LITS3303 TERM PAPER 2007-2008

BASED ON MODULE ONE

Answer ONE (1) of the following questions, referring closely to the text(s) of the theorist in question:

1.    "Marx's historical materialism is predicated on a dialectical model of history."  In light of this comment, discuss the views expressed by Marx in The German Ideology.

2.    Compare and contrast Marx’s ‘base / superstructure’ model of society with the Hegelian Marxist notion of an 'expressive totality,' outlining their respective implications for literary criticism.

3.    What do you understand by Lukacs' notion of 'class consciousness'?

4.    Discuss the implications of Gramsci’s concept of ‘hegemony’ for our understanding of ideology.

5.    Lukács argues that the truly historical literary work "by its very nature offers a truer, more complete, more vivid and more dynamic reflection of reality than the receptant otherwise possesses."  Discuss Lukács’ conception of ‘realism’ in “Art and Objective Truth.”

6.    In what senses, according to Benjamin, may the author be considered a ‘producer’?

7.    What are the "theses" which Benjamin presents in "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" concerning the "developmental tendencies of art under present conditions of production" (218)?

8.    Examine Goldmann's notion of 'genetic structuralism' and its implications for literary criticism.

9.    “Marxist analysis should always be slightly stretched every time we have to do with the colonial problem” (Frantz Fanon The Wretched of the Earth).  Referring closely to any essays by James or Césaire which you have read this semester, say in what sense these theorists may be said to 'stretch' traditional Marxist analysis.

10.    Outline the six (6) categories for the study of African literature proposed by Chidi Amuta.  How are they derived from a Marxist perspective?

DEADLINE: 6 pm, Thursday, November 15, 2007. 

LENGTH: 7-10 pages (double-spaced)

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