events / phenomenon are formed.

My own research has delved often into ideology, or as Tyson defines it, "belief systems... [which are the] products of cultural conditioning" (56). Capitalism, nationalism, religion, the American Dream, yoga - ideologies all. And sometimes undesirable and repressive, seeking to "prevent us from understanding the material / historical conditions in which we live because they refuse to acknowledge that those conditions have any bearing on the way we see the world" (57). I was just reading a 1941 essay by Adorno, on the subject of popular music, and frankly - I think it still holds water. Standardized pop culture distracting and depoliticizing the proletariat? Check! I mean, why is it that I feel more emotion about Lady Gaga's new video than the BP oil spill? Which one does the media shove in my face, dissect, and glamorize? Certainly not the real issues, which if I perhaps better understood, I would be more angry. I'd be able to talk to others about this anger, thereby risking mass action, thereby leading to the dreaded revolutions so feared by the bourgeousie ("those who control the world's natural, economic, and human resources" 54). In theory. At least I know enough to be suspicious of the American media and its quiet downplaying (or outright manipulation and polarization of) issues which, like it or not, impact my life - and probably not for my benefit.

My other favorite ideas from Marxism [all definitions from Ann B. Dobie's text]:

-conspicious consumption! (the obvious acquissition of things only for their sign value and/or exchange value", 92)
- material circumstances! (the economic conditions underlying society. To understand social events, one must have a grasp of the material circumstancse and the historical situation in which they occur, 92)
- superstructure! )the social ,political, and ideological systems and institutions - for example, teh values, art, and legal processes of a society - that are generated by the base"
-dialectical materialism! )the theory that history develops neither in a random fashion nor in a linear one but instead as a strugle between contradictions that ultimately find resolution in a synthesis of both sides."

So, Marxist lit critics consider how literature is located within its social, economic, and historical context, "and to undrstand how the ideas advanced in the work relate to the ideas and values that circulated in the society of the time" (Ryan 54). Frankly, Marxism makes it difficult for me to blindly enjoy, say, "The Song of Roland," because clearly this "classic" was unknown to the majority of actual medieval people - illiterate folk for whom oral storytelling and visual arts (via stained glass and public religious art) formed an important part of the culture. If I ever get to be a professor, you can be sure I'll be teaching both. The texts we have today are reflective of only a tiny minority, consisting of the literate and the rich - save the monastic scribes who also had access to them, of course. Sure, it's fun to dwell on the mystical aspects of Arthurian literature, but aren't we perpetuating snobbery? Aren't students (and scholars) left with a superficial and elitist understanding of literature without the inclusion of a Marxist perspective? I'm not trying to overtly politicize the classroom, but rather embrace the Marxist call to examine, analyze, and acknowledge that class differences and ideologies are part and parcel of culture; that literature is a production of culture, and therefore it's a critical link to take into account in order to in turn examine our social, political and economic circumstances today. Engels, who wrote of the creation of a false consciousness, would agree.

I'm strollling leisurely through my Eagleton too, but as it is a warm summer day, Gramsci nearly put me to sleep.

Questions to pose in a Marxist vein (adapted from Tyson 68):
1. Does the work reinforce (intentionally or not) capitalist, imperialist, or classist values?
2. How might the work be a critique of such values?
3. does teh work reflect (intentionally or not) the socioeconomic conditiosn of the time in which it was written?
4. How does ideology function to keep a character from realizing and resisting socioeconomic oppression?