A partir dos anos 30, o filósofo húngaro Georg Lukács publica uma série de textos nos quais procura determinar o que é a literatura realista, atentando para seus desdobramentos no curso do desenvolvimento histórico. Afinal, dirá Lukács, a questão que se coloca é, justamente, compreender as importantes mudanças de estilo pelas quais passa o realismo, essa maneira especificamente artística de descobrir a realidade objetiva. Para Lukács, entretanto, tais mudanças não surgem a partir de uma dialética imanente das formas, por mais que se vinculem a formas do passado. A aposta teórica deste trabalho é a de que essa perspectiva sobre o realismo ganha um solo fértil, quando atentamos para o complexo de problemas evocado pela hostilidade do capitalismo às artes. Assumindo-o como nosso fio da meada, apresentamos então a leitura de Lukács sobre dois grandes autores realistas, Balzac e Tolstói, com destaque para as continuidades e diferenças entre eles. Nesse sentido, vem para o primeiro plano as considerações de Lukács sobre o típico, constituído de modo extremo, bem como a discussão em torno da incorporação de elementos dramáticos pelo romance, que já pode ser observada em Os anos de aprendizagem de Wilhelm Meister, de Goethe, e se torna fundamental nas obras de Balzac e Walter Scott. / From the 1930s onward, the Hungarian philosopher Georg Lukács published a series of texts in which he sought a definition for realism in literature, bearing in mind its historical consequences. For the matter, according to him, it was crucial to understand the important changes in style underwent by realism, a mode through which one is able to discover objective reality. For him, however, such changes do not appear out of an immanent dialectic of forms, even though they may be related to past forms. Our theoretical hypothesis in this research is that the perspective overcast on realism becomes productive once one is aware of the complexity of problems that the hostility of capitalism towards the arts engenders. Our train of thinking will be led by Lukácss readings of two major writers of realism, Balzac and Tolstoy, and the continuities and discontinuities among them. We will thus bring forth the philosophers considerations on typical, understood as an extreme form, as well as the debate surrounding the incorporation of dramatic elements into the novel, as can be seen in Goethes Wilhelm Meisters Apprenticeship, and more so in Balzacs and Walter Scotts writings.

A partir dos anos 30, o filósofo húngaro Georg Lukács publica uma série de textos nos quais procura determinar o que é a literatura realista, atentando para seus desdobramentos no curso do desenvolvimento histórico. Afinal, dirá Lukács, a questão que se coloca é, justamente, compreender as importantes mudanças de estilo pelas quais passa o realismo, essa maneira especificamente artística de descobrir a realidade objetiva. Para Lukács, entretanto, tais mudanças não surgem a partir de uma dialética imanente das formas, por mais que se vinculem a formas do passado. A aposta teórica deste trabalho é a de que essa perspectiva sobre o realismo ganha um solo fértil, quando atentamos para o complexo de problemas evocado pela hostilidade do capitalismo às artes. Assumindo-o como nosso fio da meada, apresentamos então a leitura de Lukács sobre dois grandes autores realistas, Balzac e Tolstói, com destaque para as continuidades e diferenças entre eles. Nesse sentido, vem para o primeiro plano as considerações de Lukács sobre o típico, constituído de modo extremo, bem como a discussão em torno da incorporação de elementos dramáticos pelo romance, que já pode ser observada em Os anos de aprendizagem de Wilhelm Meister, de Goethe, e se torna fundamental nas obras de Balzac e Walter Scott. / From the 1930s onward, the Hungarian philosopher Georg Lukács published a series of texts in which he sought a definition for realism in literature, bearing in mind its historical consequences. For the matter, according to him, it was crucial to understand the important changes in style underwent by realism, a mode through which one is able to discover objective reality. For him, however, such changes do not appear out of an immanent dialectic of forms, even though they may be related to past forms. Our theoretical hypothesis in this research is that the perspective overcast on realism becomes productive once one is aware of the complexity of problems that the hostility of capitalism towards the arts engenders. Our train of thinking will be led by Lukácss readings of two major writers of realism, Balzac and Tolstoy, and the continuities and discontinuities among them. We will thus bring forth the philosophers considerations on typical, understood as an extreme form, as well as the debate surrounding the incorporation of dramatic elements into the novel, as can be seen in Goethes Wilhelm Meisters Apprenticeship, and more so in Balzacs and Walter Scotts writings.

This thesis investigates the transatlantic manifestation of the debate regarding the aesthetics of commitment in the modernist literary and theatrical tradition. Within the debate theatre occupies a privileged position since (because of its two-fold roles both as theory and performance) it allows a critique both of performative conventions and methods and also a dialectical consideration of the audience’s socio-political consciousness. The debate, often referred to as form versus content – schematically re-written as ‘autonomy’ versus ‘commitment’ – and its transatlantic evaluation are central to modernist aesthetics, as they bring into question the established modes of perceiving and discussing the issue. A parallel close reading will reveal the closely related development of the European and the American traditions and evaluate their critical strengths and shortcomings. The first part of the thesis discusses the positions of Georg Lukács and Bertolt Brecht, Theodor Adorno and Walter Benjamin in tandem with those of the New York Intellectuals, especially as expressed in the latters’ writings in the Partisan Review. The second part extends this transatlantic dialogue through a consideration of the theatrical works of the New York Living Newspaper unit of the Federal Theatre Project (FTP) in the USA and Bertolt Brecht’s vision of and relationship with ‘Americana’ as revealed through such plays as In the Jungle of Cities, Man Equals Man, St Joan of the Stockyards and the 1947 version of Galileo. The Federal Theatre and Brecht’s respective dramaturgies demonstrate differences in the articulation and application of the aesthetics of commitment and politics of engagement. A close reading of four plays by the Living Newspaper unit will not only reveal the influence of the Russian Blue Blouse groups and Meyerhold’s theatrical experimentations, but also how the unit’s playwrights and administration attempted to re-write this aesthetic. Hallie Flanagan (the director of FTP), recognising the limitations of Broadway and having sensed the audience’s need for a new kind of theatre, realised early on the importance of ‘translating’ the European aesthetics of commitment to conform with the American New Deal discourse. Brecht’s plays manifest not only the differences with respect to the European aesthetics of commitment, but also its highly complicated development. His American experiences revealed that the failings of the FTP’s attempt to establish a viable national theatre with a social agenda prohibited a more powerfully theatrical connection (theoretical and performative) between the two traditions. Both the European and the American modernist aesthetics are informed by Marxist cultural and literary theory, particularly by the writings centred on the political efficacy of a work of art with respect to its reception and its modes of production. The politico-aesthetic encounter of the Marxist tradition of engagement with a commitment to aesthetic formalism (often associated with the autonomy position) led to a confrontational and polemical rather than dialectical argumentation. However, this thesis maintains that the arguments were not simply articulated by theorists at opposing ends of the political spectrum. At the same time, Brecht and the Federal Theatre Project’s interest in the advancements of the European avant-garde and fascination with the notion of ‘Americana’ demonstrate the necessity to examine the issue of commitment in a more dialectical manner. While their notion of the aesthetics of commitment differed, this thesis argues for the necessity, not only of revisiting some of the fundamental premises regarding the role and function of this aesthetics in modernist political theatre, but also of reading the two traditions in conjunction.

This essay applies a critical lens to Mrs. Dalloway (1925) by Virginia Woolf. The aim of this essay is to investigate if and how Mrs. Dalloway can be utilized for students to practice critical consciousness in the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom. In Mrs. Dalloway, Woolf criticizes her own contemporary society by deliberately writing about the obnoxious social class system in London during the inter-war period. This deliberate social critique is analyzed by both looking into the author’s background and the historical time period the novel was written. The Marxist literary critic, Terry Eagleton argues that in order to fully understand literature, you must compare both the author and the author’s contemporary society to the novel itself. By analyzing these aspects, it is possible to understand any piece of literature from any given historical time period. Moreover, this essay desires to ascertain if canonical literature is relevant when teaching students about social class and inclusiveness. Furthermore, this essay argues that having a Marxist perspective can help students become critically conscious of both their environment and society. Also, it examines if the combination of Marxist theory together with critical pedagogy can create an educational situation that is equally fair for all students, regarding their socioeconomic status. The results of this essay concluded that applying either Marxist theory or critical literacy pedagogy to literature, could make students become more critically conscious about their environment, which could help to replicate the teaching philosophies of critical pedagogy by Paulo Freire.

This diploma thesis examines Sally Rooney's novels Conversations with Friends and Normal People from the viewpoint of Marxist literary criticism. Based on the author's own claim to incorporate "a Marxist framework" into her writing as a way of describing the surrounding world, the thesis, there- fore, aims to explore the aforementioned novels with regard to Marx's theory. The first part focuses on the theoretical background and principal thoughts of Marxism and Marxist literary criticism. Next, there is outlined the conception of social classes in Ireland and a brief introduction of Sally Rooney's views in order to provide context to the novels. The second part of the thesis then applies the theoret- ical background to an analysis of the novels themselves. This includes their stories, settings, charac- ters and conveyed ideas in relation to the issues of base and superstructure, power dynamics, class identity, social status and influences of economic as well as cultural and educational hegemony.