Word: wagnerism
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...Wyndham Lewis; A Portrait of the Artist as the Enemy," Geoffrey Wagner presents an unintentional obituary and a general analysis of Lewis' rather erractic literary achievements, and makes a half-hearted stab at an evaluation of his importance as a twentieth-century writer and critic...
...starting point, Wagner fixes upon Lewis' deepseated loathing for the romantic tradition and all that it implied in art, philosophy and sociology. With remarkable impartiality for one who has obviously devoted much time to his subject, Wagner trys to explain Lewis' various stands in terms of this fundamental position. The result does more to cast a little side-lighting on the literary movements and issues of the early decades of this century than it does to explain the mind of Wyndham Lewis. (The book makes no attempt to deal with Lewis' contributions as a painter...
...Wagner's book covers the various fields of Lewis' attacks with scholarly care. Lewis' distaste for democracy ("a democracy necessarily is a corrupt and disorderly type of government") and his sporadic enthusiasms for fascism are well discussed, as are his quarrel with the cubist school of painting, his feud with Joyce, and his vigorous anti-Bergsonism. His own books are also discussed in considerable detail...
...outcome of all this is the clear realization that Lewis has made few contributions in the positive sense, with the possible exceptions of "Tarr" and "The Apes of God," which may be reheard and remembered for their literary virtues alone. In the main, however, Wagner's study indicates that Lewis has been valuable chiefly through his constant attacks from the enemy position. Like the burr under the saddle, he has helped to hurry things along. Speaking of Vorticism, a movement initiated by Lewis, Wagner remarks, "It was a necessary interim. It 'hustled the cultural Britannia, stepping up that cautious pace...
...evaluation of Lewis will probably attract a limited audience, and the author of "Wyndham Lewis" has made no effort to entrap the casual reader. The book is a work of scholarship, and makes no particular attempt to capitalize on Lewis' volcanic personality or his famous colleagues. Wagner writes clearly, if without particular flair, and covers his points in orderly progression. Though the scholarly tone of the work and its meticulous consideration of details will probably deter the general reader, it contains much of interest about a provocative man in a turbulent literary...