The Comparative Study Of Five Different English Version Of The Communist Manifesto

The Communist Manifesto has been published as the programmatic document of the Communist League in1848. It is the most widely read and influential work of Marx and Engels, millions people plugged into communist movement under its guidance. Its impact reverberated across the globe and throughout the late19th century and whole20th century. The basic principle of the manifesto showed out the right path to the communist movement, established the foundation for the dictatorship of the proletariat and the communist party all over the world. Even in the21st century, the basic theory of the Manifesto still can guide us, and together with the research of foreign theorist on the Manifesto, we can draw out a lot of enlightenment. The content of my dissertation can be roughly divided into the following parts:Through the first part, you can see the history background and a basic introduction of the editors of five different version of the Manifesto. In order to understand the purpose and main idea of one’s research, you have to know the era he/she lives and his/her life experience, or you may misunderstand some of his/her theory and lose the fair attitude you should have.The second part is an intensive research of the introductions about the Manifesto by the four editors. It’s very hard to understand another one’s theory, even harder with the language and cultural differences. Thanks to my supervisor, the basic materials of my research were brought by him from abroad. There are no researches or translation ready-made, so I have to read and partially translate the materials myself.The third part is the comparative study of the common points and differences of the four editors in their introductions. As foreign Marxist scholars, their attitudes to Marxism are different from each other. Although the differences occupied the main position of their thoughts, there are still some common points, not much but concrete. The fourth part is the research on the Manifesto itself. Because all the four versions are come from the original version translated by Samuel Moore, proofread by Engels himself, there are no differences in the main part of the Manifesto. So the research emphasis of this part is the footnotes added by the editors.The final part is the essential part of my dissertation. The purpose of all theoretical research must land on practice; this is the essence of the Marxism. The only way to prove the truth is to combine the theory with practice, otherwise the theory is useless and nonsense. As we all know,"seek truth from the facts, combine the theory with practice and do everything from the actual situation" are the basic principles of our party since the reform and opening up. Following these principles, the purpose of this dissertation is to seek useful advice and possible suggestions to our socialist constructions.