MARXISM

(Marxist Literary Theory)

Partaw Naderi
(AUTHOR OF THE TEXT)

Earth
(TEXT)

MEMBERS
Lomibao, Angelica Joenne
Patawe, Kissiah Kate
Villanueva, Ray Justin A.
 MARXIST LITERARY THEORY
‘’It is not the consciousness of men that determines their being, but, on the contrary, their social being that
determines their consciousness.’’

1. DEFINING MARXIST LITERARY THEORY

- Marxist literary theory based on Marxism is one of the most influential critical theories to analyze literature.
- Marxism is the school of thought founded by Karl Marx (1818-1883), a German Philosopher, and a
German sociologist Friedrich Engels (1820-1895).

1a.) IN A SOCIOLOGIST PERSPECTIVE

- In economics and sociology, Marxist theory or Marxism comes from the thought of Karl Marx and
Engels. They divided people into two categories- one who have wealth and another who haven't.
- They searched the way of emancipation for the poor downtrodden section of people against the
oppression of the capitalist (those who have wealth) and wanted to make poor people or proletariats (who
has nothing except his/her labour power) conscious about their rights.

1b.) IN A LITERARY CRITIC PERSPECTIVE

- In literature specifically in literary theory, a Marxist interpretation reads the text as an expression of
contemporary class struggle. Literature is not simply a matter of personal expression or taste. It somehow
relates to the social and political conditions of the time.
- Marxism also is a materialist philosophy which tried to interpret the world based on the concrete, natural
world around us and the society we live in. It is opposed to idealist philosophy which conceptualizes
a spiritual world elsewhere that influences and controls the material world.
- It emphasizes the thought that differences in classes creates different views and these different views
create strife and conflict.
- For Karl, it's all about the power struggle: rich versus poor, owners versus workers, cats versus dogs.
In literature, the power struggle plays evident in every novel, poem, movie, song.
- Marxism hopes to create some sort of balance that makes the world a better, more secure place for those
who have been oppressed and controlled.
- Literature thus reveals to us the spirit of the times, the issues that mattered to people. Literature (and
entertainment) is about much more than enjoyment or escapism: it is a manifestation of class struggle.

1c.) SAMPLE TEXTS

- Collins’ Hunger Games Trilogy
- Roth’s Divergent
- Wordsworth’s I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud

2. STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES

2a.) STRENGTHS
þ It has the ability to adapt to a changing intellectual climate.
þ It approaches the reality of life (not idealistic), and values circumstances (how events influence society).
þ It has a varied and versatile approach, thus an all-encompassing critical method.
þ It seeks to identify disguised political and social means of oppression by means of pulling out textual clues
and symbols (uncover hidden textual elements).

2b.) WEAKNESSES
- Its intensity of views is often confused with moral issues.
- It also deals excessively with economic systems, which leads to the possibility of missing other important
elements.
 - It can at times be contradictory with values that only exist in the material world.
- Like other theories, it can be formulaic at times, sometimes going to extremes to make things fit.

3. KEY IDEAS OF MARXISM:

1. All art is about making money, even Shakespeare’s play
2. The idea that you are a free thinker in control of your life is an illusion
3. We shouldn’t think the same as we do now If we were an Eskimo in 1000AD or Japanese in 3000BC.
4. You can’t think outside your society’s box.
5. There is nothing stopping poor people becoming rich if they put their mind to it. (Opposite of Marxist
theory)
6. The social class or background an author comes from is reflected in their works – even if they don’t
realize it.

4. ANALYSING MARXISM LITERARY THEORY:

The theory must follow the 4 Elements regarding the theory:
a.) CONTENT- Should be portrayed as being oppressive to most people
b.) WRITER - On the side of the oppressed
c.) ELEMENT- Follows the rules laid down by literary tradition
d.) READER- Enlightened about the relationship of the powerful few to the powerless many

KNOWING THE AUTHOR

Who is Partaw Naderi?
- Nasrullah Partaw Naderi is a socio-political activist, author and poet, has more media and public visibility
than any of his contemporaries in the country or abroad from badakhshan Province of Afghanistan.

PLACE OF BIRTH: Nasrullah Partaw Naderi was born in 1952 in Jershah Baba village of Badakhshan
province.

LITERARY GENRES: Because Naderi is popularly known and confined in the context of poetry, he is used to
create in genres of poetry like narrative poem defined as the verse that tells a story and free verse that has
no fixed pattern of meter, rhyme, line length, or stanza arrangement.

THEMES OF LITERARY PIECES:

- Originally, Naderi in his poetry expresses his deep love for nature, rural life, and simple mountain people.
From his early age, he loved reading literature, particularly poetry. The beautiful mountainous setting of
his village inspired him to write his own lyrics. Now widely regarded as one of the leading modernist poets
in Afghanistan, the lyrical intensity of his work coupled with his bold use of free verse distinguishing him
as a highly original and important poet
- His poetry is also a reflection of his social and political views. Images of poverty, imprisonment, drought,
Taliban-style tyranny and obscurantism, destruction and death abound also in his poems.

TEXT ANALYSIS
THEORY APPLICATION: ESCAPIST MARXISM
- Although it was clear for everyone, even Marxists, that Marxism has something to do with economy, social
classes, class struggles, this text, goes beyond from the pigeonhole or typecast Marxism. Upon looking at
the text itself, it only tackles a certain life of someone and his struggles on living in Earth.
- The text itself has nothing to do with the economic, monetary or labour aspect. However, digging deeply,
the essence of the text is a manifestation of struggles of the life of man with Earth, and humankind itself
and how Earth and the life of man are interchangeably entities suffering from struggles brought by their
differences.
- Hence, the text is an escapist one.

ENTITIES/ CLASSES INVOLVED:

a.) Proletariat
- From the text, we can assert that the proletariats or the lower classes are men, for they are the
oppressed ones here and their struggles are given emphasis in the poem itself.
b.) Bourgeoisie
- On the other hand, though not directly mentioned in the text, it was obviously the societal factors are
the higher classes in the text, for they are the controlling entities putting the proletariat in oppression
and struggle.
- For example, politics, literature, conflicts of the man – these are the factors putting the life of man here
on Earth in deep oppression.

AUTHOR REFLECTION: The social class or background an author comes from is reflected in
their works – even if they don’t realize it.
- Coming from a grief-stricken country, Afghanistan, it was evident in the poem how Naderi reflects his
social background and class to the ideas of his poem. It was clearly stated in the poem the different
struggles that the entities experience.
- From the sorrowful life of man to the bloodied and grief stricken Earth, it indeed shows the common
situation in countries in South and Western Asia where Afghanistan is included. This places are
common war grounds, places of alienation and oppression.
- Hence, it was clearly shown that the social class of the author reflects in the text.

BASED ON THE MARXIST LITERARY THEORY APPROACH

1. CONTENT- Should be portrayed as being oppressive to most people
‘’ She understands the sorrow of my wandering’’
‘’ Perhaps life is a crow that takes flight with Satan’s wings’’
‘’Perhaps life is Satan himself, awakening a wicked man to murder’’
‘’Perhaps life is the grief-stricken earth, who has opened up her bloodied arms to me’’

- The key elements or entities being talked about in the text are described as oppressed beings, from the
wanderings of man filled with sorrow, the life of man being compared to the crow, to Satan, and the grief-
stricken Earth, indeed, oppression is really evident and related to people. Thus, it is oppressive to most
people.

2. WRITER - On the side of the oppressed

- Obviously, knowing that the author’s social context is reflected in the text, and the text gives emphasis
and sympathy to the struggles of man against the differing factors in Earth, the writer is bias with the
oppressed.
- The author is no strange from the struggles of the protagonist which can also be considered as the
proletariats (or those in the lower class) who are usually oppressed, knowing the fact that Naderi came
from Afghanistan where these scuffles are evident.

3. ELEMENT- Follows the rules laid down by literary tradition

- Technically speaking, this text follows the rules of poetry, from the construction itself, though it is free
verse, the said text is still in line with the rules of poetry. Figuratively, this rule is included in the approach
 for it was aforementioned that in Marxism is lined to concreteness, naturalness and only contained in the
society of thought where it does belong.
- Indeed, you can’t think outside your society’s box – as mentioned in the key ideas.

-
4. READER- Enlightened about the relationship of the powerful few to the powerless many
- As readers, we, personally were enlightened on the how do few factors in our society, specifically on
Earth, affects the mass or most of the people. That though they’re few in nature, still they’re powerful
enough to oppress the many, or the people.
- The author himself, using this text, views the world as a negative and war-stricken realm, filled with
struggles and oppression from the bourgeoisie (the differing ideologies of man, the conflicts, the arts,
literature) but he does find the comfort on it.
- He already believed that we, as men, though, we can go beyond these frustrations, in a Marxist view, we
have nothing to do with this, it’s already innate on it, that we don’t have the capacity to find solutions, for
again, these struggles are too powerful yet few.

GENERAL ANALYSIS:
- The text does discuss and imparts to everyone the struggles of men in Earth due to societal factors
affecting us. Thus, this makes the men as the proletariats and the struggles mentioned as the
bourgeoisie controlling the fate of men.
- The text primarily manifests the struggles of men being controlled and oppressed by those factors. This
makes the text to be considered as a Marxist text.
- The text in nature is considered to be an escapist Marxism for it escapes to the general principles
regarding the theory which circles in the economic society of man. However, due to similarities and
figurative approach, the said text can be considered and analyzed as a Marxist text.
- It is also a reflection of the social background of the author, Naderi, who came from a war-stricken
place where alienation and oppression is evident. This kind of approach of author makes the text also a
Marxist one.
- The text complied also with the key ideas and approaches required in analyzing a Marxist text.
- This text proved that for a Marxist view, our fate is controlled by the concrete factors in the society, not
being an idealistic one but somehow realistic. This leads us to the acceptance of our fate as mankind,
that we cannot think outside of the society’s box, for we are oppressed by the powerful few and The
idea that you are a free thinker in control of your life is an illusion.