Marxist literary criticism

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Marxist literary criticism is a theory of literary criticism based on the historical materialism developed by philosopher and economist Karl Marx. Marxist critics argue that even art and literature themselves form social institutions and have specific ideological functions, based on the background and ideology of their authors. The English literary critic and cultural theorist Terry Eagleton defines Marxist criticism this way "Marxist criticism is not merely a 'sociology of literature', concerned with how novels get published and whether they mention the working class. It aims to explain the literary work more fully; and this means a sensitive attention to its forms, styles, and meanings. But it also means grasping those forms, styles and meanings as the product of a particular history." In Marxist criticism, class struggle and relations of production are the central instruments in analysis. Most Marxist critics who were writing in what could chronologically be specified as the early period...

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