{"id":245,"date":"2018-08-13T10:27:04","date_gmt":"2018-08-13T09:27:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/?p=245"},"modified":"2024-08-31T17:06:31","modified_gmt":"2024-08-31T16:06:31","slug":"is-there-a-fascist-new-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/2018\/08\/13\/is-there-a-fascist-new-man\/","title":{"rendered":"Is there a \u2018fascist new man\u2019?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Joan Tumblety has recently published an essay on the concept of the \u2018fascist new man\u2019 in an edited volume on the topic.*\u00a0Spoiler alert: she is not convinced that he exists.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Who can think of fascism without seeing in one\u2019s mind\u2019s eye the hallmarks of its political style? Mass rallies that appear to bind the \u2018people\u2019 to the man behind the podium, bold insignia that seem to shout \u2018we mean business\u2019, and the flexing of masculine muscle whether by uniformed street fighters or in the glossy idealisations of propaganda posters that heralded a so-called \u2018new man\u2019. The \u2018look\u2019 of fascism is indeed so eye-catching, so compelling\u2014at least in the most well-known and politically successful European movements on the radical right in the interwar years, the Italian Fascists and the German Nazis\u2014that we risk mistaking it for the political formulation itself.<\/p>\n

That, in my opinion, is the trap that many scholars have fallen into, including such famed commentators as Susan Sontag, whose influential views on the fascist aesthetic appeared in the New York Times <\/em>in 1975<\/a>. Just because the novelty of fascism as a political language leaves its greatest impression on the visual sense\u2014at least for outsiders looking in\u2014it does not follow that there is something intrinsically \u2018fascist\u2019 about such visually arresting features as the mass rally, the political symbol, or the celebration of an aesthetic manly ideal. The style alone cannot compel us to use the \u2018fascist\u2019 label for any movement, party or artistic expression that happens to deploy it. Neither\u2014in ways that we would do well to remember\u2014does it mean that far-right movements must deploy a similar aesthetic to qualify as \u2018fascist\u2019, or to be similarly destructive of liberal democracy.<\/p>\n

We should not, in any case, be so dazzled by the outward trappings of political movements as to forget to ask questions about their less visible features. Whatever the populist rhetoric of interwar fascists, for instance, in general it was established business interests that funded them. Industrialists hoped that doing so would fend off leftist threats to the bourgeois political order. As one of Mussolini\u2019s former socialist friends wryly asked on hearing of the former\u2019s political conversion to the right just after the First World War\u2014\u2018who\u2019s paying?\u2019<\/p>\n

For historians of interwar Europe what is so striking is just how widely used across the political spectrum the visual and symbolic elements identified by Susan Sontag as part of a \u2018fascist aesthetic\u2019 actually were. As the historian George Mosse once wrote about the preference for masculine muscle among European radical rightists, fascism borrowed both from bourgeois ideas of beauty and from the rituals of modern nationalism. The same goes for the use of flags, rituals, and symbols of all kinds.<\/p>\n

That fascists were not unique in their political language, style or ideas is one of the problems we explore on the Alternative Histories module, HIST3224 Fascism and the Far Right<\/a>. A crucial part of the challenge is to understand the relationship between \u2018fascism\u2019 and the much wider fields of thought, culture and politics from which such rightist political ideology and practice emerged.<\/p>\n

In an essay published earlier this year, I use the case of France to argue that the apparent ubiquity of the cultural and political fascination with the \u2018new man\u2019 in the 1920s and 1930s forces us to reconsider how we understand its political meaning. What does it say for the presumptive link between the \u2018new man\u2019 and the authoritarian politics on the radical right that the idea seemed to resonate much more broadly in this European democracy?<\/p>\n

There were, most obviously, communist deployments of the \u2018new man\u2019 in this period. The newly formed French communist party (PCF) signalled their populist revolutionary intent by creating a vanguard of young athletic males, whose role was both to represent and to force into being the imagined communist utopia at the party\u2019s rallies and festivals, as well as in the streets.<\/p>\n

Less intuitively, one finds the \u2018new man\u2019 figure also in the enormous realm of Catholic youth mobilisation; at times even the non-populist political centre flirted with it. I argue in my essay that we must locate the \u2018new man\u2019 more firmly in the wider political and cultural landscape of France between 1919 and 1945 if we are to understand better why the radical right, too, reached for it.<\/p>\n

The interwar upsurge in athletic associative life and spectator sport; the greater visual treatment in the popular press of beauty and the prospect of bodily transformation through surgery, exercise, or natural remedies; the prevalence of youth movements and a general concern with the possibility of rejuvenation all created relatable models that were ripe for political investment. In this, it is important to realise that the \u2018fascists\u2019 were fishing in the same cultural pool as everyone else.<\/p>\n

It was precisely in the process of investing common cultural tropes with new meaning that the radical right across Europe sought to embed their supposedly novel political solutions in the \u2018common sense\u2019 of acceptable traditions. This was just one strategy of political persuasion among many, of course, but it was an important one. Put another way, the articulation of a \u2018new man\u2019 within the political language of the radical right was a means by which \u2018fascism\u2019 sought to normalise itself. That such a thing was possible at all testifies to the wide purchase of the figure in interwar European culture.<\/p>\n

Joan Tumblety<\/p>\n

* Source details: Joan Tumblety, \u2018The fascist new man in France, 1919-1945\u2019, in Jorge Dagnino, Matthew Feldman, and Paul Stocker, (eds.), The \u2018New Man\u2019 in radical right ideology and practice, 1919-1945\u2019, <\/em>(London: Bloomsbury, 2018), pp. 252-72.\u00a0[https:\/\/www.bloomsbury.com\/us\/the-new-man-in-radical-right-ideology-and-practice-1919-45-9781474281096\/<\/a>]<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Joan Tumblety has recently published an essay on the concept of the \u2018fascist new man\u2019 in an edited volume on the topic.*\u00a0Spoiler alert: she is not convinced that he exists. Who can think of fascism without seeing in one\u2019s mind\u2019s eye the hallmarks of its political style? Mass rallies that appear to bind the \u2018people\u2019 to the man behind the …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3018,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,8,9],"tags":[33,29,30,31,32],"class_list":["post-245","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-comment-and-debate","category-research","category-undergraduate","tag-far-right","tag-fascism","tag-interwar","tag-masculinity","tag-nazis","column","threecol"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9DnLX-3X","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":81,"url":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/2018\/03\/29\/resistance-histories\/","url_meta":{"origin":245,"position":0},"title":"Resistance histories","author":"Niamh Cullen","date":"29th March 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The political resistance against Nazism, Fascism and German military occupation in the middle years of the twentieth century has made the term synonymous with leftist dissidence against authoritarianism. That is the case despite the fact that not all resistance against these forces emerged from the left, and not all of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Comment and debate"","block_context":{"text":"Comment and debate","link":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/category\/comment-and-debate\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/236\/2018\/03\/WWII_Europe_France_22Resistance_to_the_Germans_-_French_Army_Returns_to_France22_-_NARA_-_196293.tif_-300x224.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":785,"url":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/2025\/05\/20\/unpacking-jewish-dis-connections-a-mediterranean-journey-of-memory-identity-and-mobility\/","url_meta":{"origin":245,"position":1},"title":"Unpacking Jewish Dis\/Connections: A Mediterranean Journey of Memory, Identity, and Mobility","author":"No\u00ebmie Duhaut","date":"20th May 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Dr. Sasha Goldstein-Sabbah (University of Groningen) This blog was originally published on Past and Present.\u00a0 From April 6-8 2025, the historic halls of the University of Warsaw became the vibrant meeting ground for sixteen scholars from across Europe converging to rethink and reframe Jewish histories through a Mediterranean lens.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Notes from the archive"","block_context":{"text":"Notes from the archive","link":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/category\/notes-from-the-archive\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/236\/2025\/05\/image-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/236\/2025\/05\/image-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/236\/2025\/05\/image-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/236\/2025\/05\/image-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/236\/2025\/05\/image-1.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":355,"url":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/2019\/02\/11\/the-many-lives-of-calouste-gulbenkian-worlds-richest-man\/","url_meta":{"origin":245,"position":2},"title":"The Many Lives of Calouste Gulbenkian, World’s Richest Man","author":"Jonathan Hunt","date":"11th February 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 At a ceremony in Lisbon last Thursday His Excellency Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, President of Portugal, helped launch Jonathan Conlin's new biography of the Anglo-Armenian oil baron Calouste Gulbenkian (1869-1955). Published in English by Profile Books as Mr Five Per Cent: The Many Lives of Calouste Gulbenkian, World's Richest\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Events"","block_context":{"text":"Events","link":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/category\/events\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/236\/2019\/02\/190124-PRMRS-RO-0008-2989.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/236\/2019\/02\/190124-PRMRS-RO-0008-2989.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/236\/2019\/02\/190124-PRMRS-RO-0008-2989.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/236\/2019\/02\/190124-PRMRS-RO-0008-2989.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":271,"url":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/2018\/10\/01\/on-white-fury\/","url_meta":{"origin":245,"position":3},"title":"On White Fury","author":"Eve Colpus","date":"1st October 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"October sees the publication of Christer Petley\u2019s major new study of slavery and abolition. His book tells the story of the struggle over slavery in the British empire \u2014 as told through the rich, expressive, and frequently shocking letters of one of the wealthiest British slaveholders ever to have lived.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Events"","block_context":{"text":"Events","link":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/category\/events\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/236\/2018\/09\/WhiteFury.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":315,"url":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/2018\/12\/14\/david-lloyd-george-britains-other-iconic-wartime-leader\/","url_meta":{"origin":245,"position":4},"title":"David Lloyd George: Britain\u2019s other iconic wartime leader","author":"Eve Colpus","date":"14th December 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"On 14th December 2018, the centenary of the \u2018Coupon Election\u2019, Adrian Smith, Emeritus Professor of Modern History, argues let\u2019s not exclude Lloyd George from Britain's \u2018nation story\u2019. Cartoon by Leonard Raven-Hill for Punch, 1917 Polly Toynbee in the Guardian recently used the centenary of the Armistice to label the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Comment and debate"","block_context":{"text":"Comment and debate","link":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/category\/comment-and-debate\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/236\/2018\/12\/Lloyd-George-Punch-1917-224x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":532,"url":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/2021\/01\/07\/edgar-feuchtwanger-obe\/","url_meta":{"origin":245,"position":5},"title":"Edgar Feuchtwanger, OBE","author":"Jonathan Hunt","date":"7th January 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"By Tony Kushner The History Department and the Parkes Institute are delighted to share the good news that Edgar Feuchtwanger has been awarded an OBE in the 2021 Queen\u2019s Honours \u00a0List for services to \u2018Anglo-German understanding and history\u2019. Edgar, who was born in Munich in 1924 into a distinguished German\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Notes from the archive"","block_context":{"text":"Notes from the archive","link":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/category\/notes-from-the-archive\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/236\/2021\/01\/Edgar-and-Neil-72.jpg_SIA_JPG_fit_to_width_INLINE.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3018"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":252,"href":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245\/revisions\/252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}