Antonio Gramsci, by Antonio A.
Santucci. New York: Monthly Review Press, 2010.
$0.00; paper, $0.00 US. ISBN: 978-1-58367-210-5. Pages: 7-201.
Does Gramsci still have something to tell us in
a world “without communism”? Can we, as Joseph A. Buttigieg argues, consider
Gramsci’s writings as a classic which is both an expression of its epoch, and
also an effort to resist contingency and remain open to dialogue with future
generations? (p. 19). Antonio A. Santucci’s, an eminent philological scholar of
Gramscian texts, well-written intellectual biography of Antonio Gramsci can be viewed
as an attempt to answer these questions. In doing this, Santucci provides us
not only with a critical evaluation of Gramsci’s ideas, but also tries to
explain how they might still be valid for today. It is important to pay
attention to Santucci’s interpretation of Gramsci because, as Buttigieg makes
it clear, it is through his philologically scrupulous editions of L’Ordine Nuovo [The New Order] (with
Valentino Gerratana), Letters: 1909-1926,
and Letters from Prison, scholars and
students have reliable access to some of Gramsci’s most important writings.
(p.10).
In addition to a Preface written by Eric Hobsbawm
and a Foreword by Joseph A. Buttigieg, the book consists of five chapters which
are Introduction, The Political Writings, The Letters from Prison, The Prison Notebooks, and End-of-Century Gramsci. The chapters
reflect Santucci’s distinguishing of Gramsci’s “writings preceeding his
incarceration and those of his prison years. To the former belong the hundreds
of articles published in various periodicals until the end of 1926; to the
latter belong the Letters from Prison
and the Prison Notebooks.” (p. 30).
In an intellectual biography, the author tries
to provide his/her readers in a coherent manner of the ideas and events that surround
intellectual’s life. It can be said that Santucci deals successfully with this
challenge by presenting the life-story of Antonio Gramsci without losing the
in-depth analysis of his ideas. The links between the text and the context throughout
the life of the intellectual is presented in a successful way, that is, Santucci
presents both the impact of the context on the ideas of Gramsci, and also the
efforts of Gramsci to influence the context through his ideas and writings.
The book’s contributions to the debates regarding
Gramsci and his ideas can be gathered under two headings: theoretical and
methodological. Theoretically, Santucci tries to contribute to the debates by
pointing out to Gramsci’s criticisms of Marx, and of different interpretations
of Marxism. For instance, he argues that Gramsci’s criticisms were directed
toward Bukharin’s dogmatic Marxism which was mechanistic, lacked dialectical
spirit, and produced historical and political determinism. (p. 149). Santucci
argues that Gramsci was both against the attempts to canonize Marxism and also
to mechanistic and determinist interpretations of Marxism. In place of this
determinism and economism, Gramsci tried to open up more space for the
subjective element of the will, or in other words, the power of the agency.
What is more interesting, I think, is Santucci’s attempt to show the
intellectual evolution of Gramsci from being a Crocean to being a Marxist.
Being strongly influenced by the idealist Italian philosopher Benedetto Croce,
Young Gramsci’s idealistic formation is evident in many of his writings in this
period, says Santucci. (p.65). However, later, in a similar way to Marx’s
relation with Hegel, Gramsci left Croce behind and developed an anti-Crocean
stance with the help of Marx. Finally, the closer Gramsci approached Marx, the
more his intellectual path diverged from that of Croce. (p. 146).
Reading Gramsci is also useful to be reminded of
various methodological issues and problems that can emerge while studying
political theory. Some of the issues Gramsci is concerned with are the idea of
leitmotif, importance of dialectical thinking and anti-dogmatism, and particularism
as opposed to totalizing approaches. While approaching a political philosopher,
Gramsci argues that instead of isolated quotations, one should be interested in
the leitmotif that provides the general motivation for this particular
philosopher. Again, instead of universalism, totalizing theories and
determinism, one should pay attention to particularism, inseperability of
theory and practice, and dialogical and dialectical thinking. By presenting
Gramsci’s own approach to the classics of political theory, Santucci warns
scholars who utilize Gramsci’s ideas and concepts in their studies to not to
look for isolated sentences or supporting arguments, but instead to be faithful
to Gramsci’s general message, or his leitmotif.
In addition to these theoretical and
methodological debates, in the first chapter, Santucci discusses the method of
Gramsci, the outline of his notebooks, and how to categorize his writings. He
talks about Gramsci’s concerns about temporary, perhaps superficial writings on
the one hand, and philosophical, more coherent and systematic writings on the
other. Also he explains Gramsci’s ability to combine practice and theory,
thought and action, and how his thinking of the intellectual is related with
other parts of his theory, such as culture, politics, education.
In the second chapter, Political Writings, which
is devoted to the analysis of the journalistic writings of Gramsci, Santucci
tells about Gramsci’s journalism, the Ordine
Nuovo experience, and about the intense and close relationship between
Gramsci as the journalist, and the proletariat life in the industrial city of
Turin. Although Gramsci considers his journalistic writings as superficial and
temporary, in his pre-prison writings, as Santucci shows, one can find the
initial core thoughts and arguments which later will become the basis of his
more theoretical concepts and ideas, such as historical bloc, political party,
and hegemony.
In the third chapter, Santucci explains how
Gramsci’s personal letters which were mostly sent to his relatives can help us
understand his theoretical development. Later, in the fourth chapter, he
discusses the Prison Notebooks.
In the final chapter, Santucci returns to the
question of whether or not Gramsci can guide us today, but sounds a bit
ambigious. Despite the crisis of the historical communism and the disappearance
of the Italian Communist Party from the political scene, which are important in
thinking about Gramsci’s relevance today, (p. 162) Santucci argues that as
long as questions related to justice, freedom and equality remain unsolved,
Gramsci’s ideas would remain valid in confronting current problems. However, he
argues that “if Gramsci is not relevant in these cases, it is because major
politics, which goes beyond the simple administrative tasks, […] has lost
topicality as well. If they continue to stand on the sidelines, then indeed
Gramsci’s ideas will definitely be defeated. However, a defeat of Gramsci’s
ideas could also signify a collective defeat." (p. 173).
In brief, Santucci tackles well with the
challenge of providing the reader an integrated story of the ideas and life of
Antonio Gramsci. It can make significant contributions to the methodological and theoretical debates
about Gramsci. Especially his emphasis on the concept of leitmotif, dialogical
and dialectical thinking, anti-dogmatism, particularism can serve as guiding
principles for scholars who continue to study on Gramsci’s ideas.
