Title Anti-Nazi modernism : the challenges of resistance in 1930s fiction / Mia Spiro

Published Evanston, Illinois : Northwestern University Press, 2013

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Description 1 online resource (xi, 308 pages) Series UPCC book collections on Project MUSE. Literature Contents Introduction -- Spectacular Nazism and subversive performances -- Vamps, tramps, and Nazis : representations of spectacular female characters -- Seeing Jewish or seeing "the Jew"? : the spectral Jewish other -- Eventually we're all queer : fascism, Nazism, and homosexuality -- Conclusion : can fiction make a difference? : writing and reading resistance Summary This book marks a major step forward in the critical debates over the relationship between modernist art and politics. The author analyzes the antifascist, and particularly anti-Nazi, narrative methods used by key British and American fiction writers in the 1930s. Focusing on works by Djuna Barnes, Christopher Isherwood, and Virginia Woolf, the author illustrates how these writers use an "anti-Nazi aesthetic" to target and expose Nazism's murderous discourse of exclusion. The three writers challenge the illusion of harmony and unity promoted by the Nazi spectacle in parades, film, rallies, and propaganda. The author illustrates how their writings, seldom read in this way, resonate with the psychological and social theories of the period and warn against Nazism's suppression of individuality. Her approach also demonstrates how historical and cultural contexts complicate the works, often reinforcing the oppressive discourses they aim to attack. This book explores the textual ambivalences toward the "Others" in society - most prominently the Modern Woman, the homosexual, and the Jew. By doing so, the author uncovers important clues to the sexual and racial politics that were widespread in Europe and the United States in the years leading up to World War II Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 279-296) and index Notes Print version record Subject Isherwood, Christopher, 1904-1986 -- Criticism and interpretation Barnes, Djuna -- Criticism and interpretation Woolf, Virginia, 1882-1941 -- Criticism and interpretation SUBJECT Barnes, Djuna fast Isherwood, Christopher, 1904-1986 fast Woolf, Virginia, 1882-1941 fast Subject Anti-Nazi movement in literature. Modernism (Literature) -- History and criticism English fiction -- 20th century -- History and criticism American fiction -- 20th century -- History and criticism LITERARY CRITICISM -- General. American fiction Anti-Nazi movement in literature English fiction Modernism (Literature) English. Languages & Literatures. English Literature. Genre/Form Criticism, interpretation, etc. Form Electronic book LC no. 2012022483 ISBN 9780810166370 0810166372

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