Marxism and Art: Essays Classic and Contemporary

by Maynard Solomon

Book Overview

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,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0814316212
• ISBN13: 9780814316214
• Release Date: May 1984
• Publisher: Wayne State University Press
• Length: 696 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

A curious, at times useful, document

At the time of writing, the book had no review, and one rating (1 star). It is really not so bad as a reference work, and to the connoisseur of academic marxist popularizations (surely there are some?) it is a treasure and a testament to the heady times of publication (mid-70s). The absurd bust portraits of each thinker is worth the price of purchase. First, a few words about the editor: Solomon is a music scholar, and indeed a famous folk producer and record company chief, famous among other things for turning down Bob Dylan (see Scorcese's documentary). This background comes through in the selections, which for Adorno is an interesting, obscure passage from the book with Eisler on music for film. This brings me to the substantive part of the review: the eccentric choice of texts and authors makes this book a take-it-or-leave-it proposition. Besides Marx, for whom Solomon has devoutly included most of the (rather offhand) comments on art, there is not a single author that is represented well: what is Adorno doing with only a passage on film music, and why are Mao and Cauldwell in the book at all when authors that Solomon regards highly, like Meyer Schapiro, are not? For teaching and thinking purposes, the selections are simply too short: hardly any full articles or chapters of books, however short, survive intact under Solomon's restless pen. And he is restless: there are long, passionate, introductions to each writer. Some of these could easily have been pruned to allow more of the authors' own text. And yet, at times, as in the discussion on play in Plekhanov, Solomon makes points of interest beyond the simple exposition of the writers. So there is no getting around the overweening editor of this odd collection. But he too is an interesting document in himself.