Marxism and Literature

Abstract

In the article devoted to F. O. Matthiessen's labor and political activities, in the Matthiessen memorial issue of MR (October 1950), the following passage occurs: "He agreed to appear as a defense witness in the Foley Square trial of the Communist leaders [the first trial of Communists under the Smith Act] and prepared a brief paper on 'Marxism and Literature' as a basis for his evidence. But the rulings of the presiding judge forced the defense to give up its original intention of presenting a rounded picture of Marxism as a body of ideas, and Matty was never called." At the time, we were unable to locate this paper and assumed that it must have been lost or destroyed. Recently, however, a copy was found and made available to MR for publication.

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