LITR 5731 Colonial-Postcolonial Literature UHCL research posts 2009

LITR 5731 Colonial-Postcolonial Literature

1st Research Posts 2009

Tim Assel

Bringing Marxism into a Dialogue with Post-Colonial Studies

The story of Robinson Crusoe has been such an influential work of colonial literature that it even garnered mention in the Marx and Engels criticism of commodities (Marx p. 780). While the Marxist critics have discussed Crusoe’s economy, they have often ignored the broader issues of racism, slavery, and colonial class-structure. Neglect of post-colonial issues has caused Marxist criticism to be portrayed as Euro-centric. This negative portrayal has created tension between Marxist and Post-colonial theorists (Bartolovich p. 1). In order to break through this tension and combine Marxism with Post-colonial studies, one must consider how Marxist ideas can be brought into a dialogue with post-colonial studies.

To bring Marxism into a dialogue with post-colonial studies, one might first consider references to colonial literature in the works of Marxist theorists. As previously mentioned, Marx references Robinson Crusoe to explain the mystery of commodities by describing Crusoe’s management of goods and labor while alone on the island. Marx claims that Crusoe is able to base the value of objects and labor-time on necessity, since there are no social structures to influence his personal economy. However, Marx does not consider the effects of Crusoe’s eventual subjects on the economy of the island community. The question a post-colonial theorist must ask is what would be the benefit of applying Marxist ideas to the colonial economic-structures of the island community mentioned near the end of the novel.

Another aspect one must consider in a dialogue between Marxism and Post-colonial studies would be how contemporary theorists have characterized the weaknesses of Marxism in regards to literature. A prominent Marxist theorist, Raymond Williams, has even acknowledged the difficulties theorists have had in applying Marxism to literature. However, Williams claims that Marxism could be more successful if applied to the effects of literature on society and history (Williams p. 1574).

Robert Young, a contemporary theorist, has noted how Marxist criticism could be enhanced by relating literature to history. Young claims that early Marxist criticism assumed Marxism to represent the true meaning of history. However, Historicist critics claim that history is textual, so there are multiple meanings to history (Young p. 22). For example, Imperialistic ideologies still affect modern-day historical narratives, which typically represent only the perspectives of the colonizers. Post-colonial literary analysis provides counter-narratives to colonial-influenced histories (Young pp. 200-201). Marxist ideas could be applied in dialogue with these post-colonial counter-narratives to better understand the effects of literature on society and history.

In concluding an analysis of how to bring Marxism and post-colonial studies into a dialogue, one must consider how Marxist ideas have already been incorporated into post-colonial studies. For this consideration one can study Crystal Bartolovich’s Introduction to Marxism, Modernity, and Postcolonial Studies. Bartolovich claims that Marxist critique of colonialism and decolonization combines the effects of colonization on everyday language and culture with the effects of capitalism on colonial and post-colonial societies (Bartolovich p. 6). In Bartolovich’s view, Post-colonial critique of language and culture with Marxist critique of economy and class-structure are inseparable from one another. Marxist ideas can be incorporated into Post-colonial studies by bringing post-colonial economies and class-structures into dialogue with the effects of colonization and decolonization on society and history. One can further study how Marxism can be combined with Post-colonial studies by researching the texts introduced by Bartolovich in Marxism, Modernity, and Postcolonial Studies and applying Marxists ideas to post-colonial works of literature.

1. Marx, Karl, “The Fetishism of Commodities and the Secret Thereof,” Capital, Vol. 1, Chp. 1, from The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism, Ed. Leitch, Vincent B.,W.W. Norton & Co., New York, pp. 776 – 783

2. Bartolovich, Crystal, “Introduction: Marxism, Modernity and, and Postcolonial Studies,” from Marxism, Modernity and, and Postcolonial Studies, Eds. Bartolovich, Crystal and Neil Lazarus, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK

3. Williams, Raymond, “Literature,” from Marxism and Literature, Part 1 Chapter 3. In The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism, Ed. Leitch, Vincent B.,W.W. Norton & Co., New York, pp. 1567 – 1574.