Marxism Applications/Terminology

Base and Superstructure

• society economic base (means of production + product relations people enter)

Class consciousness

The set of beliefs a person has regarding their social class/economic rank in society.

An individuals awareness and understanding of their social class status within the broader societal structure. (Aware of differences between classes, and that you belong to a particular class)

Not being deceived, aware of common interest with other members of similar class.

Proletariat + Bourgeouise

• Bourgeoisie = dominant class which own the means of production

• Proletariat = working class that must sell their labour to live

Establishment and exploration of these ideological power dynamic between these classes raises conflict about their social inequalities.

Critiques the “human cost” of capitalism - suffering, marginalisation.

Texts portraying these archetypes expose how the B promote their values and ideology, often through media and culture, to exploit the P and remain in power

Alienation theory

• A consequence of the labour division between the B vs P, wherein a human being’s life is lived as a mechanistic part of a social class (cog in the wheel). Form the belief that their life is meaningless, as there is always another of to replace them.

• The estrangement of people from their work, wider world, humanity, and overall selves. deprived of their own subjectivity. Their lives are dictated by the B.

Ultimately reveals how capitalism disconnects people from their work, products they make, humanity, human nature. Emphasising hw the class divide causes feelings of powerlessness, isolation and distorted sense of self, resulting in the dehumanisation within capitalist systems for the lower class.

Commodification of Culture

How culture, art, traditions and symbols are turned into good and services that can be bought.

Devalues things with cultural significance and the community behind them in place of economic exchange. (Lead to loss of authenticity and exploitation of marginalisedcommunities)

Critiques this as a negative aspect of capitalism promoting profit, causing standardised and less meaningful culture)

Consumerism

Focus on the cultural phenomenon shaping society, the emphasis on consumption.

Presents idea that consumption can lead to happiness, it feeds the immediate satisfaction of desires. Ultimately reinforces how money is the primary/ ultimate measure of value.

Big companies also use advertising to promote this over consumption culture as it means ore profit, regardless of the environmental impacts.

Dialectical materialism

Materialism: asserts that economic and material conditions are the primary drivers of history and society, including the creation of literature.

Dialects: the process of change and development through the interaction of opposing forces or contradictions in literature, the conflict between different social classes and their ideas.

Examines how social and economic forces shape literary content and how literature works in turn to reflect, reinforce or challenge these structures.

This theory can be used to analyse the relationship between literature and different social classes, examining how it represents or serves the interests of the ruling or oppressed class.

False consciousness

A state where individuals/groups, particularly the Woking class, unknowingly adopt and internalise beliefs and values of a dominant class. Leading to them to act against their own objective interest and interest of their social group.

Where societal structures/institutions spread information/ideas that obscure exploitation + inequalities inherently within the system, preventing workers from recognising shared struggles, thus hindering their ability to unite against the status quo.

False consciousness helps maintains exisiting power structures and prevents social progress.

Thus theory aims to reveal this false minds set being perpetuated, instead pushing for self actualisation of workers.

Class struggle

Exposes and critiques power dynamics between the dominant capitalist class B and the P.

societal inequalities, and how class conflict shapes the content and meaning of texts.

Explores how texts can raise class consciousness and promote social change.

Commodity fetishism

Describes how the labour behind producing goods is obscured, making it appear that commodities possess inherent value and social power rather than being products of human activity.

Consumption is glorified for the product, not the labour behind it. Form of reification, where social relationships between people in the production and exchange of goods are recieved as relationships between commodities.

Provides framework to see examine how literature depicts and engages with consumerism, focusing on the allure and social power of commodities.