Cultural Materialism in Literature

What is Cultural Materialism in Literature?

Cultural materialism in literature is a theoretical framework within cultural anthropology and cultural studies developed by the anthropologist, Marvin Harris.

It means understanding and analyzing the relationship between culture and material conditions. According to cultural materialism, infrastructure plays a significant role in shaping cultural practices and beliefs.

The infrastructure, as mentioned in cultural materialism refers to the material realities of a society, including technological, economic, and reproductive aspects. These three are its major elements.

Infrastructure Type	Explanation
Technological Infrastructure	Includes tools, techniques, and knowledge used to interact with and manipulate the environment. Technological advancements profoundly impact cultural functions, such as production methods, communication, and social relationships.
Economic Infrastructure	Pertains to the organization and distribution of resources within a society.Encompasses the ways goods and services are produced, exchanged, and consumed.Influences patterns of trade, social stratification, and economic relationships among individuals and groups.
Reproductive Infrastructure	Refers to factors related to population growth and reproduction.Includes family structures, marriage customs, and kinship systems.Influences population dynamics and demographic patterns within a culture.

Cultural Materialism and Literature: Relationship

1. Material Conditions and Literary Themes: Cultural materialism in literature emphasizes how the material realities of society such as its economic structure and technological advancements, influence the themes and content found in the literature. Literary works may reflect the concerns and issues arising from material conditions.
2. Cultural Materialism as an Analytical Lens: It serves as an analytical lens to examine literature in a socio-economic context. It allows scholars to explore how the literary representations of social relationships, power dynamics, and cultural values relate to the underlying material infrastructure.
3. Cultural Adaptations in Literature: It posits that cultures adapt to changing material circumstances. In literature, this may manifest in shifts in literary themes, genres, and styles as societies undergo economic and technological transformations.
4. Representation of Production and Reproduction: Literary works may offer insights into the ways societies represent production processes, such as labor and economic activities, as well as reproductive aspects like family structures and gender roles.
5. Critique of Ideological Elements: Cultural materialism in literature may critique literature that solely promotes certain ideological or idealistic perspectives without considering the material conditions that underlie those representations.
6. Historical and Cultural Evolution in Literature: By using the cultural materialism lens, scholars trace the evolution of literary themes and motifs across different historical periods and cultural contexts, reflecting changes in material conditions and social norms.
7. Contextualizing Literary Production: Cultural materialism in literature helps contextualize the production of literature within the economic and technological constraints of its time. It considers how material factors influence the availability of resources for literary creation and distribution.
8. Interplay of Literature and Ecology: Cultural materialism may explore how literature engages with ecological concerns and environmental factors, reflecting the relationship between human societies and their natural environment.
9. Cultural Materialist Literary Criticism: This approach involves applying the principles of cultural materialism to critically analyze literary works. It aims to understand how literary texts reflect and interact with the material conditions of the society they emerge from.

Cultural Materialism in Literature: Origin, Theorists, Works and Arguments

Origin of Cultural Materialism in literature:

• Cultural Materialism in literature is a literary theory that emerged in the late 20th century.
• It was developed as a response to structuralism and traditional Marxism.

Key Theorists:

• Raymond Williams: Raymond Williams, a Welsh academic, is considered one of the founding figures of Cultural Materialism. His work, Marxism and Literature (1977), laid the foundation for this literary theory.
• Jonathan Dollimore: Dollimore is known for his contributions to Cultural Materialism, particularly in the realm of queer theory and sexuality studies.
• Alan Sinfield: Alan Sinfield is another prominent figure associated with Cultural Materialism, and his work often explores issues of gender, sexuality, and identity.

Key Works:

• Marxism and Literature (1977) by Raymond Williams: This seminal work introduced many of the key concepts and ideas of Cultural Materialism, including the importance of social and historical context in literary analysis.
• Political Shakespeare: New Essays in Cultural Materialism (1985) edited by Jonathan Dollimore and Alan Sinfield: This collection of essays applied Cultural Materialism to the study of Shakespeare’s works, demonstrating its versatility as a literary theory.
• Faultlines: Cultural Materialism and the Politics of Dissident Reading (1992) by Alan Sinfield: In this work, Sinfield explores how Cultural Materialism can be used to challenge dominant narratives and ideologies in literature.

Arguments and Key Concepts in Cultural Materialism:

• Historical and Social Context: Cultural Materialism in literature emphasizes the significance of historical and social contexts in understanding literature. It argues that literary texts are shaped by the material conditions and ideological forces of their time.
• Ideology: The theory focuses on how ideology is embedded in literature and how it can be used to reinforce or challenge societal norms and power structures.
• Material Conditions: Cultural Materialism in literature examines how economic and material conditions influence literature. It looks at how class, gender, and race intersect with literature and culture.
• Oppositional Readings: It encourages readers to engage in oppositional or subversive readings of texts, seeking to uncover hidden meanings and challenge dominant ideologies.
• Language and Discourse: Cultural Materialism explores the role of language and discourse in constructing and disseminating cultural values and beliefs.
• Cultural Hegemony: It investigates the concept of cultural hegemony, where dominant cultural values are imposed on society and how literature can either support or resist this hegemony.
• Intersectionality: Cultural Materialism recognizes the intersectionality of various social categories like race, class, gender, and sexuality in the analysis of literature, acknowledging that these factors are interconnected and influence literary texts in complex ways.

Cultural Materialism in literature seeks to provide a comprehensive understanding of literature by considering the interplay between historical, social, and material factors, as well as the ways in which literature both reflects and shapes the culture in which it is produced.

Suggested Readings

1. Belsey, Catherine. Critical Practice. Routledge, 1980.
2. Bennett, Tony. Outside Literature. Routledge, 1990.
3. Cohen, Stephen. Shakespeare and Historical Formalism. Oxford University Press, 2017.
4. Dollimore, Jonathan. Radical Tragedy: Religion, Ideology and Power in the Drama of Shakespeare and His Contemporaries. Palgrave Macmillan, 1984.
5. Frow, John. Cultural Studies and Cultural Value. Oxford University Press, 1995.
6. Gallagher, Catherine. The Industrial Reformation of English Fiction. University of Chicago Press, 1985.
7. Liu, Alan. Wordsworth: The Sense of History. Stanford University Press, 1989.
8. Sinfield, Alan. Faultlines: Cultural Materialism and the Politics of Dissident Reading. University of California Press, 1992.
9. Williams, Raymond. Culture and Society. Columbia University Press, 1958.