The Fascist Politics and Literary Criticism in Wyndham Lewis’s Left Wings Over Europe: Or, How to Make a War About Nothing (1936)

Abstract

The current paper aims to examine Wyndham Lewis’s provocative work entitled Left Wings Over Europe: Or, How to Make a War About Nothing (1936), through the lens of fascist politics and literary criticism. Not only does this paper analyze the pre-war hysteria prevalent in England at the time, but also emphasizes the importance of understanding the true nature of fascism and argues that efforts to achieve widespread recognition of this reality could prevent the World War II. In Left Wings Over Europe, Lewis portrays leftist ideologies as immobilizing forces responsible for initiating high political tension and navigating Europe toward gratuitous violence. The paper explains the ideological clashes and internal divisions among leftist groups, raising questions about the substance and effectiveness of their agendas through the dual lenses of fascist politics and literary criticism to accentuate how Lewis exploits the potentiality of literary form and rhetorical strategies to endorse his political ideology. It will also demonstrate that the discursive representation of a fascist model of authoritarian leadership and political opposition groups are inextricably bound up with each other to promote the values nationalism, the continuity and stability, and political preservation.