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Keywords:: Althusser; Brecht; epic theatre; structural Marxism; literature against philosophy

Abstract:: From the view of “Literature Against Philosophy” in the post-modern context, Althusser's criticisms of Brecht's “Epic Theatre” are not only regarded as theatre reviews of Structural Marxism, but also reflects the inherent “literariness” of theoretical issues such as “what is philosophy” and “what is Marxist-Leninist philosophy” that he meditates on throughout his life. In the process of studying Brecht's “Epic Theatre”, Althusser articulates it to Marxist epistemology: His analysis of the decentred structure of Brecht's “Epic Theatre” is directly related to his later viewpoint of “structural causality”; his discourse on the “displacement” of Brecht's “Epic Theatre” serves as a precursor to his later view that “ideology interpellates individuals as Subjects”; and he also proposes the view that “history is a process without a subject” by analyzing the decentralized artistic expression of Brecht's “Epic Theatre”. Althusser fully apprehends the post-metaphysical characteristics of Brecht's “Epic Theatre”, effectively promoting his understanding of Marxist dialectical materialism through “a double dramatization”, and also making materialist theatre of the heart of Marxist dynamics.