Renzo Galeotti - On the Death of Paolo Pasolini - Marxism Today, March 1976,

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MARXISM TODAY, MARCH, 1976 93

On the Death of Paolo PasoliniRenzo GaleottiRenzo Galeotti was born in Carrara 35 years ago. He is a painter with many one-man shows in

Englan d a nd in Italy. His political characterisa tions have appeared in Italian paper s, includingRinasci ta of the Italian Communist Party. He has illustrated a number of our articles and a paintingof his was reproduced on the cover of our July 1975 issue. We print below a drawing done by himafter Pasolini's death.

There is a curious almost fateful analogy between the death of Pier Paolo Pasolini and that ofhis brother , G uido Pasol ini , a mem ber of theI ta l ian resistance movem ent du ring the last war;Guido, a partisan who was killed by his fellow

part isans in Februa ry 1945. Pier Paolo P asol ini ,the poet of the sub-proletariat , which he saw as aredeeming force, and as the eventual l iberator fromBourgeois Values, was killed by one of the samesub-pro le t a r i a t 1

The death of his brother was the first greattrauma in the life of the poet, but he did not acceptit passively. Whenever he encountered tragedy,adversity or ha ppin ess in his l ife, i t was like a"combust ion" for his work and for the "despera tevi ta l i ty" of a man who was rare ly happy.

In the turmoil of the immediate post-war period,Pasolini was acutely aware of the problem of theclass st ruggle , consequent ly he became a memberof the Communist Party, finding a polit ical answer

and emotional identification.

Elements of Contradiction

Despite the fact that he read much of Marx andGramsci to whom he dedicated his most famouscollection of poems, Le Ceneri di Gramsci (1957),he was never an or thodox Marxist . His was anexistential Communist rather than a scientificone; and full of personal contradictions. Thesecontradictions he believed, if channelled andunderstood, permitted the affirmation of thepersonal i ty .

Man must fol low both his reason, and his passions and feelings. These are, perhaps, obstacles to

reason, but to be aware of this very conflict is theprice he must pay to be a whole human being.

His admira t ion for Gramsci a lso conta inedelements of contradic t ion. In Le Ceneri the poetexpressed frankly and courageously his doubts anduncertainties, in a poem which is both sensual and

at the sam e time full of com mitm ent and socialawareness ;

'The scandal of contradicting myself; of beingboth for and against you; for you in my heart, in

the light; against you in the darkness of mybeing. . . .'

For Gramsci " in the l ight" i l luminated by theadvance of reason, a rational and historical vision;the "darkness of his being" opposed this, reactedmysteriously, the deep unconscious outside ofreason betrayed the man (Pasolini) and his rationalchoice .

The "Humble People"His Communism was ideological ly based on the

existence of a sub-proletariat of the cities, whichhad remained faithful, even if unconsciously, toan ancient culture of the peasantry. In this shape-

1 For Pasolini the term "Sotto proletar iato" (sub-proletariat) did not carry any negative implications butdefined a class which had its own identity and values.It is not to be confused with M arx 's definition of[jimpenproletariat, nor with Victor Hugo's turgidliterary image of Les Miserablcs.



94 MARXISM TODAY, MARCH, 1976

less and vital mass he saw an innocence unta intedby the system of values of the bourgeoisie, arepetit ion of the hu mb le revolu tion ary force of theearly Christ ian t imes.

His "humble I ta ly" found l i terary and pol i t ica lexpression in his most famous books; Ragazzi diVila (1955) and Une Vila Violenta (1959). and hisfirst film Accattone (1961).

Jn // Vangelo Sevondo Matleo (1964), an ideological parallel is draw n between these "hum blepeople" and the ear ly Christ ians. This f i lm was anunpreceden ted work both on an ar ti s t ic and cultura l level ; the fusion of two predominant e lementsin the life of the poet; Marxism and Christianity,thei r union-contradic t ion unleashes the revolut ionary si tuat ion.

At this point an economic-polit ical situation

throws Pasolini 's ideology into a state of crisis—the advent and explosion of the I ta l ian "econo micmiracle" . His "humble I ta ly" casts aside the simplepeasant scale of values in favour of those ofmiddle-class consumerism. This for him is a realideological and cul tura l t rauma.

Pasol ini remains t rue to his brand of i r ra t ionalCom mu nism . W hat he loses i s his point ofreference with a polit ical reality, and from this hishistorical regression began.

Loss of Political RealityThe search for the archaic myth (Oedipus Rex,

Medea, Decameron . . . ) in which to rediscover

his vital l ink with the present; a present which hefeels too often is hostile to him, but which he nevere v a d e s :

". . . but I, who know in my heart that I can onlylive with history, will 1 ever be able to work againwhole-heartedly, if I know that our history isended?"

Th is loss of identification with a polit ical realityis redeemed with poetry and with the polemist 'shonest ascet ic ism. Now Pasol ini no longer speakson behalf of anyone but himself: against middle-c lass pragmat ism, and the consumer socie ty,against the tolerant falsity of capitalism, against

the sensless violence . . . .In 1970 in an introduction to a selection of hisown poems he wro te ;

". . . re-reading those verses of mine, and realisinghow naive 1 was to hav e put so m uch of m yselfinto them as if I was writing for people who couldnot fail to love me. Now I understand why 1 havebeen an object of so much suspicion and hatred."

Perhaps his bruta l death has nothing in commonwith that "suspic ion and hat red" . A moment ofbl ind and primit ive violence , wi thout any other

implication, if not destruction and old irrationalfears.

His was a simple and tragic end, l ike that of oneof his own cha racters, where l ife and death bord eron violence.

Paso lini, poet, novelist , polem ist, fi lm-maker,always paid the price of his own experiences(physically and intellectually); now he paid theextreme and greatest price.

". . . but this renu nciation (of life) cost meagonies such that only a living man can understand."

Pasolini was a man of desperate vitali ty.

Completed from page 104

be chary of suggesting changes in the law of socialistcountries until we have had the same problems todeal with, or bear the sam e responsibili t ies ?

It would be tragic if Gollan's article were toprelude a further estrangement of our Party fromsocialism as it actually exists in the Soviet Union andsocialist countries and from their internal andforeign policies. At present the whole imperialistset-up relies on anti-Sovietism as a key. WhileGollan rightly disclaims any anti-Sovietism in ourParty, yet in the present day neutralism can be aform of assent. If we exercise a fraternal right ofcrit icism, then it is also our duty to make a muchgreater positive effort to inform people (and ourselves) about the Soviet Union and socialist countries, not just to bow from time to t ime in the direction of "socialist achievements". Far more information should be contained in our press and it is tobe hoped that Soviet comrades will also be invitedto take part in the discussion around ComradeGollan's article and to contribute to Marxism Todayon other important mat ters.

H A V E Y O U A N Y B A CK N U M B E R SO F " M A R X I S M TO D A Y " ?

There is a considerable de ma nd from all

quarters for back numbers of MarxismToday, but we are running short of some ofthe e 'arlier issues. CA N YO U H EL P USO U T ?

D O Y O U W A N T A N Y B A C K N U M B E R SO F " M A R X I S M TO D A Y " ?

We can supply these , but of course charge alit t le extra according to the year.

Wri te to Doris Al l ison, Marxism Today,16 King Street. London W C2E SHY .



MARXISM TODAY, MARCH, 1976 95

Discussion Contr ibut ions on:

Class and Class Consciousness:Marx Re-examinedGavin Mackenzie

(The author is a Lecturer in Sociolofiy at the University of Cair^hridge)

I N T R O D U C T I O N

I n r e c e n t y e a r s , a n d m o r e p a r t i c u l a r l y o v e r

t h e l a st m o n t h s , t h i s j o u r n a l h a s p u b l i s h e d a

n u m b e r o f a r t i c l e s d e v o t e d t o t h e p r o b l e m o f

c l a s s a n d c l a s s c o n s c i o u s n e s s . A g o o d d e a l o f

t h e d i s c u s s i o n h a s f o c u s e d d i r e c t l y o n t h e c u r r e n t

s i t u a t i o n a n d c o m p o s i t i o n o f t h e B r i t i s h w o r k i n g

c l a s s a n d , m o s t i m p o r t a n t l y , i ts r e l a t i o n s h i p t o

t h e m i d d l e c l a s s o r c l a s s e s . E x p l i c i t i n m u c h o f

t h i s d i s c u s s io n h a s b e e n t h e a t t e m p t s o m e h o w t o

" e q u a t e " t h e w r i t i n g s o f M a r x w i t h t h e " r e a l i t i e s "

o f c l a s s i n c o n t e m p o r a r y B r i t i s h s o c i e t y . H o w

e v e r , w h i l e i n g e n e r a l t h e d e b a t e h a s b e e n p e n e

t r a t i n g a n d s t i m u l a t i n g it h a s b e e n c h a r a c t e r i s e d

b y a c o m m o n w e a k n e s s : t o o o f t en t h e r e h a s

b e e n a b l e n d i n g o r i n d e e d c o n f u s i n g o f t h e p u r e

o r t h e o r e t i c a l m o d e l o f c l a ss s t r u c t u r e p r o p o u n d e d

b y M a r x w i t h h i s e m p i r i c a l d i s c u s s i o n o f t h e

a c t u a l c l a s s s t r u c t u r e s o f p a r t i c u l a r s o c i e t i e s a t

p a r t i c u l a r t i m e s .

I t i s m y c o n t e n t i o n t h a t s u c h a c o n f u s i o n

( w h i c h r e p r e s e n t s a f u n d a m e n t a l m i s u n d e r s t a n d

i n g o f M a r x ' s o w n p o s i t i o n ) a c t u a l l y i m p e d e s t h e

a n a l y s i s o f t h e d y n a m i c s o f c l a s s i n p r e s e n t - d a y

B r i t a i n . I n t h e p a r a g r a p h s w h i c h f o l l o w , t h e r e

fo re , I sho u ld l ike to look a t wh a t 1 see a s th i s

" c o m m o n w e a k n e s s " o f t h e c u r r e n t d e b a t e o n

c l a s s a n d c l a s s c o n s c i o u s n e s s i n B r i t a i n : s u c h

is m y o w n c o n t r i b u t i o n t o w a r d s t h a t d e b a t e .

T W O I S S U E S

A n y d i s c u s s i o n o f t h e c l a s s s t r u c t u r e o f

c a p i t a l i s t s o c i e t y m u s t s t a r t f r o m a p o s i t i o n i n

w h i c h t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t w e e n s o c i a l c l a s se s isv i e w e d a s b e i n g o n e o f e x p l o i t a t i o n a n d t h e r e

f o r e o f c o n f l i c t . M a r x ' s d i c h o t o m o u s m o d e l , b y

f o c u s i n g o n t h e o w n e r s h i p o r n o n - o w n e r s h i p o f

p r o d u c t i v e p r o p e r t y a s t h e b a s i s o f c l a s s s t r u c

t u r e , b r i n g s i n t o t h e f o r e f r o n t t h e f ac t t h a t a

m i n o r i t y o f t h e p o p u l a t i o n i s a b l e t o e x p l o i t

t h e m a s s b y a p p r o p r i a t i n g t h e s u r p l u s v a l u e

c r e a t e d b y t h i s l a t t e r g r o u p . I t m u s t b e s t r e s s e d ,

h o w e v e r , t h a t t h i s d i c h o t o m o u s m o d e l of c l a ss

s t r u c t u r e w a s , f o r M a r x , a n abstract o r pure

t y p e . A s s u c h , it i s n o t s o m e t h i n g t h a t c a n b e

" v e r i f i e d " o r " r e f u t e d " b y c o m p a r i n g it w i t h t h e

c l a s s s t r u c t u r e s o f s p e c i f i c s o c i e t i e s . F o r e x a m p l e ,

i t i s a c o m m o n p l a c e t o p o i n t t o t h e e m e r g e n c e

a n d d e v e l o p m e n t o f m i d d l e o r i n t e r m e d i a t e

c l a s s e s w i t h i n n i n e t e e n t h a n d t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r yc a p i t a l i s m . . I t i s e q u a l l y a c o m m o n p l a c e t o

o b s e r v e t h a t M a r x w a s n o t u n a w a r e o f t h e

e x i s t e n c e o f s u c h g r o u p i n g s . A n d y e t , r e c o g n i

t i o n t h a t M a r x ' s a b s t r a c t m o d e l o f a d i c h o t o m o u s

c lass s t ru c tu re i s s t i ll no t in ac co rd wi th rea l i ty

c o n t i n u e s t o g i v e r i s e t o t o r t u r e d a n d u n n e c e s

s a r y d e b a t e a s t o t h e " v a l i d i t y " o r " a p p l i c a b i l i t y "

o f M a r x ' s w r i t i n g s o n c l a s s s t r u c t u r e , c l a s s

c o n s c i o u s n e s s a n d c l a s s c o n f l i c t .

I n g e n e r a l t h a t d e b a t e h a s r e v o l v e d a r o u n d

t w o i n t e r c o n n e c t e d i s s u e s . F i r s t , t h e r e h a s b e e n

c o n s i d e r a b l e d i s c u s s i o n o f t h e c o n c e p t s of

" p r o d u c t i v e " v e r s us " u n p r o d u c t i v e " l a b o u r .

S e c o n d t h e r e h a s b e e n u n c e r t a i n t y c o n c e r n i n g t h e

c a t e g o r i s a t i o n o f t h e e v e r i n c r e a s i n g n u m b e r s o f

i n d i v i d u a l s w h o e x e r c i s e power i n i n d u s t r i a l

e n t e r p r i s e s t h a t t h e y d o n o t o w n . B o t h o f t h e s e

i s s u e s a r e , o f c o u r s e , c o n c e r n e d w i t h t h e e x i s t e n c e

a n d r o l e o f th e m i d d l e c la s s a n d t h e c o m p o s i t i o n

a n d r e v o l u t i o n a r y p o t e n t i a l o f t h e w o r k i n g c l a s s

w i t h i n c a p i t a l i s t s o c i e t y .

D e f i n i t i o n o f t h e W o r k i n g C l a s s

C o n s i d e r i n g t h e d e f in i t io n o f " p r o d u c t i v e "

l a b o u r f ir st , a n u m b e r o f s t a n d p o i n t s h a v e b e e n

t a k e n o n t h e q u e s t i o n o f w h e t h e r o r n o t a w h o l e

h o s t o f i n d i v i d u a l s e n g a g e d i n v a r i o u s k i n d s o f

" m e n t a l l a b o u r " c a n b e r e g a r d e d a s p r o d u c e r s

o f s u r p l u s v a l u e . I n t h i s j o u r n a l , f o r e x a m p l e .

B l e a n e y r e c e n t l y c l a i m e d :

" T h e p r o d u c t i v e l a b o u r e r p r o d u c e s s u r p l u s -va lue , and the p roduc t o f h i s l abour i s approp r ia ted by the indus t r i a l cap i ta l i s t . Theu n p r o d u c t i v e l a b o u r e r , h o w e v e r , i s a consumerof su rp lus va lue , whose re la t ion to i ndu s t r i a lcapital is that of a competitor for the fruits ofexploitation, and no th ing more . He i s no td i rec t ly exp lo i t ed by cap i ta l . " '

I M i c h a e l B l e a n e y , " T h e W o r k i n g - C l a s s T o d a y " ,Marxism Today, Feb rua ry 1974 , p . 55 .

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Renzo Galeotti - On the Death of Paolo Pasolini - Marxism Today, March 1976,