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The Modernist God State: A Literary Study of the Nazis' Christian Reich
Author(s): Michael Lackey (Author)
- Publisher: Continuum
- Publication Date: 24 May 2012
- Language: English
- Print length: 288 pages
- ISBN-10: 1441125450
- ISBN-13: 9781441125453
Book Description
The Modernist God State seeks to overturn the traditional secularization approach to intellectual and political history and to replace it with a fuller understanding of the religious basis of modernist political movements. Lackey demonstrates that Christianity, instead of fading after the Enlightenment, actually increased its power by becoming embedded within the concept of what was considered the legitimate nation state, thus determining the political agendas of prominent political leaders from King Leopold II to Hitler. Lackey first argues that novelists can represent intellectual and political history in a way that no other intellectual can. Specifically, they can picture a subconscious ideology, which often conflicts with consciously held systems of belief, short-circuiting straight into political action, an idea articulated by E.M. Forster. Second, in contrast to many literary scholars who discuss Hitler and the Nazis without studying and quoting their texts, Lackey draws his conclusions from close readings of their writings. In doing so, he shows that one cannot understand the Nazis without taking into account the specific version of Christianity underwriting their political agenda.
Editorial Reviews
Review
‘From Lackey s opening argument about the centrality of the novel to human understanding and concepts of social order to his careful analysis of the role of religion in conceptualizing and justifying the Nazi world view, this is a provocative book. It is also deeply informed, fervently purposeful, and decidedly unsettling. A must read.’ —-John Ernest, Interim Chair, Department of English
About the Author
Michael Lackey is Associate Professor of English at the University of Minnesota, USA. He is the author of African American Atheists and Political Liberation: A Study of the Socio-Cultural Dynamics of Faith (University Press of Florida), which won the Choice Award for Outstanding Academic Title in 2007. He has published articles in numerous journals, including Callaloo, African American Review, Philosophy and Literature, Journal of the History of Ideas, and Modern Fiction Studies.
