Tuesday 21 September 2021

ThAct : Marxist, Ecocritical, Feminist and Queer criticism

 This activity is a part of my academic writing...


1.Marxist criticism


Marxism was introduced by Karl Marx. Most Marxist critics, who were writing in what could chronologically be specified as the early period of Marxist literary criticism, subscribed to what has come to be called "vulgar Marxism." In this thinking of the structure of societies, literary texts are one register of the superstructure, which is determined by the economic base of any given society. Therefore, literary texts are a reflection of the economic base rather than "the social institutions from which they originate" for all social institutions, or more precisely human–social relationships, are in the final analysis determined by the economic base.

According to Marxists, even literature itself is a social institution and has a specific ideological function, based on the background and ideology of the author. 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. Its aim is 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."


1.Marxist criticism on the movie Modern Times (Charlie Chaplin, 1936)


Modern Times

A classic movie by Charlie Chaplin is a Marxist film? Chaplin was always sensitive to social problems. England has always been the land of socialist battles. Highgate cemetery is a sufficient proof of how deeply related England is to Marx’s life.

This film could be seen as a social accusation toward industrialization . If one wants to better understand what proletariat alienation is, this is the film to see. This movie is based on a simple concept which it explains well through stereotypical and ironic characters.

A society that works in a crazy context cannot be fit for man, who continuously searches to be free. If it is only a critical film more than constructive one, it reflects a particular aspect of industrial proletariat problems, a very old problem that is a socialist vindication but at the same time, is the basis of Marx’s philosophy.


2.Ecocritical criticism

Ecocriticism isthe study of literature and environment from an interdisciplinary point of view where all sciences come together to analyze the environment and brainstorm possible solutions for the correction of the contemporary environmental situation.

Ecocriticism asks us to examine ourselves and the world around us,critiquing the way that we represent, interact with, and construct the environment, both “natural” and manmade. At the heart of ecocriticism, many maintain, is “a commitment to environmentality from whatever critical vantage point.”


2.Ecocritical criticism on the movie Avatar.

One can easily identify the same core aspects of criticism in various articles. These can be summarized as the notion of a strong pro-environmentalism linked to a romanticized picture of nature and a relentless condemnation of the western world, if not the whole human kind. This goes along with a stance of anti-military and the praise of a religion which sees God in every animate and inanimate being and therefore encourages the strong bond with nature which is described in the reviews. All of these are notions often associated with the mindsets of Leftists and the Hippie counterculture of the 1960s, which are mentioned as well. Another remark to mention is that of a stereotyped good vs evil -scheme leaving no room for grey areas. In addition, some of the reviewers claim that the fancy filmmaking is meant to hide a bland storyline and at the same time, is the only thing that keeps the politically unconcerned audience entertained.



3.Feminist criticism

 Feminist criticism is concerned with "the ways in which literature (and other cultural productions) reinforce or undermine the economic, political, social, and psychological oppression of women".For example, feminist critics may claim that certain male writers address their readers as if they were all men and exclude the female reader. Much feminist literary theory reminds us that the relationship between men and women in society is often unequal and reflects a particular patriarchal ideology.


3.  Feminist criticism on The Hours (2002)

Director: Stephen Daldry

Who’s more of a feminist than Virginia Woolf? It’s no wonder that this film, which acts as a loving tribute to Woolf’s work, focuses not on one, but three women: Virginia Woolf (Nicole Kidman) herself, struggling to write her hit novel Mrs Dalloway in 1923, Laura Brown (Julianne Moore), an L.A. housewife who in 1951 is suffering from clinical depression, and book editor Clarissa Vaughn (Meryl Streep) in present day New York, who is planning a party for her friend and former lover Richard, who aptly nicknames her Mrs Dalloway.


4.Queer criticism

Queer literary criticism denotes a range of approaches to textual scholarship that analyze and contest heteronormative structures and relations of meaning.Queer Theory (QT) is both theory and political action. Definition is impossible, but QT can be summarised as exploring the oppressive power of dominant norms, particularly those relating to sexuality, and the immiseration they cause to those who cannot, or do not wish to, live according to those norms.Stories help shape cultures and if you hear no stories about something that is a part of you then, to my mind, that part of you can't possibly develop and mature at the same pace as the rest.

4.Queer criticism on Raging sun, Raging sky

Raging Sun, Raging Sky

A lot of the films on this list have been chosen for their social and political resonance alongside their entertainment value, but I have to be honest about the core virtue of Julian Hernandez’s 140-minute epic of desire and physicality: it’s really, really, reallyhot. The third in a trilogy of sensual gay experimental films by the Mexican auteur the other two, A Thousand Clouds of Peace and Broken Sky, are both well worth your while  is the most ravishing of the lot, tangling the restless earthly bodies and urges of young gay men with eerie spiritual challenges and complications. It’s queer eroticism given quasi-mythic grandeur.




Thank you...

No comments:

Post a Comment

Assignment of paper-4

Assignment  of Paper No. 4 Department of English,M. K. Bhavnagar University      Name :-  Chudasama Nanditaba kishorsinh Roll No :- 14 Depar...