After reading Dr. Craig's blog post about Marxist theory, I feel that I was able to gain a better understanding of Marxism in general as well as the Marxist theory.
Who knew that one could walk into a seemingly innocent department store and suddenly be suckered into Marxist beliefs? Or so we think. I must say that I have to agree with Dr. Craig's idea that the Manifesto is not viewed the same way in today's capitalistic society. While the pants on display may tell of a revolution, however, its not the same revolution Marx wants us to partake in - communism. Instead it is a "fashion revolution" - a revolution that these pants will mark "a radical change" in our society. We'll call it, "Burgundy is the new Black!" Lost in this new change, are the ideas of balancing out the ruling class because when you look closely, you are actually helping the ruling class in some sweatshop out there.
The most interesting part of Dr. Craig's lecture was his sports analogy. How many times have we, either as students or as adults, on a fall Sunday afternoon invited a few friends over to relax and watch the "game of the week?" Pretty much all of us. Yet, how would you feel if you realized that your nice, relaxing day away from the office, still considers you to be "working?" With Dr. Craig's statement, "American ruling class ideology continuously spins narratives that attempt to limit the working class’s ability to recognize and respond to its own subjugation," we as a society, do not even recognize that we are being fooled by the ruling class. Our distraction is really a money maker for the ruling class, whom is earning a profit off each potato chip we eat, case of beer we buy, and advertisements we watch. Yet, even for those who do recognize this hegemonic power, we, as "workers in the low-wage" jobs continue to take the ideology of the ruling class as truth. We do nothing to change the situation - it just continues to happen.
Even with literature, we can easily become consumed and "distracted" by the plot of the book without truly understanding what the text is trying to tell say. In order to not become too distracted or sucked in - whether it be at a sports bar, a department store display, or even in a great piece of literature - one must truly look deeper and closer to the meaning that is revealed underneath the surface.
Until next time...
pelipuff
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Marxism vs. liberal humanism: Who wins?
Karl Marx - what a guy. To him, there was no such thing as class. Every single person was on the same playing field no matter where you techinically stood on the "economic ladder." But, while to some his theories about society may have been considered to be "genius", Marxist theory and liberal humanism seem to be at odds.
In one corner you have Marxist criticism - all power must be balanced, and wealth should be spread out rather than some having all of it.
In the other corner, awaiting patiently is liberal humanism - an idea that we read literature to futher understand the ideas of human nature, because it ".. transcends... " (Barry 17).
Round after round, theorists can duel debating the pros and cons of each form of criticism with no result in sight. So I took it upon my liberties to make a small contribution in the ongoing battle.
Engelsian marxism states that there is a freedom to writing whatever it is that you want to write -there does not need to be a direct relationship between the economic system and art/literature, only relatively. Literature does not necessarilly need to be connected to economics and social class when reading closely because "language of literature has its own characteristics procedures and effects" - never mind all this silly nonsense about class from the "ordinary language." (Barry 161) Liberal humanism sees it differently. It sees that language - more specifically "form and content" are placed together in a natural way because one "grows from another" (which would explain why when writing a paper, content and form are like two peas in a pod.. but I digress).
Yet, as I look at this from my own personal experience, the liberal humanism aspect is what sucks me into a book. All of the fluffy and descriptive language - regardless of the plot -help me enjoy the plot because it hides (temporarily) the ideas of the economic or political systems as I sit and ponder what is going to happen next to the main character of the story without thinking about how his character could change because of his social class standing, etc.
The bell has rung - this match/round is over.
Until next time....
pelipuff
In one corner you have Marxist criticism - all power must be balanced, and wealth should be spread out rather than some having all of it.
In the other corner, awaiting patiently is liberal humanism - an idea that we read literature to futher understand the ideas of human nature, because it ".. transcends... " (Barry 17).
Round after round, theorists can duel debating the pros and cons of each form of criticism with no result in sight. So I took it upon my liberties to make a small contribution in the ongoing battle.
Engelsian marxism states that there is a freedom to writing whatever it is that you want to write -there does not need to be a direct relationship between the economic system and art/literature, only relatively. Literature does not necessarilly need to be connected to economics and social class when reading closely because "language of literature has its own characteristics procedures and effects" - never mind all this silly nonsense about class from the "ordinary language." (Barry 161) Liberal humanism sees it differently. It sees that language - more specifically "form and content" are placed together in a natural way because one "grows from another" (which would explain why when writing a paper, content and form are like two peas in a pod.. but I digress).
Yet, as I look at this from my own personal experience, the liberal humanism aspect is what sucks me into a book. All of the fluffy and descriptive language - regardless of the plot -help me enjoy the plot because it hides (temporarily) the ideas of the economic or political systems as I sit and ponder what is going to happen next to the main character of the story without thinking about how his character could change because of his social class standing, etc.
The bell has rung - this match/round is over.
Until next time....
pelipuff
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
After all it's all about the wordplay...
It may be a surprise to many - especially in a world where cyberspace seems to be taking over - that this whole concept of blogging is fairly new to me. While I have "blogged" before, I am still working out the kinks.
This blog, specifically, comes courtesy of a Critical Theory class I am enrolled in - the next step in achieving a major in English. Now you may be asking, "If she is an English major, shouldn't she already know about theories?" Incorrect, dear readers. While previous major requirements have enlightened me on the various styles of theory, none of them have truly gone in depth into the concept of theory.
While it is only the second or third day of starting this class, I must admit that this class already has promise. Not promise in the sense that it was going to beat theory to death, but that it is engaging and approaches theory from an interesting perspective. Already my class has contributed points about differences between reading for a class in high school and in college. Clearly, we all decided that college allows students to truly grasp at what a book is trying to convey. Rather than just reading to complete the assignment, we all read to understand the "theory" behind it. What really makes the book tick.
When the winter starts showing is cold, frosty face in the city of Boston, and finals are doing loops in many students brains, I hope to be able to post back on this blog with a statement about how much I enjoyed taking this class and how better prepared I feel about choosing English as my future career path.
Until next time....
~Pelipuff
This blog, specifically, comes courtesy of a Critical Theory class I am enrolled in - the next step in achieving a major in English. Now you may be asking, "If she is an English major, shouldn't she already know about theories?" Incorrect, dear readers. While previous major requirements have enlightened me on the various styles of theory, none of them have truly gone in depth into the concept of theory.
While it is only the second or third day of starting this class, I must admit that this class already has promise. Not promise in the sense that it was going to beat theory to death, but that it is engaging and approaches theory from an interesting perspective. Already my class has contributed points about differences between reading for a class in high school and in college. Clearly, we all decided that college allows students to truly grasp at what a book is trying to convey. Rather than just reading to complete the assignment, we all read to understand the "theory" behind it. What really makes the book tick.
When the winter starts showing is cold, frosty face in the city of Boston, and finals are doing loops in many students brains, I hope to be able to post back on this blog with a statement about how much I enjoyed taking this class and how better prepared I feel about choosing English as my future career path.
Until next time....
~Pelipuff
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