Marxism and Art: Essays Classic and Contemporary

Maynard Solomon

Wayne State University Press, 1979 - Art - 649 pages

Marxism and Art is a collection of basic readings in Marxist criticism and aesthetics.

Marxism and Art is a book of basic readings in Marxist criticism and aesthetics. Maynard Solomon, through his selections and critical introductions, shows connections between the arts and society, between imagination nd history, and between art and revolution. He selects from thirty-six authors to reveal the range of opinion from dogma to heresy, beginning with excerpts from the works of Marx and Engels that are pertinent to an understanding of Marxist philosophy.
The book traverses a wide range of subjects from the origins of art to the nature of creativity, the aesthetic experience, the dialectics of consciousness, the psychology of art, and the evolution of art forms. The sources of art in ritual, in the labor process, in the play drive, and in social conflict are explored.

Contents

• MARX AND ENGELS: 3
• A READER IN MARXIST AESTHETICS SELEcted Texts: 22
• THE SECOND GENERATION: 79
• ANTONIO LABRIOLA: 91
• FRANZ MEHRING: 99
• KARL KAUTSKY: 112
• GEORGI PLEKHANOV: 119
• ROSA LUXEMBURG: 144
• THE BOLSHEVIKS: 163
• LEON TROTSKY: 187
• NIKOLAI BUKHARIN: 199
• ANATOLY LUNACHARSKY: 215
• Zhdanovism: 235
• MAO TSETUNG: 250
• THE RETURN TO MARXIST HUMANISM: 263
• BÉLA BALÁZS: 281
• THE SOURCES AND FUNCTION OF: 303
• GEORGE THOMSON: 342
• BERTOLT BRECHT: 355
• THEODOR W ADORNO AND HANNS EISLER: 370
• GEORG LUKÁCS: 383
• MAX RAPHAEL: 420
• THE TRAJECTORY OF: 457
• FRIEDRICH ENGELS: 468
• HARRY SLOCHOWER: 474
• ALICK WEST: 492
• ANDRÉ BRETON: 502
• HERBERT MARCUSE: 515
• WALTER BENJAMIN: 541
• ANDRÉ MALRAUX: 562
• CONTRIBUTORS BIBLIOGRAPHIES: 589
• SUPPLEMENTARY READING: 611
• Sources for SELECTIONS: 627
• EDITIONS CITED: 643

About the author

Maynard Solomon is the author of Beethoven (1977) and the editor of the volume Myth, Creativity, Psychoanalysis: Essays in Honor of Harry Slochower (1979).

Bibliographic information

• Title: Marxism and Art: Essays Classic and Contemporary; A Waynebook original; Volume 47 of Wayne books
• Editor: Maynard Solomon
• Compiled by: Maynard Solomon
• Edition: reprint
• Publisher: Wayne State University Press, 1979
• ISBN: 0814316212, 9780814316214
• Length: 649 pages
• Subjects: Art / Criticism & Theory; Philosophy / Aesthetics; Political Science / Political Ideologies / Communism, Post-Communism & Socialism