Marxist Theories of Language

The hinges of a Marxist consideration concern the links binding the language to the structure of society, to models of material praxis, and to forms of ideology. An evaluation of the relationship between Marxism and the sciences of language coincides with the overall judgment expressed by many scholars on the historical experience of the so-called 'real socialism': the questions on the agenda are relevant and unavoidable, but the answers given are, on the whole, misleading or disappointing. The questions posed by Marxism as an interpretive methodology of social relationships may be worded as follows: which linguistic arguments prove that 'man is the sum of social relationships?' How are the different systems of beliefs, socially shared knowledge, cultural values, and rules of a human community continuously rebuilt in his language? How do the ideal-typical needs for mutual understanding and the real contingencies of differentiation and social struggle weave together in the language? These queries question all the symbolic articulations connected with the difference between manual labor and intellectual work.