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We Need to Talk About Ezra: Ezra Pound’s Fascist Propaganda, 1935–45
- Journal of Modern Literature
- Indiana University Press
- Volume 39, Number 1, Fall 2015
- pp. 112-126
- 10.2979/jmodelite.39.1.112
- Review
- Additional Information
Ezra Pound’s Fascist Propaganda, 1935–45 calls attention to the extensive propaganda work that Ezra Pound undertook (both paid and gratis) in the years before and during World War II on behalf of the British Union of Fascists, Mussolini’s Fascist Italy, and the short-lived Nazi satellite Salò Republic. Feldman presents compelling evidence that challenges the view that Pound was an “accidental” or “aloof ” fascist, and that exposes him as a dedicated and fervent fascist propagandist. While Feldman’s thesis that Pound was a devout believer in the “political religion” of fascism fails to capture the complexity of his thought and activism at the time, it sheds light on this dark — and curiously understudied — aspect of Pound’s career, significantly adding to our knowledge of Pound’s fascist work. Primarily for this reason, it is an invaluable contribution to Pound scholarship, and one that deserves a wide readership, even if it lacks the finesse, scope, and depth of more scholarly accounts of Pound’s work.