Art and the Working Class

by Alexandr Bogdanov, Taylor R. Genovese (Translator)

Appearing for the first time in English, Art and the Working Class is the work of Alexander Bogdanov, a revolutionary polymath and co-founder, with Vladimir Lenin, of the Bolshevik faction of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party. Bogdanov was a strong proponent of the arts, co-founding the Proletarian Culture (Proletkult) organization to provide political and artistic education to workers. In this book, Bogdanov discusses the origins of art, its class characteristics, and how it might be created within a revolutionary socialist context.

Genres: Philosophy, Art, Nonfiction, Politics, Theory, Russia

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1918

About the author

Alexandr Bogdanov (1873-1928) was born Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Malinowski at Sokolka, in what was then Russian Poland. He was a man who turned his hand to almost everything. Trained as a physician, he was also an economist, politician, revolutionary (rival of Lenin), philosopher, science fiction author, poet, and scientist. His work on organizational science foreshadowed present developments in that field and cybernetics. In Moscow, in 1926, he founded the world’s first institute devoted entirely to blood transfusion. Two years later, ironically, he died as a result of a transfusion experiment gone wrong.

Reviews

[Owen Hatherley · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's always a big tension in these sorts of things between the actual working class and the putative class-for-itself a revolutionary like Bogdanov would want it to be, but this is a really good insight into what 'Proletkult' actually was: quite thoughtful and nurturing of working class writers and thinkers, pretty sceptical about futurism and tub-thumping - and a good addition to the growing amount of Bogdanov in English, who turns out to be quite different from the dreamy anti-Leninist sci-fi wastrel some might have him as.

[tõnn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Väga huvitav teos suure mõtleja ja marksistliku teoreetiku sulest. Bogdanov keskendub kunsti olemusele, tekkimisele ning loomisele ja kuidas proletariaat peaks kodanliku kunsti asemel hakkama looma enda kunsti. Ta keskendub proletaarse kunsti jaoks vajalikele tingimustele ning seab mitmeid eeldusi, mida proletaarne kunst peaks täitma, et kujundada uut ühiskondlikku ideaali.
Bogdanov käsitleb ka kodanlikku kunsti, mis on senini olnud esteetilisuse ning kunstilise naudingu etalon. Ta leiab, et uus kunst ei tohiks vanat kõrvale heita, vaid peaks järeleandmatu kriitika abil sellest kujundama õppevõimaluse uue kunsti loomiseks ning tarbimiseks. Ta võrdleb kodanliku kunsti süsteemset kritiseerimist Marxi kapitalismi süsteemse kritiseerimisega "Das Kapitalis" ning selle võrdluse abil peegeldubki Bogdanovi arusaam uue kunsti alustaladest.

"First, Marx established that society itself is the organization of production, and upon this rests the basis of all societal laws and all forms of its development. This is the point of view of the socially producing class, the point of view of collective labor. From this point of view, Marx subjected the knowledge of the past to critique, and having purified its material...he created from it a proletarian knowledge: scientific socialism.
Here, then, is the way in which the cultural creation of the past can be transformed into the effective heritage of the working class: by critically reworking it from the point of view of collective labor.
And this is how Marx himself understood the question; it is not a coincidence that he called his main work Capital: A Critique of Political Economy. And this is by no means limited to the social sciences. In all areas of study, our method for both obtaining and assimilating cultural heritage is proletarian class critique.

[Joseph Bierlein · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bogdanov gives us insight from the Bolshevik perspective on how we might critique art to better serve the interests of the proletarian class. He teaches us how to analyze art of the past epochs so that we might understand its organization, purpose, and ideology; how we might critique "working-class art"; and how we can begin exploring a new spectrum of art as promoting the collective consciousness of the true proletarian. His criticisms may serve as valuable insight and a point of self criticism to artists today who have been subjected to the mystifying aspects of modern art ideology.

[Rocky · Rating 4 out of 5]

“May proletarian poetry grow and mature and teach the working class to be what history intended it to be: a fighter and a destroyer only out of external necessity —but a creator in all of its nature.”

[Nicholas Kuck · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked the introduction, has a lot of interesting ideas on culture and the roof of artist, makes me think about the role art has had in our world and how it effects the people.

[River Hobden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Goated book first of him ive read and was really helpful with my dissertation. Enjoyed the poetry analysis. The translators borough across the language well and really think i can grapple a marxist art view after this.

[Charlie · Rating 4 out of 5]

❤️ finished this in a few shifts at work lmao

[Nedelcu Ioan · Rating 5 out of 5]

F bun explicativ despre proletcultism si perspectiva nu asa de totalitară pe care o avea Bogdanov în comparație cu Lenin

[Owen · Rating 3 out of 5]

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

[Jacob Nathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not to brag, but I know the translator. Absolutely fantastic read for anyone interested in proletarian aesthetics. Essential for propagandists.

[Emilia · Rating 2 out of 5]

fascinating book. reading the thoughts of communists/socialists/anarchists that are deeply involved and obsessed with art is always so much fun. my favorite part in the book has to be pretty late when he writes about symbolism in fiction and that before something is a symbol it is always a "living image", something that unconsciously resonates with us. the rest of the book is at least for me as a first time bogdanov reader not accessible. he seems pretty deep in his own theories. for example i cant say i fully see what he means by proletarian art (yet)

[Luke · Rating 4 out of 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.

[Robert Stutchbury · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a lot of fun iirc its been a while. just like the starry eyed futurism of soviet just after the revolution. Critiquing random workers poetry. good takes. love to see it.