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Sozialrebell Und Lumpensammler. Zur Theoretischen Funktion Von Marginalisierten Bei Gramsci Und Benjamin / Social Rebels And Rag Pickers. On The Theoretical Function Of Marginalized Persons In Gramsci And Benjamin, Birgit Wagner

International Gramsci Journal

This contribution focuses on two marginalized figures, the social rebel Davide Lazzaretti in Gramsci and the rag picker in Benjamin. Whereas Gramsci’s social rebel is a historical figure, Benjamin’s rag picker is derived from Baudelaire’s famous poem “Le vin des chiffonniers” [“The Rag Picker’s Wine”]. These two case studies, if we may call them so (after all, they are both based on written texts only), discuss the importance of individual subaltern rebellions against the ruling capitalistic/patriarchal society of the nineteenth century. Both theoreticians emphasise what Adorno called “the claim of singularity to truth”, a claim inherent in their theoretical assumptions …

Primat Der Politik Über Die Geschichte: Vergangenheit Und Gegenwart Bei Gramsci Und Benjamin / Primacy Of Politics Over History: Past And Present In Gramsci And Benjamin, Ingo Pohn-Lauggas

International Gramsci Journal

This article compares the philosophies of history of Antonio Gramsci and Walter Benjamin and chooses a specific approach since the topic of “history” is an overarching meta-theme for both thinkers: After a general introduction, the category “Past and Present” developed by Gramsci in the Prison Notebooks is juxtaposed with Benjamin’s “Concept of History”. With one eye on the biographical experience, the “ensemble of the social relations” (Marx) inscribed in the human being is included and related to the historical process and, not least, to questions of historiography. Central clues are the possibility of insight on the one hand and of …

Epistolario (Correspondence), 1: Gennaio 1906-Dicembre 1922, Noemi Ghetti

International Gramsci Journal

This is the first volume of the Epistolario (Correspondence), forming part of the National Edition of Antonio Gramsci’s Writings, includes letters both sent and received by Gramsci, nearly 160 of them, while others have come to light since this publication. The volume covers his period at school in Sardinia (Santu Lussurgiu and Cagliari), his university experiences and political – especially journalistic – activities in Turin, and the first part of his stay in Moscow as one of the representatives of the Italian Communist Party at the Third (Communist) International. There he was a member of the Comintern’s Executive Committee and, …

Antonio Gramsci, Scritti (Writings), 1, 1910-1916, Lelio La Porta

International Gramsci Journal

The first volume of the early writings (largely his journalism – the specific form of his political militancy in this period) has come out after the second one, covering 1917, due to the even greater complexity of assembling and ascertaining authorship to the articles. These often appeared anonymously, sometimes with initials or an abbreviated name, and were sometimes subject to rigid censorship. In the latter case all efforts have been made to trace and reinstate the missing sections. In all, about 400 texts of various kinds are included in the volume, which supersedes previous collections dating back to the last …

Epistolario, 1: Gennaio 1906-Dicembre 1922, Noemi Ghetti

International Gramsci Journal

This is the first volume of the Epistolario (Correspondence), forming part of the National Edition of Antonio Gramsci’s Writings, includes letters both sent and received by Gramsci, nearly 160 of them, while others have come to light since this publication. The volume covers his period at school in Sardinia (Santu Lussurgiu and Cagliari), his university experiences and political – especially journalistic – activities in Turin, and the first part of his stay in Moscow as one of the representatives of the Italian Communist Party at the Third (Communist) International. There he was a member of the Comintern’s Executive Committee and, …

Antonio Gramsci, Scritti 1910-1916, Lelio La Porta

International Gramsci Journal

The first volume of the early writings (largely his journalism – the specific form of his political militancy in this period) has come out after the second one, covering 1917, due to the even greater complexity of assembling and ascertaining authorship to the articles. These often appeared anonymously, sometimes with initials or an abbreviated name, and were sometimes subject to rigid censorship. In the latter case all efforts have been made to trace and reinstate the missing sections. In all, about 400 texts of various kinds are included in the volume, which supersedes previous collections dating bak to the last …

Dizionario Gramsciano / Gramscian Dictionary: Philology, Ludovico De Lutiis

International Gramsci Journal

This is a translation into English of the Dizionario gramsciano entry “Philology” by Ludovico De Lutiis. Philology, the “methodological expression of the importance of particular facts”, underlies Gramsci’s writings in the Notebooks and lies at the centre of various reflections; it is indispensable for reconstructing an author’s thought and, indeed, the past. Gramsci drew inspiration for his own anti-positivist approach, con-trasted to that of Bukharin, in part from Ernst Bernheim’s outline of historical method . Reading a text or situation, and knowing how not to read too much into it (a refusal to “importune” [sollecitare] the text), is essential to …

Practising Marxism: Towards A Dialogue Between Luxemburg And Gramsci, Yohann Douet

International Gramsci Journal

This is a review by Yohann Douet of the volume Rosa Luxemburg, Antonio Gramsci actuels (Paris: Éditions Kimé, 2018) edited by Marie-Claire Caloz-Tschopp, Antoine Chollet and Romain Felli and published in honour of the late André Tosel, distinguished philosopher and Gramsci scholar.

Gramsci, Filologo, Alvaro Bianchi

International Gramsci Journal

Questo articolo ricostruisce il ruolo della filologia nel pensiero di Antonio Gramsci e la sua importanza. A tal fine, indaga sui dibattiti filologici che si sono svolti nella penisola dopo la formazione del nuovo stato nazionale; presenta il percorso di formazione dell’autore presso la Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia dell’Università di Torino, con particolare attenzione ai suoi studi in glottologia e filologia; e, infine, si concentra su due momenti della produzione intellettuale di Gramsci: un primo momento, prima del carcere, in cui la filologia è stata un’arma di combattimento nelle polemiche culturali, principalmente contro esponenti del nazionalismo italiano, e un …

Cover Page, Derek Boothman

International Gramsci Journal

This is an abstract of the cover page of «International Gramsci Journal», vol. 4, No. 13 (Second Series-Seconda Serie), winter-inverno 2020.

Photo: the Sardinian wooden cart that Gramsci sculpted for the Schucht sisters, Evgenija and Julija.

Aus Dem Buch Des Lebens: Zum Status Der Philologie Bei Benjamin Und Gramsci / From The Book Of Life: Walter Benjamin’S And Antonio Gramsci’S Philological Methods, Jan Loheit

International Gramsci Journal

For Antonio Gramsci and Walter Benjamin, whose texts from the time of the fascist terror in Europe are still widely discussed, philology was an indispensable instrument of their criticism. Philological criticism, which gained a political and epistemological dimension in their works, plays a crucial role in their analyses of fascism, questions of historiography and their examinations of Marxism. The writings that emerged during this period, Gramsci’s Prison Notebooks and Benjamin’s Arcades Project, are known to have remained fragments. In this article, the focus is on the philological impulse on which these writings were based and which, as will be shown, …

Politisierung Zwischen Den Zeilen. Betrachtungen Zum Politisierenden Charakter Der Schreibweisen Von Walter Benjamin Und Antonio Gramsci / Politicization Between The Lines: Remarks On The Agitational Character Of Walter Benjamin’S And Antonio Gramsci’S Writing Modes, Matthias Schmidt

International Gramsci Journal

The writings of Walter Benjamin and Antonio Gramsci have often been compared with each other because of their similar appearance and their seemingly analogous methods. Both authors’ corpora challenge the idea of linear writing and can rather be described as fragmentary, rhizomatic networks which keep developing their ideas and notions with every reader trying to synthesize their elements. This article examines these typical modes of writing regarding their specific political impact on their readers. I will therefore reconstruct Benjamin’s and Gramsci’s understanding of the political intellectual, in order to subsequently contrast the functional structure of their texts. While Benjamin’s approach …

Past And Present, Subalternity And Revolution, Gianmarco Fifi

International Gramsci Journal

This is a review by Gianmarco Fifi of the volume Revisiting Gramsci’s Notebooks (Leiden: Brill, 2020) that includes the proceedings of an international conference (“Past and Present”) held in London in 2017. The volume was edited by edited by Francesca Antonini, Aaron Bernstein, Lorenzo Fusaro and Robert Jackson.

Gramsci, Filólogo, Alvaro Bianchi

International Gramsci Journal

Este artigo reconstrói o lugar da filologia no pensamento de Antonio Gramsci e sua importância. Para tal investiga os debates filológicos que tinham lugar na península após a formação do novo Estado nacional; apresenta o percurso formativo deste autor na Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia da Università di Torino, dando especial atenção aos seus estudos em linguística e filologia; e, por fim, se debruça sobre dois momentos da produção intelectual de Gramsci: um primeiro momento, antes da prisão, na qual a filologia era mobilizada em polêmicas culturais, principalmente contra expoentes do nacionalismo italiano, e um segundo momento, na prisão, quando …

The Tasks Of Translatability, Peter Thomas

International Gramsci Journal

While Walter Benjamin’s essay “The Task of the Translator” has long been considered one of the fundamental texts of translation theory, Gramsci’s important remarks on the question of translatability were not noted in the canonical studies of the history of translation theory nor, for a long time, in Gramscian studies themselves. Nevertheless, the notion of translatability plays a crucial role in the general economy of the Prison Notebooks. This paper proposes a dialogical reading ‘against the grain’ of three constellations of some of Gramsci and Benjamin’s key concepts regarding the nature of translation and its philosophical presuppositions and implications. These …

Gramsci Y El Infierno Dantesco, Miguel Valderrama

International Gramsci Journal

A partir de una lectura de las notas de Antonio Gramsci sobre el canto X del Inferno de Dante, el artículo se propone volver sobre las tesis del historicismo absoluto elaboradas en los Quaderni del carcere. Volver sobre ellas, pero a partir de la teoría del acto que se vislumbra en las breves notas que Gramsci dedica a la interpretación de las figuras dantescas de Farinata y Cavalcante. En la teoría del acto que Gramsci esboza al momento de aprehender el drama de los condenados es posible advertir otro punto de partida para elaborar un concepto de historia a contrapelo …