The Revolutionary Marxism of Antonio Gramsci

Frank Rosengarten

Antonio Gramsci was not only one of the most original and significant communist leaders of his time but also a creative thinker whose contributions to the renewal of Marxism remain pertinent today. In The Revolutionary Marxism of Antonio Gramsci, Frank Rosengarten explores Gramsci’s writings in areas as diverse as Marxist theory, the responsibilities of political leadership, and the theory and practice of literary criticism. He also discusses Gramsci’s influence on the post-colonial world. Through close readings of texts ranging from Gramsci’s socialist journalism in the Turin years to his prison letters and Notebooks, Rosengarten captures the full vitality of the Sardinian communist’s thought and outlook on life.

Biographical note

Frank Rosengarten, Ph.D. in Italian, Columbia University, is professor emeritus Case Western Reserve University and the City University of New York (1962-1992). Among his publications are The Writings of the Young Marcel Proust (2001), Urbane Revolutionary: C.L.R. James and the Struggle for a New Society (2008), and Giacomo Leopardi’s Search for a Common Life through Poetry (2012).

Readership

Students and professors of Italian. Professors and laypersons interested in 20th century political thought. Academic libraries. Political activists of the Left. Literary and cultural criticism. Educated laymen.

Table of contents

Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
List of Permissions

PART ONE: GRAMSCI AS POLITICAL THINKER AND ACTIVIST

Introduction
1. The Gramsci-Trotsky Question
2. Antonio Gramsci and the Italian Communist Press in the Fascist Era
3. The Contemporary Relevance of Gramsci’s Views on the Italian ‘Southern Question’

PART TWO: GRAMSCI’S PRISON EXPERIENCE

4. Antonio Gramsci’s Letters from Prison
5. Gramsci’s Analysis of Canto X of Dante’s Inferno
6. Gramsci’s Path from ‘Plowman’ to ‘Fertiliser’ of History

PART THREE: COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVES ON GRAMSCI

7. Antonio Gramsci and C.L.R. James: Some Intriguing Similarities
8. On the Qualities of Intellectuals: Antonio Gramsci, Edward Said, and Betty Friedan
9. Gramsci in the Caribbean

PART FOUR: TWO PROTAGONISTS OF GRAMSCI STUDIES IN THE UNITED STATES

10. Gramscian Influences on Robert Dombroski’s Critical Engagement with Marxism
11. John Cammett’s Writings on Antonio Gramsci and the PCI

References
Index