I am sure you are right about Pound being a bad man. As someone who has been
trampled by a horse on an anti-fascist demonstration and suffered racist
abuse for my relationship I have feelings. But the Confucian stuff in the
Cantos doesn't seem to me to express fascism or racism.
I kinda like that stuff about sorting yourself out first before
pontificating.
Have you done that?
And does that affect the quality of Pound's writing?
Degsey
>From: En Lin Wei <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: Ezra Pound discussion list of the University of Maine
> <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Ezra Pound and Fascism--tying in the Confucian dimension
>Date: Sun, 21 May 2000 03:37:45 PDT
>
>Dear listserv members,
>
>I have written an essay regarding the collapse of Pound's belief system as
>evinced
>in the Drafts and Fragments. I was prompted to post it on the net partly
>in
>response
>to Garrick Davis' article "Misunderstanding Pound."
>
>While Garrick Davis may be right in arguing that we cannot make a final
>judgment concerning
>Pound by reference to his fascism, the issue is further complicated by the
>obnoxiousness of
>the totality of Pound's ideology.
>
>I refer not only to Pound's "phallocentrism," his sexism, his elitism, his
>penchant for hierarchies,
>his pro-Hitlerian, pro-Mussolini, and anti-semitic tirades. The matter is
>far more serious.
>
>My criticism of Pound rests on an analysis of the Chinese elements of his
>work. I think Mr. Davis,
>in ignoring the East Asian dimension of Pound's thought, misses something
>essential. Pound was, arguably
>worse than a fascist. He embraced the most retrogressive and
>anti-democratic elements of Confucian thought
>at a time when the Chinese rightly decided that Confucianism could no
>longer
>serve as the basis of
>a modern society. This was a greater tragedy for Pound than his commitment
>to fascism. I would argue
>that the problem stems not simply from Pound's enthusiasm for Confucius,
>but
>from his dedication to
>the most right-wing and reactionary school of Confucianism.
>
>Most students of Pound miss this, and few critics have picked it up. Mr.
>Davis is correct when he says
>that the Cantos contain less about fascism than we might expect from the
>criticisms of the fiercest anti-
>Poundians. However, the Cantos do contain a great deal about Confucianism
>and Chinese history--this is undeniable.
>
>And the more one knows about the Chinese historical events which Pound
>idealized, the more troubling
>the picture becomes. If Pound had only endorsed the politics of Hitler and
>Mussolini, he would have
>been better off; but he endorses several thousand years of some of the most
>oppressive
>governments on the face of the earth---his dream was that Hitler and
>Mussolini could emulate
>the cruelest of the Chinese emperors.
>
>Many of the gentlest and most delicate artistic impulses of Chinese culture
>are the fruit of Buddhist and Taoist
>efforts; and for Pound ALL Taoists and Buddhists are no better than
>Jews---destined to be swept away.
>
>Those who wish to explore the issue more fully, who wish to better
>understand just what kind of Confucianist Pound was, can visit the article
>at
>
>http://www.geocities.com/danieshalaquand/cantos.html
>
>Pound may or may not be a great poet. However, the analysis of the moral,
>cultural, and political significance
>of his work cannot be gauged without a careful look at the Chinese
>dimension
>of his work, and its relation
>to his fascism and his fiercely anti-democratic and racist tendencies.
>These tendencies are reflected NOT
>merely in the direct references to Mussolini and Hitler contained in the
>Cantos, but they permeate his use
>(and abuse) of Chinese history.
>
>
>
>PW
>
>[log in to unmask]
>
>
>>Subject: Ezra Pound and Fascism
>>
>>Dear Listserv Members,
>>
>>I have written an essay concerning recent trends in the academic criticism
>>of
>>Ezra Pound (specifically the obsession with his anti-semitism, fascism,
>>and
>>alleged insanity), which also reviews a number of critical books on the
>>subject, including The Roots of Treason by E. Fuller Torrey, The Genealogy
>>of
>>Demons by Robert Casillo, The American Ezra Pound by Wendy Stallard Flory,
>>and The Forméd Trace by Massimo Bacigalupo.
>>
>>For those interested in reading the essay, "Misunderstanding Ezra Pound,"
>>the
>>link is www.cprw.com.
>>
>>Thank you,
>>
>>Garrick Davis
>>CPR (www.cprw.com)
>
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