Neo-classicism and Marxism in Literature and Society

Neo-classicism was the dominant literary movement in English during the 17^th and 18^th century. This movement sought to revive the artistic ideals of classical Greece and Rome. The notable characteristics of Neo-classical literature are emotional restraint, order, logic, technical precision, balance, elegance of diction, clarity, dignity and decorum. Marixist literature is

one which is based on the economic theory of Karl Marx. It is both a reflection and a product of economic conflict between social classes.

According to Leavis, the Neo-classic had a discouraging effect on the deeper sources of originality. It had also a corrosive effect on the creative springs of the individual mind that undergoes experience. To him, it emphasizes on society which desiccated the springs of individual creative impulse, and ultimately led to a reaction. There must be a reaction against it on the part of the creative minds.

F.R. Leavis does not accept the neoclassical or Augustan view of literature. In his essay “Literature and Society”, Leavis argues that exclusive insistence on the society does not produce enduring literature because it excludes one vital element of society that is individual. There is should be a compromise between the two extremist trends.

Marxism was a revolutionary movement aiming at creating a world of equal social classes. Karl Marx was a German philosopher and Friedrich Engels was a German social scientist. These two persons are the joint founders of what is now known as “Marxism”. These two Germans formulated a theory which they called communism in their “Communist Manifesto” in 1848. Kal Marx believed that only material interests of the dominant social class determine human existence. Marxism views history as a class struggle and progress as a process through the struggle for power among different social classes. As a result, the Marxist model views the material means of production, distribution, and consumption as the base of underlying deep structures and all other systems like language, literature, culture, art etc.

Leavis has mentioned Marxism in the very beginning of the essay “Literature and Society” in a negative tone. In traditional Marxist thinking, “morality, religion and philosophy are seen as phantoms formed in the brains of men”. In short, Marxism conceives that everything is determined by the nature of economic base.

          To sum up, we may say that Leavis has expressed his own views on Neo-classicism and Marxism in his essay “Literature and Society”. In fact, his views of these two terms are really praiseworthy.