This is a holding request for a multi-person panel, the ICLA Theory Research Committee

"Letters on the Aesthetic Education of Man" is an aesthetic treatise by Schiller, revised from his earlier "Correspondence" with the Duke of Augustenburg, in which the adoption of the epistolary style is particularly worthy of deep consideration. In both the "Correspondence" and the "Letters," Schiller elevates the epistolary form as the highest ideal of a "beautiful style," and through this form conveys a practical path that diverges from rationalist and systematic philosophical writing. Even so, compared to the "Correspondence," the use of the epistolary form in the "Letters" is somewhat weakened. The subtle revisions from the "Correspondence" to the "Letters" suggest differences in their intended audience and political intentions. For Schiller, form is not merely a vehicle and intermediary of expression but is also an intrinsic constitutive element of thought. The isomorphic relationship among beautiful style, complete humanity, and a free polity reveals the potential of stylistic form in shaping ideal humanity, ultimately pointing toward his practical approach to aesthetic education.

Michel Clouscard and Christopher Caudwell are neglected Marxist theorists both globally and in their own respective countries of France and Britain. This presentation seeks to engage in a comparative analysis of their work on a highly understudied topic within Marxist theory, namely love. Clouscard’s Traité de l'amour-fou and Caudwell’s numerous writings on love and literature are also little discussed in the scholarship on these two figures. Both writers begin from critiques of the mythic return of psychoanalysis to the literature of ancient Greece (Oedipus). From here, they trace, each in their own complementary way, the development of bourgeois conceptions of freedom and individuality and their instantiations in historically variable relations of family, property, and selfhood. When read together, Clouscard and Caudwell provide a materialist history of love. For both writers, love is a crucial form of praxis at the center of human social being. In turn, they provide a radical social ontology of love rather than musings on “philo” and “sophia.” Crucially, Clouscard’s conception of bourgeois love, developed through his reading of the myth of Tristan et Iseut and influenced by the work of Pierre Gallais, updates and develops Marxist theories of love within a universal historical totality, breaking with Eurocentric conceptions of love on both the right and the left of the political spectrum.

This study examines the often overlooked impact of Mao Tse-tung on Raymond Williams’ theoretical framework. Utilizing Raymond Williams’ seminal work, Marxism and Literature, in conjunction with Mao Tse-tung’s On Literature and Art, the study delves into their mutual influence on the function, definition, and implementation of committed writing. The analysis focuses on how Williams, drawing inspiration from Mao Zedong’s literary thought, scrutinized the intricate interplay between literature and society, as well as aesthetics and politics. Furthermore, the paper investigates how Williams incorporated Mao’s concept of “integration” into his construction of the path for writers committed to championing the cause of the working class and the underprivileged. Ultimately, the study probes into the myriad factors that influenced Williams’ reception and adaptation of Mao’s ideas, ranging from his familial background and the historical and political zeitgeist of his era to his persistent research interests.