The Fascist Literary Criticism in Wyndham Lewis’s The Jews, Are They Human? (1939)

Abstract

This scholarly inquiry delves into Wyndham Lewis’s The Jews Are They Human? (1939), a pro-Semitic book through the lens of Nathan Waddell’s ideologies, which focuses on the intersection of literature, politics, and cultural criticism during the rise of fascism. Waddell’s scholarship highlights how Lewis’s work navigates the complex terrain of fascist literary discourse, engaging critically with the ways in which literary criticism was employed as a tool of propaganda and ideological control. Drawing on Waddell’s insights, this analysis explores how Lewis’s satirical critique targets the absurdities of anti-Semitic rhetoric and the broader manipulations of fascist cultural criticism. In a broader sense, this paper argues that, as articulated by Waddell, Lewis’s approach is not just a rejection of fascist ideology but a deeper engagement with the mechanisms of literary criticism that fascism sought to exploit. Lewis’s work uses irony, parody, and counter-narratives to expose the pseudo-scientific racism and myth-making central to fascist criticism, revealing the ethical failings of intellectual complicity. By scrutinizing how Lewis subverts the language and tactics of fascist critics, this analysis illuminates his broader project of reclaiming literary criticism as a space for resistance against oppressive ideologies.