Reviews

Art and the Working Class by Alexander Bogdanov

cresch11's review

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challenging reflective fast-paced

4.0

lukes_ramblingwritings66's review

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informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

4.5

Short, but definitely not something to just breeze through. Three essays of communist/socialist theory on proletarian art and art critique. I thoroughly enjoyed the second essay, where Bogdanov uses institutionalized religion as an example of authoritarian control between the director and executor, and the proceeds to equate it to capital and the relationship between the "divinely ordained" bourgeois and the proletariat. The translator's introduction stood out as well, giving essential historical context of how Bogdanov is either a forgotten individual of communist thinking, or an enemy of Lenin, when he and Lenin had the same goals in mind, they just differed ideologically on how to reach those goals. 

Very much enjoyed my foray into Bogdanov's work here, and hopefully we get to see more of his ideas in modern communist/socialist discourse.

jss97's review

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challenging informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

belwau's review

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challenging informative slow-paced

2.0

lilie_rose's review

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reflective fast-paced

owenm1116's review

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3.0

I’ve read a few bits of socialist political theory but this has been my first foray into a philosophical application of socialism. Bogdanov in the 3 essays of this book attempts to use the methods of Marxist analysis to analyze art and specifically how artists and critiques in the new Soviet Union should address the topic of art as a proletarian expression as a dialectical advance from bourgeoise inspired art. I think that his second essay on how workers should look at art and be taught is was probably the most interesting specifically his example of the play Hamlet
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