Marxism and Literary Studies - Einzelansicht

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Dear students, all courses will be taught as online courses with asynchronous access until further notice. Once you have signed on in PULS and have been admitted in PULS, your instructor will email you via PULS to let you know when and how to access the online material (moodle, etc.). Testatsleistungen (course requirements) may be subject to change. Students who cannot (yet) access PULS: Please email your instructor directly. It is possible that classes can be switched to classroom teaching (Präsenzlehre) at some point during the semester. If this happens, your instructor will let you know and classes will take place at the times originally scheduled.

For a while, it seemed fashionable in academia to declare Marxist theory dead or obsolete. In effect, the critics making such pronouncements joined in the new-right triumphalism that considered the end of the so-called Cold War and the collapse of the various ”actually existing socialisms” as heralding in the unrivalled dominance of capitalism. But more recently, in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, the sell-out of social-democratic parties across the Global North, the neoliberal reduction of the state to a heavily-armed capital generator, the resurgence of openly right-wing politics, and the increasingly inescapable destruction of ecosystems in the name of profit and growth, the cant of the ”end of history” rings as hollow as the hopelessly naïve diagnosis of our period as a ”post-ideological” one. Those developments have made it abundantly clear that exploitation and class struggle are here to stay. In turn, this state of affairs urges a renewed engagement with the theory dedicated to analyzing capitalism, with the intention thereby to contribute to its termination.

In this seminar, we will explore a number of classic Marxist concepts, such as ideology, class struggle, base/superstructure, capital, and the perennially provocative notion of economic determination. We will also clarify terms like neoliberalism and the contemporary guise of imperialism. But since this is a literary-studies class, we will also want to see for ourselves how those concepts help in reading literature. That is why we will read Thomas Ligotti’s My Work Is Not Yet Done. A connoisseur of the dark and disturbing, Ligotti is often hailed as one of the best living writers of horror fiction today. In that book, he focusses specifically on the horrors of employment — which should make for an interesting read in this seminar on Marxism.

Please be aware that this is a theory-heavy seminar. We will read a number of difficult non-literary texts in addition, discussions will often revolve around abstract concepts. Interpretations of the literary texts will likely take up less space in the class compared to interpretations of the theory. If that doesn’t scare you, jump aboard: you will learn a lot.

Foley, Barbara. Marxist Literary Criticism Today. London: Pluto Press, 2019. ISBN: 978-0745338835

Ligotti, Thomas. My Work Is Not Yet Done: Three Tales of Corporate Horror. London: Virgin Books, 2009. ISBN: 978-0753516881

Theoretical texts will be provided via Moodle.

Learning Journal with Reading Responses + Short Reflection Paper for 3 Credits OR + Term Paper for 6 Credits