A Study of Wyndham Lewis’s Hitler (1931) and The Hitler Cult (1939) in the Light of Literary Modernism and Politics

Abstract

The present research delves into Wyndham Lewis’s political writings Hitler (1931) and The Hitler Cult (1939) through the critical viewpoint of Leon Surette to magnify modernism and its intersections with politics. Surette’s analytical approach stresses the ambivalent feelings and apparent contradictions in Lewis’s involvement with fascism, totalitarianism, and the broader political context of the interwar period (1918-1939). By examining these polemical and disputatious works through Surette’s lens, this research paper seeks to unravel how Lewis’s literary modernism wrestle with the political realities of his time, especially the peak and trough of Adolf Hitler and the allure of authoritarianism. In this fashion, Hitler (1931) portrays Lewis’s sophisticated mind and often contentious position, amalgamating modernist techniques with a problematic portrayal of Hitler as both a political figure and a modernist symbol. In contrast, The Hitler Cult (1939) manifests a marked change in Lewis’s perspective, moving from ambivalence to a more explicit conviction of the Nazi movement and the potential dangers of cult-like political extremism.  In the end, this paper argues that Hitler and The Hitler Cult provide a nuanced and often contradictory exploration of the intersection between literary modernism and politics.