Pramoedya Ananta Toer bisa dianggap sebagai sasterawan Indonesia yang paling serius mengembangkan tendensi kerakyatan dalam karya sastra. Tetapi gagasan ini tidak tiba-tiba muncul, pun ternyata sulit diwujudkan. Buku ini menjawab pertanyaan soal apa motivasi Pram bergabung dengan kaum kiri dan menuntut sastra revolusioner di bawah moto “politik adalah panglima”. Lewat esai dan karya Pram periode 50–60an, Martina Heinschke melihat bagaimana cara pandang Pram melihat otonomi seni  dan membandingkannya dengan konsep estetika sasterawan lain semasanya. Sementara itu, perdebatan soal fungsi sastra di masyarakat hingga kini masih terus bergulir. --- Pramoedya Ananta Toer can be considered the most dedicated Indonesian writer on developing the populist tendency in literature. However, this idea did not emerge suddenly, and it turned out to be difficult to realize. This book answers the question of what motivated Pram to join the left-wing movement and demand revolutionary literature under the motto "politics is in command". Through essays and Pram's works from the 1950s and 1960s, Martina Heinschke examines how Pram viewed the autonomy of art and compares it with the aesthetic concepts of other writers of his time. Meanwhile, the debate about the role of literature in society continues to this day.