Gramsci

Gramsci is discussing how society is shaped and how they work in respect to social groups. Gramsci also talks about how each group is different and there relationship towards each other. He goes on to talk about social groups and the way man sees himself in close relation to how man is seen, as an individual, in the social group. An example of when he talks about each individual considering himself, or being considered, more than one ‘type’ of person. “Each man, finally, outside his professional activity, carries on some form of intellectual activity, that is, he is a “philosopher”, an artist, a man of taste, he participates in a particular conception of the world, has a conscious line of moral conduct, and therefore contributes to sustain a conception of the world or to modify it, that is, to bring into being new modes of thought.” Gramsci states how individuals or intellectuals have an influence on society and the way the social groups develop, form, and move forward. He continues to discuss how society and social groups work as a whole in a country. Moreover, Gramsci incorporates the history of politics and war and the ways in which they also shape countries. Gramsci and his ideas have a great deal to do with Marxism and Marxist critics because he uses the same methods they use when they analyze different types of literature.
Marxists critics look for how the piece of literature can compare to a much broader relatable scale than what the story actually provides. They compare the piece of literature to society or the people the reading is primarily targeting. In “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid, Kincaid is referring to the social expectations of a woman. In the critique, the critic finds the hypocrisy and contradiction in the expectations of this young girl. The Marxist critic also compares “Girl” to the situation of those in the working class. The same goes when looking at the Rudolph piece. The critic shows how this simple children’s story is really a describing the economic and commercial side of Christmas. Like the Gramsci article, the reading about Charles Dickens, discusses how the writer relates all to social class, the public and the relationship between 'popularity and value'. The way they approach texts is useful because it is a good way to compare it to a particular type of society and to relate it to the lives many lead. However, it may not be as useful because at times it may be a bit analytical and some readings may lose its true meaning from being compared or analyzed so much.