Search results

Marxism has had an enormous impact on literary and cultural studies, and all those interested in the field need to be aware of its achievements. This collection presents the very best of recent Marxist literary criticism in one single volume. An international group of contributors provide an introduction to the development, current trends and evolution of the subject. They include such notable Marxist critics as Tony Bennett, Terry Eagleton, Edward W. Said, Raymond Williams and Fredric Jameson. A diverse range of subjects are analysed such as James Bond, Brecht, Jane Austen and the modern hist.

This paper focuses on the development of the political thought of Czech Marxist philosopher Egon Bondy. It examines his criticism of state socialism in the Eastern Block from a Marxist perspective, and it outlines the development of his analysis. The study covers the period from the late 1960s until the Velvet Revolution in 1989, a period during which Bondy explored the historical constitution and nature of a 'new ruling class' in the USSR, as well as deeper trends of convergence between Eastern and Western politico-economical systems. In the 1980s Bondy analysed the reasons for the eventual collapse of the Soviet Union. Even though Bondy was, during most of the period of state socialism between 1948–89, a forbidden author, he was also one of the main critics of the political approach of Charta 77 and Václav Havel. This criticism is also outlined in the paper.

The principal statements of the Populists (Liaudininkai), eclectic theory on social development as well as their criticism by Lithuanian Marxists who exposed the petite bourgeois nature of the above theory, its unscientific character, are considered in the article. The fundamental principle of the Populists – the greatest happiness possible for the majority of people and its reflection in economic, social, and political aspects of the theory is discussed. A conclusion on impossibility of realization of the above principle in a class society is drawn in the article. ; Straipsnyje apžvelgiama liaudininkų visuomenės raidos teorija ir jos marksistinė kritika Lietuvoje 1917–1940 metais. Liaudininkai visuomenę traktavo kaip daugiau ar mažiau harmoningą socialinį organizmą. Socialinės politikos srityje liaudininkai pasisakė už socialines reformas, užtikrinančias darbininkams žmoniškas pragyvenimo sąlygas. Laikydami privatinę nuosavybę objektyvia visuomenės pažangos ir gerovės sąlyga, jie pagrindinį dėmesį skyrė teisingam turtų paskirstymui ir kooperacijai. Gindami ir propaguodami buržuazinės demokratijos laisves, liaudininkai kartu pripažino jų nepakankamumą socialiniam teisingumui įgyvendinti. Dėl to kartu su politinės demokratijos lozungais jie kėlė ir ekonominės demokratijos reikalavimus. Liaudininkų teorijoje valstybės demokratiniai institutai buvo suvokiami kaip nepriklausomi nuo gamybinių santykių ir net formuojantys ekonominę visuomenės struktūrą. Lietuvos marksistai nepateikė išsamios ir visapusiškos liaudininkų teorijos kritikos. Atskirus šios teorijos teiginius kritikavo tik Z. Angarietis, kiti marksistai apsiribojo liaudininkų politinės veiklos kritika.

Chinese Shakespearean criticism from Marxist perspectives is highly original in Chinese Shakespeare studies. Scholars such as Mao Dun, Yang Hui, Zhao Li, Fang Ping, Yang Zhouhan, Bian Zhilin, Meng Xianqiang, Sun Jiaxiu, Zhang Siyang and Wang Yuanhua adopt the basic principles and methods of Marxism to elaborate on Shakespeare's works and have made great achievements. With ideas changed in different political climates, they have engaged in Shakespeare studies for over eight decades since the 1930s. At the beginning of the revolutionary age, they advocated revolutionary literature, followed Russian Shakespearean criticism from the Marxist perspective, and established the mode of class analysis and highlighted realism. Before and after the Cultural Revolution, they were concerned about class, reality and people. They also showed the "left-wing" inclination, taking literature as a tool to serve politics. Since the 1980s, they have been free from politics and entered the pure academic realm, analysing Shakespearean dramas with Marxist aesthetic theories and transforming from sociological criticism to literary criticism.

Chinese Shakespearean criticism from Marxist perspectives is highly original in Chinese Shakespeare studies. Scholars such as Mao Dun, Yang Hui, Zhao Li, Fang Ping, Yang Zhouhan, Bian Zhilin, Meng Xianqiang, Sun Jiaxiu, Zhang Siyang and Wang Yuanhua adopt the basic principles and methods of Marxism to elaborate on Shakespeare's works and have made great achievements. With ideas changed in different political climates, they have engaged in Shakespeare studies for over eight decades since the 1930s. At the beginning of the revolutionary age, they advocated revolutionary literature, followed Russian Shakespearean criticism from the Marxist perspective, and established the mode of class analysis and highlighted realism. Before and after the Cultural Revolution, they were concerned about class, reality and people. They also showed the "left-wing" inclination, taking literature as a tool to serve politics. Since the 1980s, they have been free from politics and entered the pure academic realm, analysing Shakespearean dramas with Marxist aesthetic theories and transforming from sociological criticism to literary criticism.