Marks, realizm i socrealizm - wokół zagadnienia realizmu w powojennej polsce

In the paper, the author describes one of currents in Marx-inspired arts and aesthetics, as present in post-war Poland. The first part focuses on the aesthetic views of Marx and Engels. The second one analyzes the ideological background of social realism in the light of the Polish philosophy (Stefan Morawski “Why the Artwork Should Be Realistic?”). The third one offers a counterpoint by introducing an alternative model of Marx-inspired realism, as perceived by Władysław Strzemiński (from “The Theory of Vision”) and Morawski (in the review of Strzemiński's essay). The conclusion uses Morawski's-own article (“About the Realism As an Artistic Category”) to undermine the concept of social realism as built on wrong and ahistorical interpretations of Marx and Engels.