Lovecraft the Fascist?
Saturday, October 3, 2009
In a biting follow up to the discussion on Lovecraft as conservative from "Secular Right," Volgi of "The Gormogons" lashes out, convinced that the political Lovecraft was little more than a lunatic fascist. His heavy opinion is thought provoking, even if a sizable group of Lovecraft admirers will find the tone and some of the content disagreeable. Overall, however one might feel about the historical and political opinions taken by the author, "The Gormogons" piece provides a nice counterpoint to the sympathetic stance taken by most bloggers on "Secular Right."
For the record, I find Volgi's entry relies too much on the modern socio-political lens, where democracy and racial diversity have become sacrosanct. One would be hard pressed to find a Lovecraft reader today who isn't bothered by the draconian and prejudiced leanings of HPL on civilization, race, and government. On the other hand, the heightened passion some commentators continue to direct at Lovecraft on these matters seems more than a little overblown.
Do I believe Lovecraft to have been terribly mistaken in his opinions? Sure. Does that mean those distasteful opinions can be dismissed as psychologically "crazy," as Volgi's post asserts? No, especially in the context of the historical period.
It's also baffling to have the article's author state reluctance to "let him off" (Lovecraft) as S.T. Joshi allegedly has. What does this mean? It seems too intent on putting a dead man on perpetual trial, or permanently searing a scarlet "R" for Racist and "F" for Fascist over all works written by or about Lovecraft.
While "H.P. Lovecraft, Fascist" contains some disagreeable points (at least for this blogger), it's a well crafted, if emotional, case portraying the darker side of Lovecraft's politics. That makes it both an interesting read and an effective contribution to the broadening blogosphere of weird fiction.
-Grim Blogger
3 comments:
Is this Guardian dolt aware that the "fascist" Lovecraft supported FDR's New Deal? Yeesh. Fortunately my friend got me as a gift this t-shirt whose text serves as a perfect rebuttal:
"As for the Republicans, how can one regard seriously a frightened, greedy, nostalgic huddle of tradesmen and lucky idlers who shut their eyes to history and science, steel their emotions against decent human sympathy, cling to sordid and provincial ideals exalting sheer acquisitiveness and condoning artificial hardship for the non-materially-shrewd, dwell smugly and sentimentally in a distorted dream-cosmos of outmoded phrases and principles... Intellectually, the Republican idea deserves the tolerance and respect one gives to the dead." [H.P. LOVECRAFT]
http://www.sighco.com/H-P-Lovecraft-As-for-Republicans-Organic-T-shirt-p-260.html
Thanks for sharing, J.W. I had no idea this particular Lovecraft quote had been put on a shirt! Surprising, but appropriate for the politically minded.
I don't see why a Fascist would have qualms about supporting the New Deal, which I would essentially define as strong central government action and institutions in support of public welfare. Most flavors of '30s totalitarianism promoted that. Only FDR's support for organized labor (as well as essential US principles of democratic government) would have been especially objectionable to them -- Fascist government ostensibly embodying the will of the people, it considered unions unnecessary.
While I agree with Grim Blogger that the "Gormogons" piece is a bit extreme in some of its accusations, I don't think it's out of place to call Lovecraft's views essentially Fascist -- particularly in a '30s perspective on the term, before it acquired much darker connotations from the exposure of Axis brutality. There's nothing about that T-shirt quote that would be out of place coming from a card-carrying Fascist, though they were adept at talking from both sides of their mouths about "human sympathy" for the working man, but the need for unwavering strength in dealing with "foreign" threats to the nation/state/people/race.
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