1. Wyndham Lewis was the original free speech grifter, the precursor to the Intellectual Dark Web. Here he is in 1950 lamenting the "consequences" he's suffered for his writing (i.e. his 1931 pro-Hitler book).pic.twitter.com/VFS8CTFiIC
You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more
3. Lewis was a much-praised writer in 1920s, but his reputation became more polorized with is 1931 book Hitler, arguing that the Nazi leader was "a man of peace" that British could work with.
4. Lewis wrote a string of pro-appeasement tracts that were attacked by British left (although praised by conservative & establishment organs like Times Literary Supplement):https://twitter.com/HeerJeet/status/1115005882083966976 …
5. Lewis' career suffered as a result of his fascist fellow travelling & also some roman a clefs he wrote that skirted the edge of Britain's (admittedly harsh & excessive) libel laws.
6. But it's also true that even though Lewis was criticized for his fascist fellow travelling he always had powerful patrons in publishing and art (including the BBC which repeatedly adapted his novels into radio dramas).
7. Lewis saw himself as a victim of censorship. "there is really nothing to protect us from the consequence of our rash words." As if there should be no consequences for praising Hitler.pic.twitter.com/omKsOnzOPK
The fact that this explanation needs to be made speaks volumes about how far Lewis’s reputation dropped as a result of his political pronouncements. Céline in France was similarly affected, but not nearly as much.
And - pertinently to our moment - Paleface. One of the few European modernists to write about the Harlem Renaissance and Alan Locke. He was interestingly wrong about everything. Joyce def caught him in the Mooks and the Gripes.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.