13 - Marx, Engels and early Marxist criticism

Summary

In 1971, Fredric Jameson, possibly the most influential Marxist critic of the late twentieth century, recommended 'a relatively Hegelian kind of Marxism' to the literary critical world. It is arguable that, in the twelve years remaining to him, Frederick Engels did considerably more than popularize the pre-existing conceptual and textual legacy Marx had bequeathed. It is surprising, given the fact that Marx and Engels spent most of the later parts of their lives in London, that only William Morris, in this period and from this part of the world, made a noteworthy and lasting contribution to Marxist aesthetics. Morris's plentiful writings on art and its problematics within capitalism are one indication that Marxism, even in the aesthetic field, had started to spread far beyond German borders. By the end of the century the epicentre of all Marxist debate, including that around aesthetics, was moving decisively to Russia.