When it comes to using literary theory to analyze texts, I have favored the Marxist perspective since being introduced to in university English classes. Chapter 4 of Deborah Appleman’s book Critical Encounters talks about bringing the Marxist perspective into a high school classroom. I liked this idea as I feel we can learn most about our own lives expressed in literature by reading with a Marxist lens. I believe the Marxist lens allows us to move beyond the text, and study the wider implications literature has in society.

In regards to the Marxist theory, literature has moved to give voice to a wider range of people. Included in this are voices of lower class people, speaking out against the various forms of oppression in their lives. There was once a time when literature was a device of the upper class. The Marxist theory can also be used to show the class structures in these older texts. I feel it is valuable to show high school students these varying class perspectives as they are represented in literature. Our society today is very much stratified and this is often represented in the literature we study.

Using Marxist literary theory allows us to move beyond the plot of a story and begin to see the author’s message in a wider context.  As teachers, this approach can help our students gain a deeper understanding of the texts the encounter. They will gain the ability to see beyond the characters and the plot and will be able to see the themes reflected in other places. I firmly believe that the stories we read and write are a reflection of our society.

 Important social issues are often raised through literature as the mode of communication allows people who have been silenced a chance to speak. In particular I think of the relatively recent emergence of strong works of Aboriginal literature. This perspective was once rare in Canadian literature, but now we are able to use the Marxist lens to understand the challenges and oppression this marginalized group has faced. It is really cool because we can understand so much about these social issues from reading their stories.

I would also like to point out that there are numerous opportunities to achieve outcomes within the Saskatchewan Curriculum documents by using the Marxists literary theory.