Marxist, Queer, Feminist theory

 

• Intoduction :-

Marxism is both a social and political theory, which encompasses Marxist class conflict theory and Marxian economics. Marxism was first publicly formulated in the 1848 pamphlet, The Communist Manifesto, by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, which lays out the theory of class struggle and revolution. Marxian economics focuses on the criticisms of capitalism, which Karl Marx wrote about in his 1867 book, Das Kapital.

It originally consisted of three related ideas: a philosophical anthropology, a theory of history, and an economic and political program. There is also Marxism as it has been understood and practiced by the various socialist movements, particularly before 1914. Then there is Soviet Marxism as worked out by Vladimir Ilich Lenin and modified by Joseph Stalin, which under the name of Marxism-Leninism (see Leninism) became the doctrine of the communist parties set up after the Russian Revolution (1917). Offshoots of this included Marxism as interpreted by the anti-Stalinist Leon Trotsky and his followers, Mao Zedong’s Chinese variant of Marxism-Leninism, and various Marxisms in the developing world. There were also the post-World War II nondogmatic Marxisms that have modified Marx’s thought with borrowings from modern philosophies, principally from those of Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger but also from Sigmund Freud and others. 

• Marxism and Literature

    Chernyshevsky, who lived before Marx laid the foundation of Marxist theory on literature. He developed a purely materialistic view of art that placed art subordinate to reality. He believed that the highest beauty is that which man sees in the world and not that which is created by art. He viewed art only as an empty amusement. The basic premise of Marx’s view on art is not much different. Marx views art as subordinate to society. It is just “one of the forms of social consciousness”. Marx also believes that “art is not created in a vacuum”. It needs a society for its existence. 

       Marx and Engels authored another work – The German Ideology (1845 –46) – that brings out some other important concepts of Marxism; especially connected to ideology. The dominant ideology of any period is the product of the socio-economic structure of that period. That is to say, ideology originates from class-relations and class-interests. Ideology is a ‘superstructure’ with its ‘base’ in contemporary economic system. Literature is part of the cultural ideology and therefore it is only a ‘superstructure 

• What Marxist critics do -

1. They make a division between the 'overt' (manifest or surface) and 'covert' (latent or hidden) content of a literary work (much as psychoanalytic critics do) and then relate the covert subject matter of the literary work to basic Marxist themes, such as class struggle, or the progression of society through various historical stages, such as, the transition from feudalism to industrial capitalism. Thus, the conflicts in King Lear might be read as being 'really' about the conflict of class interest between the rising class (the bourgeoisie) and the falling class (the feudal overlords). 

2. Another method used by Marxist critics is to relate the context of a work to the social-class status of the author. In such cases an assumption is made (which again is similar to those made by psychoanalytic critics) that the author is unaware of precisely what he or she is saying or revealing in the text. 

3. A third Marxist method is to explain the nature of a whole literary genre in terms of the social period which 'produced' it. For instance, The Rise of the Novel, by Ian Watt, relates the growth of the novel in the eighteenth century to the expansion of the middle classes during that period. The novel 'speaks' for this social class, just as, for instance, Tragedy 'speaks for' the monarchy and the nobility, and the Ballad 'speaks for' for the rural and semi-urban 'working class'. 

4. A fourth Marxist practice is to relate the literary work to the social assumptions of the time in which it is 'consumed', a strategy which is used particularly in the later variant of Marxist criticism known as cultural materialism. 

• Ecocritical :

Ecocriticism is the study of literature and ecology from an interdisciplinary point of view, where literature scholars analyze texts that illustrate environmental concerns and examine the various ways literature treats the subject of nature.

• What is the ecocritical theory?

Eco-criticism is a study of culture and cultural products (art works, writings, scientific theories, etc.) that is in some way connected with the human relationship to the natural world. Eco-criticism is also a response to needs, problems, or crises, depending on one's perception of urgency.

# Ecocriticism in movies:

Climate change and the environmental issues today have brought to our notice the need to address them, create awareness, and take corrective actions. In India, Bollywood has a massive potential to reach out to the masses and create awareness about the same. It has the power to influence people’s actions and thus make a difference. The films can represent environmental issues and community problems efficiently and convey to the people the aftermath of their current deeds.

• Kadvi Haava :

This film is inspired by true events from the drought-prone Bundelkhand region. In this film, the village of Mahua is affected by scanty rainfall, barren land, crop failure, and climate change. All these factors add-up to farmers in debt. Farmer suicide becomes a frequent occurrence as they aren’t unable to pay back the debt. In this setting, a blind old farmer makes a pact with the debt recovery agent to save his son from the debt trap. This movie is a precise depiction of how climate change ends up killing people and their morals.

• Jal :

The film tells the story of two villages in Rann of Katch and their quest to

find water. A young man named Bakka has a skill of divining water spots in the barren lands. A Russian woman comes here in search of flamingos native to Kutch. To her dismay, the number of flamingos had reduced because of water scarcity. Thus, she, Bakka, and a team of ecologists set to find water. With this backdrop, the movie highlights how lack of water leads to forming classes and strain people physically and mentally. 

• Sherni :

The man vs. animal conflict can be narrated in several ways. The deep, dark jungle can be romanticised and turned into a battlefield for a heroic tale of a saviour standing against the many stakeholders who threaten to tilt the balance of the fragile ecosystem. Or it can be viewed through a realistic lens that appears deceptively simple, like director Amit Masurkar does in Sherni . The title refers to a man-eating tigress on the prowl and also alludes to the divisional forest officer Vidya Vincent (Vidya Balan). She isn’t an archetypal screen heroine who roars her way out of murky waters, but is understated and determined to navigate the mundaneness of her government job to assert herself.

• Feminist:

When the term feminism first entered English toward the mid-19th century, it meant “feminine qualities or character,” a sense no longer in use. (Its companion term, feminist, also entered the language around that time, but it is not certain whether it was then used to mean anything other than “feminine or womanly.”)

 However, toward the end of the 19th, both feminism andfeminist unambiguously took on their modern meanings related to equal rights for women. Activists of the late 19th and early 20th century, now considered to be first-wave feminists, campaigned for women’s right to vote, or suffrage , and members of the movement were known as suffragettes or, more generally,suffragists. Even though the termfeminist was not widely used during this period, there also were broad-ranging efforts to advance women’s right to work outside the home, to freely enter professions, and to own property.

Feminist movements have campaigned and continue to campaign for women's rights, including the right to vote, run for public office, work, earn equal pay, own property, receive education, enter contracts, have equal rights within marriage, and maternity leave.

• Kahaani :

Kahaani, starring Vidya Balan as a pregnant woman searching for her missing husband in Kolkata, has cult status as one of the best thrillers ever to be made in India. A strong script and pitch perfect acting, make this an unmissable movie.

• English Vinglish :

English Vinglish marked the return of the inimitable Sridevi to the silver screen. As a housewife trying to maintain her self-respect even as she is put down by her family members, she stole our hearts, and even though we are miffed that she didn’t just dump her wholly unworthy husband, we cannot leave this movie out of this list!

• Gulab Gang :

Gulab Gang, (only loosely based on the real life Gulabi Gang), pits two of our favourite actresses, Madhuri Dixit and Juhi Chawla, against each other, as it offers a lesson on how women sometimes are the footsoldiers of the patriarchy. It has been widely criticized for reducing feminist ideas to “masala” tropes, but Juhi Chawla’s superlative performance as a devious politician, makes this movie worth a watch.

• Mardaani :

Rani Mukherjee received much praise for her role as the undaunted cop, Shivani Shivaji Roy, who is in pursuit of a child trafficker. A very mainstream cat and mouse thriller, Mardaani brought the shadowy world of child trafficking to the attention of the masses.

• Queer Theory :   

Queer Theory is field of critical theory that emerged in early 1990s. Feminist challenges to the idea that gender is part of essential self and upon gay and lesbian studies close examination of the society constructed nature of sexual act and identities. Feminism was contrast between sex and gender - Queer Theory offers the view that all identities are social construction.  

• What is Queer Theory : 

n approach to literary and cultural studies that rejected traditional categories of gender and sexuality critical theory that emerged in 1990s. It is not only sexual desire but it is emotional desire. Queer Theory does not concern itself exclusively with homosexuality - it is about all forms of identity. 

• What lesbian/gay critic do?

1. Identify lesbian/gay episodes in mainstream work and discuss them as such (for example, the relationship between Jane and Helen in Jane Eyre), rather than reading same-sex pairings in non-specific ways, for instance, as symbolising two aspects of the same character (Zimmerman). 

2 . Set up an extended, metaphorical sense of 'lesbian/gay' so that it connotes a moment of crossing a boundary, or blurring a set of categories. All such 'liminal' moments mirror the moment of selfidentification as lesbian or gay, which is necessarily an act of conscious resistance to established norms and boundaries.  

Example : 

• Dostana movie:-  

The act of sex is rarely seen, let alone alluded to, despite how sexual the movies can seem with bare-waisted women and shirtless men are dancing about every ten minutes or so. Until I did some research, I honestly did not think there were any Indian (Bollywood or not) movies which positively portrayed homosexuality. I mean, homosexual intercourse between consenting adults was decriminalized in India in July 2009 (one and a half years ago). So, where does one go to figure out what queer Bollywood films are out there and popular? Well, I go to my family, and the only movie they thought of as having gay characters or themes was Dostana from 2008.

• Margarita With A Straw (2014)

Directed by Shonali Bose, this movie showcases the life of a teenager with cerebral palsy. With an empathetic approach during Laila’s adventures in foreign lands, this movie also takes us through the journey of discovering her sexuality. It helps to remind you that you aren’t alone and gives you the reassurance you rightfully deserve.

• Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan :

Ayushmann Khurrana and Jitendra Kumar attempt to discuss the deep-rooted homophobia and stigma around it, in Indian families. This movie touched on all the hard-hitting topics around homophobia with light humour. The perfect amount of jokes made the movie entertaining to watch without losing the true theme and nature of the movie.