Two annotations to the previous. It's inaccurate to call Hamilton's book "excellant on the subjectof the formation of It. fascism" since that ain't its subject. The subject is what i stated above. Also you should note the publication date: 1971. The historiography of fascism has acquired new directions in the intervening three decades. For a recent view, see Emilio Gentile (one of the most esteemed Italian historians of Italian culture under Fascism), <The Sacralization of Politics in Fascist Italy>, 1996. --- Everett Lee Lady <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > >Date: Sat, 20 Nov 1999 07:35:00 -1000 > >From: David Centrone <[log in to unmask]> > >Subject: Re: Integer vitae scelerisque purum > > > >An excellant book on the subject of the formation > of Italian fascism is > >Alastair Hamilton's:. _The Appeal of Fascism_. > After reading it, I'm not so > >sure that I would characterize it as the "working > class. . . at war with the > >bourgeoisie"; many of the most pronounced > supporters (against the violence > >of the communist, syndicalist, maximalists) were > the people who had actually > >made money during the war (I). This group included > Italian Jewish people as > >well. > > Thanks for the reference. I, for one, will > certainly be interested in > looking at this. > > But since our interest in this list is with Pound, > and with what we > really mean when we say, "Pound was a Fascist," and > with the question of > whether Pound's poetry and literary criticism can be > seen as a > justification for Fascism in the same way that > Nietzsche and Heidegger's > writings can be read as a justification for > Naziism.... Since this is > our concern, the relevant question is: What was > *Pound's* understanding > of Fascism? > > And strangely enough, considering how quick we are > to label Pound a > Fascist, it seems rather difficult to find much of > an answer to this in > Pound's writings. If one reads JEFFERSON AND/OR > MUSSOLINI, one sees that > he admired Mussolini and admired the spirit of Italy > under Mussolini. > He doesn't, however, say anything about the > repressive aspects of that > Mussolini's government except where he denies that > some of them exist. > > From the conversations I heard at St. Elizabeth's, I > remember only that > he liked the idea of the Corporate State, i.e. that > members of the > legislature would represent the various business and > labor interests > instead of representing geographical regions. (To > some extent, our own > government functions according to this same > structure, inasmuch as a lot > of the real legislative debate is carried on by > lobbyists more than by > the actual Senators and Congressmen, who could > probably not function > without the information supplied by lobbyists.) > > Pound was typical of many people in that his > feelings about the > political figures he liked were based more on their > words than their > actual policies. He liked the fact that Mussolini > (and also Hitler) > denounced munitions manufacturers, bankers, and > financiers in their > speeches. He didn't seem to have much understanding > of the fact that > these speeches were designed merely to appeal to > people like himself > (many many people at that time shared Pound's > sentiments) and were not > a reflection of actual policy. > > I will be very interested in seeing what's in > Alastair Hamilton's book, > but I suspect that the level of discussion there is > far more > sophisticated than Pound's own understanding of > Fascism. > > -- Lee Lady <Http://www2.Hawaii.Edu/~lady> > ===== Via Betti, 289E/2 16035 Rapallo (GE) Italy pho: 0185-234-140 __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com