Abstract: Directly influenced by Galvano Della Volpe's Positivist Marxism, Franco Moretti pursues objective and scientific literary research. The most concrete manifestation is his use of metering method. Of course, Althusser's Structuralist Marxism is the main context for Moretti's entire thought. Though he accepts Lukacs' s proposition that "forms are the true social factor in literature", there are three unique features in his thinking about the proposition compared with other Marxists. Firstly, forms are not conceptual or abstract, nor do they exist for the need of theories. Rather, forms are a part of stylistic theories, stylistic practices and styles. Secondly, forms are not recognized by means of metaphysical deduction or empirical conclusion, but directly involving the state of number, time, history and geographical space. Thirdly, he analyzes stylistic features with a comprehensive interdisciplinary method. It should be mentioned that Moretti has constantly used and been close to physical state or materiality of stylistic features, which reflects his Marxist standpoint. Such is the content covered by the general proposition of his "Materialism of forms".

Key words: Franco Moretti, forms, Materialism, Metering