Marxism and Historiography

Eminent Italian historian Giovanni Levi once notably remarked that "no one is a Marxist anymore," pointing to a paradox in Italian cultural history. While what is called "Marxism" was supposedly hegemonic over Italian culture, andespecially history writing, for decades in the postwar period, it thenseems to have suddenly disappeared. This study questions such a vision of a monolithic and hegemonic Marxism.Itstarts from the mosteffective anecdote to all ideologising narratives-that is, research into the texts themselves. It sees the Marxist historiography of the post-1945 period as a "history in the making," in which references to Marxian theory were a fundamental factor driving historiographical innovation. This allows the book to bring to light a highlyoriginalexperience in the development of historiography,basedon the long Italian tradition of reflection on historical knowledge.