Modern Monarchy (Pocket Classic)

Author: (Italian) Antonio Gramsci, translated by Chen Yue
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-08-01
Features: The fundamental characteristic of The Prince lies in the fact that it is not a systematic treatise but a "living" book: political ideology and political science are here fused in a dramatic "myth." Unlike utopian and scholastic academic papers, that is, unlike the forms previously adopted by political science before Machiavelli, such discourse endows his ideas with a mythical and artistic form, thereby condensing both the didactic and rational elements into the figure of a condottiere, who is portrayed as a symbol of the "collective will" in a vivid and "anthropomorphic" manner. The formation of the collective will, which corresponds to a specific political objective, is not presented here through lengthy or pedantic classifications of principles and standards of behavior, but through the qualities, character, duties, and necessity of a specific individual. This the artistic fantasy of the people whom Machiavelli sought to persuade, giving political passion a more concrete form. Antonio Gramsci (1891-1937) was a renowned Italian party leader and theorist, the founder of the Italian Communist Party. He authored Prison Notebooks. This book is Gramsci's notebook on political science, covering analyses of issues such as parties, party structures, power distribution, and the law.