 Marx believed that the

means of production (i.e.,

the basis of power in society)
should be placed in the
hands of those who
actually operated them.
 He wrote that economic
and political revolutions
around the world would
eventually place power in
the hands of the masses,
the laborers.
 Marxism asserts that
literature is a
reflection of culture,
and that culture can be
influenced by
literature; Marxists
believe literature can
instigate revolution.
Kung ang Tula ay Isa Lamang
Jesus Manuel Santiago
Kung ang tula ay isa lamang
pumpon ng mga salita,
nanaisin ko pang ako'y bigyan
ng isang taling kangkong
dili kaya'y isang bungkos
ng mga talbos ng kamote
na pinupol sa kung aling
pusalian
o inumit sa bilao
ng kung sinong maggugulay,
pagkat ako'y nagugutom
at ang bituka'y walang ilong,
walang mata.
Malaon nang pinamanhid
ng dalita ang panlasa
kaya huwag,
mga pinagpipitaganang
makata
ng bayan ko,
huwag ninyo akong alukin
ng mga taludtod
kung ang tula ay isa lamang
pumpon ng mga salita.
1. Economic Power
 A society is shaped by its forces of
production. Those who own the means of
production dictate what type of society it
is.
 The two main classes of society are:
a. the bourgeoisie (who control the means
of production and wealth) and
b. the proletariat (who operate the means
of production and are controlled by the
bourgeoisie).
2. Class Conflict
 A capitalist society will inevitably
experience conflict between its social
classes.
 The owners and the workers will have
different ideas about the division of the
wealth generated, and the owners will
ultimately make the decision.
 This constant conflict, or dialectical
materialism, is what instigates change.
3. Art, Literature, and Ideologies
 Art and literature are among the vehicles
by which the bourgeoisie impose their
value system on the proletariat. The arts
can make the current system seem
attractive and logical, thus lulling the
workers into an acceptance of it.
 Works of art and literature are enjoyable,
so the audience is unaware of being
manipulated.
 The bourgeoisie control most artistic
output.
 Hegemony - coined by the Italian theorist
Antonio Gramsci, this “refers to the pervasive
system of assumptions, meanings, and values—
the web of ideologies, in other words, that
shapes the way things look, what they mean,
and therefore what reality is for the majority of
people within a given culture.”
 Reification - often used to describe the way in
which people are turned into commodities
useful in market exchange.
 Ideology - the shared beliefs and values held in
an unquestioning manner by a culture.
 Whom does it benefit if the work or effort is
accepted/successful/believed, etc.?
 What is the social class of the author?
 Which class does the work claim to represent?
 What values does it reinforce?
 What values does it subvert?
 What conflict can be seen between the values the
work champions and those it portrays?
 What social classes do the characters represent?
 How do characters from different classes interact or
conflict?
 Bressler, C. E. Literary Criticism: An Introduction to Theory
and Practice. New York: Prentice Hall, 2004.
 Habib, M.A.R. A History of Literary Criticism: From Plato to
Present. Oxford, Blackwell, 2008.
 Leitch, Vincent B, Gen. Ed. The Norton Anthology of
Literary Theory and Criticism, New York and
London: W.W. Norton and Company, 2001.
 Roberts, Edgar V. Writing About Literature. New Jersey:
Prentice Hall, 2003.
 http://www.kristisiegel.com/theory.htm#newcriticism
 http://www1.assumption.edu/users/ady/hhgateway/gatew
ay/Approaches.html#New Criticism/Formalism