Feminist Marxist Aesthetics and Women’S Literary Voice: An Analysis of Virginia Woolf’S Essays

Abstract

Art and literature according to Marxist aesthetic theory are part of the social superstructure founded upon the economic infrastructure. Relations of production determine the moral, intellectual and aesthetic values of a particular time according to Marxist aesthetic theory. Marxist theorists contend, building on Gramsci’s concept of cultural hegemony, that the ruling class upholds patriarchal values and silences the voices of women by using cultural production, including literature, to sustain control over the political and cultural spheres in addition to economic ones. Marxist literary theorists look at the tangible circumstances surrounding the creation and dissemination of literature. The present paper seeks to prove that Virginia Woolf’s aesthetic theory advances a materialist explanation of literature. Woolf investigates production and proliferation of literature and explicates that in a money-oriented social set-up, literature is shaped by ideologies of powerful gender groups. Woolf embarks in an investigative journey to reveal the political nature of literature and its historical development in Britain. In addition to gender biases, women’s voices are muffled because of their marginalized status within the class system. Historically, women have had less access to the professional networks, financial resources, and education that are essential for success in writing. These financial obstacles are perceived as a type of systemic oppression that has added in suppression of women’s voices; she places a strong focus on the value of retrieving and appreciating the literary contributions made by historically oppressed women. By critically reevaluating literary canons and drawing attention to underappreciated or neglected works by women, this challenges the prejudices that have influenced criticism and literary history.

KEY WORDS: Marxist aesthetic theory, social superstructure, economic base, bourgeoisie literature, gender-determined social set-up, suppression, women’s voices