The Context of the Marxist-Leninist View of Slovak Literature 1945-1969

Abstract

This paper resulted from an attempt to explore factors determining or underlying the "Marxificalion" of Slovak literature after 1945-- an attempt motivated by a hunch that certain Marxisl-Leninisl principles had provided a different insight into Slovak literature from that provided by the liberal, democratic "aesthetic appreciation" school of criticism in prewar Czechoslovakia. The idea that Slovak literary criticism has thrived, relatively, since World War II is by no means new and was advanced, for example, by emigre crilics.