Communism: A Literary Analysis

The opening line of Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto claims that communism is a specter haunting Europe. This specter, however, was lively, not only in global history, but in literature. As communism took root in Russia and continued into Eastern Europe, allusions to communism became more present in literary works, not only from intellectuals in those areas, but Western intellectuals as well. Czeslaw Milosz, a Polish intellectual, claims that this increase in communist nations is a natural byproduct of the state’s requirement that literature relate to the Leninist-Stalinist doctrine. Despite this, there were multiple instances in which intellectuals utilized literature as a means to critique communism inside and outside the Bloc. In regards to historiography, there are a plethora of resources which detail the …show more content…
These critiques include ideas such as the communist states’ lack of respect for life, its use as a substitute for religion, the claim that communism is another form of consumerism, and many more. However, the two main critiques present in all include the ideas that communist states dictate what is to be considered true or moral and that communism restricts free thought and expression. These two critiques demonstrate that there were major criticisms of communism that transcended the intellectual individuals, nationalities, and time periods. Nonetheless, in comparing the works it became evident that the intellectuals’ nationalities and time periods determined other aspects of the criticisms: what the critiques emphasized and how the intellectuals’ characters respond to communism in light of the criticisms. As this suggests, intellectuals’ criticisms of communism had obvious overlaps regardless of nationality and time period, yet the aspects which the intellectuals emphasize and the reactions they present in their literature depends on their nationality and time