Lettere dal carcere 2

Quaderni del carcere #2

by Antonio Gramsci

-- Radical Philosophy

Genres: Philosophy, Politics, Nonfiction, History, Italian Literature, Biography, Italy

302 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1948

About the author

Antonio Francesco Gramsci was an Italian Marxist philosopher, linguist, journalist, writer, and politician. He wrote on philosophy, political theory, sociology, history, and linguistics. He was a founding member and one-time leader of the Italian Communist Party. A vocal critic of Benito Mussolini and fascism, he was imprisoned in 1926, where he remained until his death in 1937.

During his imprisonment, Gramsci wrote more than 30 notebooks and 3,000 pages of history and analysis. His Prison Notebooks are considered a highly original contribution to 20th-century political theory. Gramsci drew insights from varying sources — not only other Marxists but also thinkers such as Niccolò Machiavelli, Vilfredo Pareto, Georges Sorel, and Benedetto Croce. The notebooks cover a wide range of topics, including the history of Italy and Italian nationalism, the French Revolution, fascism, Taylorism and Fordism, civil society, the state, historical materialism, folklore, religion, and high and popular culture.
Gramsci is best known for his theory of cultural hegemony, which describes how the state and ruling capitalist class — the bourgeoisie — use cultural institutions to maintain wealth and power in capitalist societies. In Gramsci's view, the bourgeoisie develops a hegemonic culture using ideology rather than violence, economic force, or coercion. He also attempted to break from the economic determinism of orthodox Marxist thought, and so is sometimes described as a neo-Marxist. He held a humanistic understanding of Marxism, seeing it as a philosophy of praxis and an absolute historicism that transcends traditional materialism and traditional idealism.

Reviews

[Chiara · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Il mio motto è sempre stato: pessimismo dell'intelligenza, ottimismo della volontà."

Lettura profonda e commovente delle lettere scritte da Gramsci ai familiari durante i suoi anni di prigionia. Dall'epistolario emergono diverse sfaccettature della personalità e delle terribili condizioni del prigioniero: la sua salute precaria, le sofferenze fisiche, il morale sempre più fiaccato dalla tortura del carcere fascista. Ciò nonostante, mantiene una dignità e una lucidità che non possono non suscitare commozione e ammirazione.
L'aspetto forse più coinvolgente emotivamente riguarda i rapporti di Gramsci con i familiari, dei quali seguiamo lo sviluppo attraverso le lettere. L'affetto ma anche i rimproveri alla cognata, il difficile rapporto con la moglie, e soprattutto la grande sofferenza nel cercare di stabilire una relazione con i figli. Le lettere ai bambini sono forse quelle con più carica emotiva, tanto è commovente lo sforzo dell'autore di avvicinarsi come padre a dei figli che non può vedere crescere.
Leggere queste lettere permette di comprendere meglio la figura di Gramsci al di là del suo pensiero politico e del suo contributo intellettuale. L'aspetto privato è fondamentale per avere un'idea della statura morale di un uomo che ha segnato la storia d'Italia.

[Marco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though I had read branches of Lettere dal carcere, I had never approached in an organic way the most personal (and suffering) work of Gramsci.
It's quite complex to review a corpus of more than 400 letters, scattered between the comparatively positive mood of the "early" detention days in Ustica, the depressive episodes of Turi, and the tender and somewhat resigned short thoughts of Rome.
While Gramsci the thinker is without a doubt one of the most influential characters of the contemporary political discourse, Gramsci the man is the reason why such thoughts have been formulated in the first place.
An important testimony to the horrors of fascism, viewed through the lens of a man that had ideas as his only crime.

[Darrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good look into the thinking of Gramsci and how Fascism can destroy a person. What comes across more to me than anything is that Gramsci was sick. How someone with all his ailments could have continued on with writing is what most interests me. It is true that he was a product of his time with the racist and misogyny beliefs. However, it was a tough read and I read both volumes after putting it off for decades during my university years. This along with "The Prison Letters of George Jackson", and some of the writings of the apostle Paul gives me insight into what it takes to continue a mission in spite of all the obstacles one can face.

[Dale · Rating 2 out of 5]

These are tough reads, better for off the shelf reference.

[Clara]

No segundo volume d’Os Cadernos do Cárcere, Gramsci aborda o papel dos intelectuais, dos princípios educativos e do jornalismo. Para ele, os intelectuais são responsáveis pela direção dos diferentes grupos políticos ao longo da história e, nesse sentido, devem estar inseridos organicamente na luta de classes. Ele também faz uma análise dos diferentes tipos de veículos de imprensa e da educação como processo ativo e consciente, colocando os objetivos e modos de organização para a luta, bebendo muito do conceito de hegemonia cultural, que aparece bastante em sua obra.

Para Gramsci, as classes dominantes, ao longo da história, se utilizaram dos mecanismos educacionais e da imprensa em suas diferentes formas, mais tradicionais ou renovadas, para exercer sua hegemonia cultural perante outras classes.

Escrito durante o período de sua prisão pelo governo fascista de Mussolini, quando Gramsci foi incriminado por sua atividade política no Partido Comunista Italiano, o livro faz parte de uma coleção de obras de mesmo título, que eram escritos como anotações, ao mesmo tempo, sem intuito de publicação. Apenas após sua morte foram organizados e publicados.

[Sunny · Rating 5 out of 5]

much like the first one. i really enjoyed this collection of thoughts by gramsci. he talks about society, about literature, art, culture and the depth of knowledge and insight he gives is incredible. again there were large swathes of this that i skipped past because it referred to some very specific Italian intellectuals that i will probably never hear about again but evertheless the bibliography section and the notes section at the end was almost as good to read as Gramscis stuff itself. i ordered around 6 other books to read as shown in the notes section. i cant wait to start the final volume. amazing mind.

[Sara Salem · Rating 3 out of 5]

So interesting seeing the famous Gramsci excerpts lost inside small notes. Makes you think that scholars working on Gramsci have done almost as much work as Gramsci himself. That said this volume makes very clear his Eurocentrism and at times his racism, especially when he talks about Africa, at one time referring to the 'backwards African masses.'