Issue 46 of In Defence of Marxism, the quarterly theoretical journal of the Revolutionary Communist International is now available for purchase! Click here to get your copy. This issue deals with the very important question of the relationship of culture, and art in particular, to the struggle for socialist revolution and human freedom.
Marxism is often caricatured as a dull, grey theory, narrowly focused on politics and economics. In fact the opposite is true. As Leon Trotsky put it, “not by politics alone does man thrive”. Communists must take a keen interest in art and culture, which is an integral part of the development of human society.
This issue explores the Marxist approach to art in depth. As revolutionary communists we are not only fighting for bread, but to emancipate the enormous cultural treasures of human civilisation which, today, are in the hands of a small minority.
Alan Woods, leading theoretician of the Revolutionary Communist International, opens the issue with an editorial titled, Is art necessary? Since the cave paintings of Altamira and Lascaux, humans have used art as a means to grasp and transform the world around them and to, as Alan puts it, seek “something higher, more sublime, more beautiful than the sordid reality of human existence.” However, the relationship of art to society has transformed over time. Today it is threatened by the senile decay of the capitalist system, which prostitutes human culture for profit.
Alan develops this further in his lead article, A muse of fire: art, society and revolution. Giving a broad sweep of the history of art, from Ancient Egypt to the present day. Alan brings out the relationship of art to the fundamental, revolutionary changes that have shaped human society, and its role in the emancipation of the working class.
The next article, by Jesse Murray-Dean, looks at the revolutionary development of Ancient Greek drama. Prometheus Bound: a prism of the Greek enlightenment takes us through Aeschylus’ tragic masterpiece, which reflected the bold scientific and democratic conceptions of its time.
In A renewed interest in poetry: what does it signify?, Jérôme Métellus and Irene Serra look at the underpinnings of the contemporary revival of poetry amongst young people as well as, more generally, looking at what poetry is at its most basic level.
We are proud to round off this issue with a reprint of a magnificent article by Trotsky, written in 1926, called Culture and socialism, based on a number of talks that he gave on the subjects of culture, science, and the construction of socialism. In it he writes:
“The art of past centuries has made man more complex and flexible, raising his psyche to a higher level and enriching his mind in many ways. Mastery of the old art is a necessary prerequisite not only for the creation of a new art, but for the construction of a new society… Yes, culture has been the main instrument of class oppression. But culture, and it alone, can become the instrument of socialist emancipation.”
Broaden your horizons in the fight for communism by ordering your copy of In Defence of Marxism magazine today!