Chapter 2: The Crisis In Marxism: Language, Agency, and the Problem Of Marx’S Authorial Voice

—Drew Milne, Marxist Literary Theory, 1996, p. 18

In the spring of 2011, The Chronicle of Higher Education published an article by Terry Eagleton in its Chronicle Review section entitled “In Praise of Marx.” In this article, Eagleton defends Marx’s thought against the criticisms of it that emerged over roughly the last three decades of the twentieth century in order to explain why Marx is, or at least should be, “back on the agenda.” He couches his explanation of the relevancy of Marx inside such a defense—dryly commenting that “Marx was no more responsible for the monstrous oppression of the communist world than Jesus was responsible for the Inquisition”—because he realizes that to many of the Chronicle’s readers “[p] raising Karl Marx might seem as perverse as putting in a good word for the Boston Strangler.” The answer he gives to his readers about why Marx is finding his way back on to the agenda is, ironically enough, “because of capitalism.” He explains: