This text considers the role of the avant-garde manifestoes in the history and theory of art as well as their relationship with these disciplines. Certain features of manifestoes as a literary genre, as well as a genre that exceeds the strictly literary definition, are presented here. The short analysis of the Communist Manifesto was necessary in order to draw the similarities that exist between the form of this manifesto and the manifestoes written by the members of the artistic avant-garde movements. Furthermore, the text includes a short overview of the history of the genre from the 17th to the 20th c. Finally, some possible approaches to the study of avantgarde manifestoes are described: a manifesto as an art historical source (document), manifesto as an artistic form and manifesto as a special avant-garde work.