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. > > ________________________________________________________________________ > Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com > >