David Jones' Contemporary Response to Fascism 1938-1941

Abstract

This thesis seeks to evaluate the writer and artist David Jones's responses to fascism between 1938 and 1941. Focusing on five primary documents that Jones produced within this period, the thesis attempts to situate Jones's positive attitude towards fascism in relation to both the specific details of Jones' life and several other trends of reactionary thought that were prevalent directly before, and directly after, the commencement of the Second World War. Ultimately, the thesis suggests that Jones's sympathy for fascism between the stated dates of this project was predicated upon his own quasi-reactionary ideology that had much in common with the fascist rejection of Wester liberal democracy. Jones's comprehension of this continuity of thought cased him to have an indulgent attitude towards both Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy throughout the 1930s and early 1940s. Therefore, during the war he was unable to acknowledge the fundamental virulence of fascism.

Date of Award	2017
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Aberystwyth University
Supervisor	Peter Barry (Supervisor)