French literary fascism : nationalism, anti-Semitism, and the ideology of culture / David Carroll.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Carroll, David, 1944- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Nationalism and literature--History--France--20th century.

Nationalism and literature.

Fascism and literature--History--France--20th century.

Fascism and literature.

French literature--20th century--History and criticism.

French literature.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (314 pages) : illustrations

Place of Publication:

Princeton, New Jersey ; Oxford, England : Princeton University Press, [1995]

System Details:

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Summary:

This is the first book to provide a sustained critical analysis of the literary-aesthetic dimension of French fascism--the peculiarly French form of what Walter Benjamin called the fascist "aestheticizing of politics." Focusing first on three important extremist nationalist writers at the turn of the century and then on five of the most visible fascist intellectuals in France in the 1930s, David Carroll shows how both traditional and modern concepts of art figure in the elaboration of fascist ideology--and in the presentation of fascism as an art of the political. Carroll is concerned with the internal relations of fascism and literature--how literary fascists conceived of politics as a technique for fashioning a unified people and transforming the disparate elements of society into an organic, totalized work of art. He explores the logic of such aestheticizing, as well as the assumptions about art, literature, and culture at the basis of both the aesthetics and politics of French literary fascists. His book reveals how not only classical humanism but also modern aesthetics that defend the autonomy and integrity of literature became models for xenophobic forms of nationalism and extreme "cultural" forms of anti-Semitism. A cogent analysis of the ideological function of literature and culture in fascism, this work helps us see the ramifications of thinking of literature or art as the truth or essence of politics.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction. Literature, Culture, Fascism

PART ONE: THE FATHERS OF FRENCH LITERARY FASCISM

One. The Use and Abuse of Culture: Maurice Barres and the Ideology of the Collective Subject

Two. The Beautiful Community: The Fascist Legacy of Charles Péguy

Three. The Nation as Artwork: Charles Maurras and the Classical Origins of French Literary Fascism

PART TWO: LITERARY FASCISTS

Four. Fascism as Aesthetic Experience: Robert Brasillach and the Politics of Literature

Five. The Fascist Imagined Community: The Myths of Europe and Totalitarian Man in Drieu la Rochelle

Six. Literary Fascism and the Problem of Gender: The Aesthetics of the Body in Drieu la Rochelle

Seven. Literary Anti-Semitism: The Poetics of Race in Drumont and Celine

Eight. The Art of Anti-Semitic Rage: Lucien Rebatet's Aesthetics of Violence

Nine A Literary Fascism beyond Fascism: Thierry Maulnier and the Ideology of Culture

Afterword. Literary Fascism and the Case of Paul de Man

Notes to the Chapters

Index

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780691058467

0691058466

OCLC:

1235970887