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Reification

Philosophy
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Reification is the process of treating abstract concepts, social relations, or human qualities as if they were concrete, material things. It is a form of objectification.

Detailed Definition
Marxist theory uses reification to critique commodity fetishism. In poetry, it appears as a critique of dehumanization, where people are reduced to objects in a capitalist system. Poets may use imagery of things to represent human emptiness or alienation. This concept helps reveal the social processes that make the abstract seem natural, allowing poetry to expose the hidden injuries of class and labor.
Example
Example in poetry:
A poem about the modern city that describes its people as "specters" or "shadows" is engaging in reification, turning human relations into ghostly things; The representation of a worker solely by their labor or their machine, as in some proletarian poetry, is a reification; A poem that critiques consumerism, like a poem about shopping malls, might use reification to show how objects come to dominate life; The feeling of being turned into an object by another person is a theme of reification in love poetry.
Additional Notes
Reification is the act of treating an abstract concept, a social relation, or a human quality as if it were a concrete, material thing. It is a form of objectification, central to Marxist theory, where it is used to describe how capitalist society transforms human labor and social relationships into things (commodities). Reification hides the social origins of phenomena, making them appear natural and inevitable. In poetry, reification appears as a critique of dehumanization, where people are reduced to objects, or where abstract concepts like "justice" or "freedom" are presented as tangible entities. Poets may use imagery of things to represent human emptiness or alienation. This term helps poetry expose the hidden processes of power and ideology.
Also Known As
Objectification (related) Thingification Commodification materialization
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