I would characterize Lewis's first take on Hitler (1930?) as recognizing
that Germany was a world power, with 60 million inhabitants. Lewis was in
favor of "appeasement" as a means of avoiding another world war.  Lewis
situates Germany's imperialism in the context of a balance-of-power, in
terms of Britain's own imperialism. The unqualified statement to which I was
responding was that Lewis  "fully endorsed" fascism.
Tim Romano


----- Original Message -----
From: "Richard Edwards" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, July 25, 2000 8:47 AM
Subject: Re: Pound / Wyndham Lewis / Fascism


> As I recall Lewis was to begin with a Hitler fan. The Hitler Cult was a
bit
> of a U-turn. I don't remember the detail; I'm sure someone else does.
>
> RE
>
>
> >From: Tim Romano <[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: Pound / Wyndham Lewis / Fascism
> >Date: Tue, 25 Jul 2000 07:23:30 -0400
> >
> >Wei,
> >Where does the British writer Wyndham Lewis "fully endorse" fascism?
> >Lewis
> >explicitly states that he prefers the "muddle" of democracy; if memory
> >serves (it has been almost 15 years since I read his novels, criticism,
and
> >polemical works) he makes this statement in The Art of Being Ruled.  His
> >1939 book, The Hitler Cult, is hardly an endorsement of fascism.
> >Tim Romano
> >
> >
> >
> >Wei claims:
> > >
> > > .... But Pound was the only major American literary figure (excepting
> > > perhaps Lewis) who fully endorsed fascism.  While many  European
> > > intellectuals were fleeing fascism (or supporting the underground,
like
> > > Sartre and Camus), Pound went to tremendous lengths to give his moral
> >and
> > > intellectual energy to propagating the fascist ideology.  No other
> >American
> > > or English literary figure went to the full level of commitment that
> >Pound
> > > did.  Even Martin Heidegger, who lived and worked in Germany under the
> > > Nazis, and who endorsed Nazism in several speeches, did so in a rather
> > > lukewarm way.
>
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