Marxism and art : essays classic and contemporary / edited with historical and critical commentary by Maynard Solomon.

Reprint of the 1974 edition published by Vintage Books, New York.

Includes a bibliography based on the authors that contributed to this collection in addition to a supplemtary reading section (pages 611 - 626), sources for selection (pages 627 - 641), and a Marx and Engles citation section (pages 643 - 649).

Includes bibliography (pages 589 - 609) and index.

Section one. Marx and Engels / General introduction : Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels / Maynard Solomon -- A reader in Marxist aesthetics selected texts -- The prerequisites of history -- History -- Forms of Consciousness -- Revolution and utopia -- Art and society -- Karl Marx and Friederich Engels --

Section two. The second generation / William Morris / Maynard Solomon -- Art, labor and socialism / William Morris -- Antonio Labriola / Maynard Solomon -- Historical Materialism / Antonio Labriola -- Forms of consciousness / Antonio Labriola -- Franz Mehring / Maynard Solomon -- A note on taste / Franz Mehring -- Lessing and the drama / Franz Mehring -- Karl Kautsky / Maynard Solomon -- Art and the conception of God in ancient Israel / Karl Kautsky -- Georgi Plekhanov / Maynard Solomon -- The role of the individual in history / Georgi Plekhanov -- Art and social life / Georgi Plekhanov -- Labor, play, and art / Georgi Plekhanov -- Rosa Luxemburg / Maynard Solomon -- On Russian literature / Rosa Luxemburg -- Stagnation and progress of Marxism Rosa Luxemburg --

Section three. the Bolsheviks / Vladimir Ilyich Lenin / Maynard Solomon -- Leo Tolstoy as the mirror of the Russian revolution / Vladimir Ilyich Lenin -- L.N. Tolstoy / Vladimir Ilyich Lenin -- Leo Tolstoy and his epoch / Vladimir Ilyich Lenin -- Party organization and party literature / Vladimir Ilyich Lenin -- On the question of dialectics / Vladimir Ilyich Lenin -- Leon Trotsky / Maynard Solomon -- Art and the party / Leon Trotsky -- Creativity and class / Leon Trotsky -- Art and class / Leon Trotsky -- Nikolai Bukharin / Maynard Solomon -- What is art / Nikolai Bukharin -- Poetry / Nikolai Bukharin -- Anatoly Lunacharsky / Maynard Solomon -- Alexander Blok / Anatoly Lunacharsky -- Dostoyevsky / Anatoly Lunacharsky --

Section four. Zhdanovism / General Introduction : Zhdanovism / Maynard Solomon -- Maxim Gorki / Maynard Solomon -- Art and myth / Maxim Gorki -- Yuri Daydov / Maynard Solomon -- The Tolstoyan view of art/ Yuri Daydov -- Mao Tse-Tung / Maynard Solomon -- Literature and revolution / Mao Tse-Tung / Jean Paul Sartre -- Maynard Solomon -- The novel and reality / Jean Paul Sartre -- W.E.B. Du Bois / Maynard Solomon -- The nature of intellectual freedom / W.E.B. Du Bois

Section five. the return to Marxist humanism / Antonio Gramsci / Maynard Solomon -- Marxism and modern culture / Antonio Gramsci -- Ernst Fischer / Maynard Solomon -- Productive memory / Ernst Fischer -- Sidney Finklestein / Maynard Solomon -- Art as humanization / Sidney Finklestein -- Béla Balázs / Maynard Solomon -- The visible man / Béla Balázs -- The face of man / Béla Balázs -- Mikhail Bakhtin / Maynard Solomon -- Laughter and freedom / Mikhail Bakhtin --

Section six. the sources and functions of art / Christopher Caldwell / Maynard Solomon -- Illusion and reality / Christopher Caldwell / George Thomson / Maynard Solomon -- Pity and fear / George Thomson -- Improvisation and inspiration / George Thomson -- Bertolt Brecht / Maynard Solomon -- Epic theater / Bertolt Brecht -- Theodor W. Adorno and Hans Eisler / Maynard Solomon -- The sociology and the musician / Theodor W. Adorno and Hans Eisler -- Eye, ear and the function of music / Theodor W. Adorno and Hans Eisler -- Music and the film / Theodor W. Adorno and Hans Eisler -- Georg Lukács / Maynard Solomon -- The ideology of modernism / Georg Lukács -- Shakespeare and historicism / Georg Lukács -- Introduction to a monograph of aesthetics / Georg Lukács -- Max Raphael / Maynard Solomon -- The elements of the paleolithic world / Max Raphael -- Notes on the nature of art / Max Raphael -- Rembrandt: "Joseph intercepts Pharaoh's dreams" Max Raphael -- Art, opiate, transcendence / Max Raphael --

Section seven. the trajectory of art / General Introduction: Marxism and utopia / Maynard Solomon -- Friedrich Engels / Maynard Solomon -- The overthrow of the matriarchy / Friedrich Engels -- Harry Slochower / Maynard Solomon -- Literature and society / Harry Slochower -- Malraux - Man's Fate / Harry Slochower -- Existentialism and myth / Harry Slochower -- Alick West / Maynard Solomon -- Form / Alick West -- André Breton / Maynard Solomon -- Surrealism and Historical Materialism André Breton -- Action and dream / André Breton -- The cultural heritage -- André Breton -- L'amour fou / André Breton -- Herbert Marcuse / Maynard Solomon -- The images of Orpheus and Narcissus / Herbert Marcuse -- A note on dialectic / Herbert Marcuse -- Walter Benjamin / Maynard Solomon -- Fairy-tale and myth / Walter Benjamin -- Dialectics and dream / Walter Benjamin -- The work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction / Walter Benjamin -- Louis-Phillipe, or, the interior / Walter Benjamin -- Three theses on the Philosophy of history / Walter Benjamin -- André Malraux / Maynard Solomon -- The work of art / André Malraux -- Ernst Bloch / Maynard Solomon -- On 'The Threepenny Opera' / Ernst Bloch -- The meaning of utopia / Ernst Bloch -- Utopia in archetypes and works of art / Ernst Bloch --

"Among the recent anthologies the most extensive, instructive and stimulating is Maynard Solomon's. . . Most readers will find this Marxism much more sympathetic and close to the great humanist tradition of Western culture than were the old shibboleths. . . The information, explanation and analysis of the last two sections are of exquisite quality. . . By revealing the Marxist dialectic of aspiration and hope, of revolutionary action and messianic outlook, and of a permanent transcendancy of what. . . is presented as socialist achievement [it] contributes genuinely to the humanistic strivings of our bitter and tumultuous time." -- Stefan Morawski, Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism.