الفهرس | Only 14 pages are availabe for public view |
Abstract Marxist literary theory is a theory of literature which is mainly based on Marx social and political theory. In other words, Marxist literary theory applies its social principles to the study of cultural practices. Earlier Marxist critic thought that the economic practice is the base which determines the superstructure practices; such as law and literature. More sophisticated Marxists refused this reflection model and called for a degree of independence for superstructure elements. So Marxism’s central problem is to define the precise nature of the relationship between the base and the superstructure; to what extent and by what means the base determines the elements of the superstructure. Ideology is a notion which Marxists used as a midway process between the base and the superstructure; it is a controversial term which has a variety of meanings. The French philosopher Louis Althusser provided a multi-dimension vision of the term, his theory of ideology represents a step forward in Marxist literary criticism. Althusser’s view of ideology and ISAs encouraged modern Marxist critics , like Terry Eagleton and Pierre Macherey , to examine their Marxist views , and to determine the role of the Marxist critic. The main emphasis of this thesis is the contribution of Louis Althusser, Pierre Macherey and Terry Eagleton to the Marxist literary theory, based on their views of the relationship between literature, ideology and society, and the function of criticism in determining such a relation. This thesis is divided into three chapters : chapter one introduces the basis of Marxist literary theory and Althusser theory of ideology , chapter two examines the relationship between ideology and literature , and chapter three represents a study of their views of the role of criticism. |