Critic speak is tough, but we've got you covered.
Quote :The Novel (2006)
For the Marxist, then, the objective study of literature is fashioned from an objective knowledge of what it means to be authentically human along with an equally objective understanding of how ruling classes have generated false realities—ideologies—to pass for the Real.
Did you know Marxism had a soft side? As well as snarkily sniping at capitalists, Marx also had a positive idea about human happiness. We are fulfilled by doing what we are good at—the work we do feeds more than our bellies. (Not by bread alone and all that). Pretty deep, Karl.
Marxist literary theory is more sensitive than all the talk of workers, factories, and struggle would suggest. It's not all dog-eat-dog in Marxland: the humanity of literature shows through. After all, even theorists don't read literature like a textbook.