A Study of the Influence of Marxism on Bealu Girma’s Three Novels: Haddis, Yekey Kokeb Tiri, and Derasiw
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Date
2008-07
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Marxist critics see art as a reflection of the social foundations of their
societies. Through literature, they seek for a greater understanding of
the inner workings of a society as well as evidence of
rejection/propagation of the dominant ideology. This paper has
attempted to see the influence of Marxism in Bealu Girma’s three
novels: Haddis, Yekey Kokeb Tiri and Derasiw. It has tried to see
whether the novels reinforce Marxist principles and Socialist ideals.
Furthermore, it has made an effort to look into Bealu’s ideological
outlook as reflected by the novels.
The foundation of the research is laid in chapter one. In this section
the background of the study, the statement of the problem, purpose,
significance, scope and methodology of the study have been
discussed. To realize the objectives that are set in the first chapter,
detail explanation is given on the central concepts of Marxist literary
criticism in the second chapter. In this section, an endeavor is made
to examine how literatures reflect the realities of the period in which
they are composed or set. In addition, this section attempted to
indicate how dominant ideologies manifest themselves in literary
works. Moreover, the beliefs and perceptions that different Marxist
critics held concerning art and literature has been discussed. This
section also contains a survey of different research papers that deal
with Bealu’s novels. Here an attempt is made to show how this
research paper is different from the ones that have already been
conducted.
In light of the theoretical concepts of Marxist literary criticism an
attempt is made to analyze the novels under study in chapter three.
In this part, each novel has been analyzed one by one by taking into
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account the time in which the novels are set. The themes and
characterization of the major characters have been critically analyzed
to find out whether the novels reinforce Marxist agenda. An attempt
has also been made whether the novels reflect the social, economic
and political condition of Ethiopia during the time they are set.
Chapter four concludes the study with some findings. As it has been
shown in the analysis of the novels under study, Bealu was able to
reflect the socio-political realities of the country at different time in
history. Furthermore, he indicated his socialist vision through the
portrayals of optimist, caring, kind and committed characters.
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Marxism on Bealu Girma’s Three Novels: Haddis, Yekey Kokeb Tiri, and Derasiw