CRITICISM
21
The treating of general ideology and specific content* as synonymous
falsifies literary history. In speaking of Balzac, Engels saw the difference
very
well when he said: "Balzac was politically a legitimist; his grea1.
work is a constant elegy on the irreparable decay of good society; his sym–
pathies are with the class that is doomed to extinction. But for all that
his satire is never keener, his irony never bitterer, than when he sets in
motion the very men and women with whom he sympathizes most deeply–
the nobles. And the only men of whom he speaks with undisguised ad–
miration are his bitterest political antagonists, the ·republican heroes of the
Cloitre Saint Merri, the men who at that time (1830-36) were indeed the
representatives of the popular masses"
(Letter to Miss Harkness).
Here
Engels draws a clear distinction between Balzac's ideology and his specific
content. Many errors in evaluating fellow-travellers can be traced to this
confusing of their ideology as public men (in their public utterances re–
garding political parties, the NRA, the question of war and fascism, etc.)
with what they actually write. It is conceivable that a writer taken in by
the
NRA
may support it politically, but in writing a novel about a factory,
his specific content about the lives of factory workers, if he has observed
them accurately, may belie the political views he is upholding. On the
other hand, these views may, of course, warp the accuracy of his observa–
tion. At all events, it seems that a writer's ideology and his specific content
do not always dovetail as neatly as it is commonly assumed. While a
general relation between the two, of which we shall speak later, doubtless
exists, the critic cannot assume a uniform ·relation applying to all writers.
His job is to examine this relation anew when judging individual creations
and creators.
Hence the question of merit as originally posed takes on an altogether
different aspect. We must now ask what is the general relation between
ideology and specific content. The best ideology of any given period is
that which defines most accurately the
necessary
movement of history.
Today Marxism is this most advanced ideology. Consequently, given
equal talent, a Marxian ideology provides the artist with the possibility
of seeing reality more profoundly and more comprehensiveiy than those
who subscribe to another system of thought. The degree ot individual
talent, however, which determines the artistic differentia between two
artists on the some ideological terrain, is an irreducible factor in judgment.
All that ideology does is to help light up areas of experience, but it does
not grant you the eyes with which you see.
It is the most advantageous
• In this connection it should be noted that the word "content," as it is used
in discussions of "form and content," is ordinarily made into a synonym of "ideol–
ogy," or world-view. That is why we are using
specific c.ontent
to refer to the
11dual
substance of a work of art.
