Anomie and the Fascist Art of Meaning

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The Cultural Location of fascism

By Joseph Ironside

There is a tendency to only look at fascism from the outside, how it is experienced by its victims and resistors, and dismiss how fascists experience and express their own movement. As a result, there is often a focus on what fascism is against, what it attacks, but little on what it is a proponent of, what it believes in. I would argue that it is through a more holistic understanding, balancing what fascism is reacting to with what it positively asserts, that the cultural locations of fascism can begin to be seen. 

I follow Roger Griffin’s diagnosis of inter-war fascism as a form of political modernism, one which was reacting to the perceived cultural degeneration resulting from the chaos of the modern world. In this context, fascism is bound to the nomic crisis of modernity, the existential instability which arises from such transformative processes as secularisation, democratisation, urbanisation, and the rise of individualism, leaving people alienated from the spiritual, the land, and each other. As such, fascism is seen, by Griffin, as a movement whose “core goal was to overcome decadence and create a healthy new nomos, a new form of transcendence for the modern age.”1 It is this particular aspect of fascism which I find so pertinent to the emergence of (alleged) neo-fascist politics in the 21st century. The reemergence of such a discredited and publicly reviled politics a century after the original context from which it first erupted, on the surface, appears a bemusing one; however, through an understanding of fascism as a response to nomic crisis, its staying power and growing pertinence in the present era makes far more sense. The factors which invoked the existential crisis at the turn of the 20th century only carry more weight in our current period and have been expanded upon as modernity’s capacity for nomic destabilisation has been drastically increased by new technologies (the internet, social media, and smart phones especially), globalisation, and the climate crisis. The result of this is a meaning crisis which grows ever more intense and ubiquitous. It then follows that an ideology built around nomic reconstruction would thrive, even when burdened with such historical baggage. Whether or not neo-fascist movements sincerely offer a new nomos is debatable. They often focus on points of nomic crisis, whether this is destabilised gender norms, loss of traditional work and trades, or loss of national identity. However, in media we can find a rise of messaging and aesthetics which emphasise meaning-making and nomic reconstruction. 

Another way in which this understanding of fascism is fruitful is its emphasis on decadence. Its relationship to culture is foregrounded; fascism is, from its conception, fundamentally concerned with cultural decline and connected to the artistic world. We often neglect the role artists played in fascist movements; there are many who found in fascism the political expression of their artistic sentiments, be it novelists, poets, architects or filmmakers. Moreover, many of the founding fascist figures came from cultural vocations (Hitler being an aspiring painter, Mussolini a schoolteacher and journalist, Goebbels having a PhD in German literature and being a writer himself, Gabriele D’Annunzio a poet, Dietrich Eckhart a poet and playwright). The birth of fascism in Milan was bound to many of Italy’s avant-garde, especially the Futurist movement, and the Fascist state would go on to have a direct relationship with the Novecento Italiano movement of artists, as well as renowned figures such as Mario Seroni and Ezra Pound. 

German fascism had an even more direct interest in artistic production. Upon gaining control of the state, the Nazi party would create the Reichskulturkammer (Reich Chamber of Culture), set with the goal of pursuing gleichschaltung, the ‘synchronisation’ of artists with the values of Nazism. Joseph Goebbels also strove to associate the Nazi state with artists and cultural figures, publishing signed letters of support from artists, such as the Gelöbnis treuester Gefolgschaft (Pledge of Most Loyal Allegiance) in 1933 and Der Aufruf der Kulturschaffenden (The Appeal of the Cultural Creators) in 1934. Both states even directly held art exhibitions; the Italian state holding ‘Mostra della Rivoluzione Fascista’ (The Exhibition of the Fascist Revolution) from 1932 to 1934; and the Nazi state concurrent exhibitions of ‘Degenerate Art’ (Entartete Kunst) and ‘Great German Art’ (Große Deutsche Kunstausstellung) in 1937.2 This is partially bound up with fascism as a totalitarian movement. It is only natural that culture should fall under a political conception which, in the words of Giovanni Gentile, “does not distinguish itself from morality, from religion, or from every other conception of life that does not conceive itself distinct and abstracted from all other fundamental interests of the human spirit.”3 However, I contend that such features are in line with an understanding of fascism as an ideology which has culture at the forefront of its concerns and seeks not just political power but cultural revolution.

Walter Benjamin memorably described fascism as “the introduction of aesthetics into political life.”4 Whilst Benjamin’s concept of the ‘aestheticization of politics’ is often referenced, the implications of this argument appear somewhat ignored. Benjamin specifically identifies the crucial relationship fascism has to cultural expression and art, arguing that “Fascism sees its salvation in giving these masses not their right, but instead a chance to express themselves.”5 And fascism seeks to achieve this through the exploitation of ‘aura’, that is through notions of  tradition, uniqueness, art-for-art’s-sake, art as eternal, and, most importantly, its religious and ritualistic capacities. The implication of Benjamin’s characterisation is that not only does cultural expression play a fundamental role in fascist ideology, but, as such, fascism is perhaps uniquely positioned to be expressed through aesthetic means. How fascism is expressed through aesthetics, both intentionally and unintentionally, is worthy of consideration, as well as how fascism attempts to utilise the established ‘aura’ potential of artistic tradition.

Yet, Benjamin’s overall argument is that modern mechanical reproduction produces art with reduced aura, which has the potential to be harnessed against fascism. As we enter the second quarter of the 21st century, and the age of streaming and short-form social media content reigns supreme, one would expect aura to be at its weakest and fascism subsequently left impotent. However, what we see is a neo-fascist resurgence, and one which is savvy in the harnessing of aura-less art.

Modern neo-fascism is undoubtedly different to interwar fascism, not only due to the reflexivity inherent to a movement which is no longer new but reiterative,6 but mainly because it is responding to a different historical moment. Whilst it is still characterised by populist nationalism and syncretic flexibility, it is now reacting to the collapsing status-quo of neo-liberalism rather than the emergent threat of communism. The result is a movement which seeks to force itself into any aspect of society where the crisis of the neo-liberal status-quo becomes apparent.7 Whether this is crime, mass-immigration, or video-game flops, fascists seek to insert themselves into the conversation, emphasising the decay of the current order and the threat it poses to culture. 

This returns us again to culture, as a focal point of far-right rhetoric has been, what is often dubbed, the ‘culture wars.’ This encompasses a wide-range of disparate, seemingly unrelated issues, from grooming-gangs to comedy, casting choices in film and television to gender-neutral bathrooms. However, what they all have in common is the impact neo-liberalism has on cultural values. What we see in these issues is the grating between the old order of (often imagined) traditional values and the new order of multiculturalism, globalism, and diversity. 

As many voices seek to address or exploit this rising sense of crisis, the fascistic can emerge, even unwittingly and without cynicism. With a growing hunger for anything which provides a sense of structure and purpose, media which captures the fascistic will find purchase. Media which captures strength, spirituality, connection, purpose, sacrifice, and communal renewal will appear as water in a desert to those keenly afflicted with anomie. 

This can be seen in the seemingly cynical grifting of Jordan Peterson, who’s messaging primarily centres around Christian symbolism and the need for order (his best-selling work is titled 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos). He has long advocated for the value of the spiritual and irrational8, but his work has become more pointed in recent years, taking arms in what he holds is a crucial battle against postmodernism and the chaotic threat it poses to Western civilisation.9 Whilst his critique itself reveals much, what he teaches is perhaps of more interest. He uses religious and mythic narratives of “transformation and sacrifice” around which, he says, communities should aggregate themselves; and valorises suffering and risk, advocating for young men in particular to “take the path of maximum responsibility” as “the greatest possible treasurer is to be found were the danger is most intense.”10 Such masculinist notions are combined with a “pride in our history […] and the narratives which have guided and united us”11, all of which creates a messaging fundamentally concerned with nomos, with a need to uphold an order, to “see the world through a biblical lens.”12

Conversely, sincere artistic expression can find similar purchase. The works of J.R.R. Tolkien have garnered a global fanaticism since their first publication and subsequently elevated further by film adaptations. I would argue this is in no small part due to their (arguably fascistic) offer of nomos in opposition to modernity. His stories take place within a medievalist secondary world filled with immanent spirituality, clear moral binaries and communal boundaries, as well as inherent social and racial hierarchies. His most renowned piece of literature, The Lord of the Rings, centres around narratives of revitalization through heroism to reinstall lost leadership, reconnect with nature, and purge corruption. Tolkien drew on the religious and narrative traditions which Peterson now extolls, constructing a world in adherence with Catholic values and in the style of epic saga. All of which contributes to a deep sense of nomic restoration.

It is worth noting that The Lord of the Rings has been added to Prevent’s list of problematic literature, due to far-right appropriations of it13; and this seems a consistent trend, with Italian PM Giorgia Meloni’s own obsession for the book emerging from her time with the youth wing of the fascist group MSI (Movimento Sociale Italiano).14 According to John Pollard, the neo-fascist obsession with LotR has been evident since the late 1970s15, and this should come as no surprise when considering how the text creates meaning and critiques modernity.

Given the historical and political context we find ourselves in, the relationship between fascism and cultural expression is in need of reinterrogation. And especial interest should be paid to any media which finds traction as a tool for meaning-making. Any cultural expression which is grounded in any form of nomic reconstruction, or plays an existentially significant role for its appreciators, is relevant to this discussion and deserving of analysis on these grounds.

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  1. Griffin, Roger. Modernism and Fascism: The Sense of a Beginning under Mussolini and Hitler. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007. P. 181, my emphasis. ↩︎
  2. The Große Deutsche Kunstausstellung would continue to run annually for the next seven years. ↩︎
  3. Gentile, Giovanni. Origins and Doctrine of Fascism: With Selections from Other Works. New Brunswick, N.J.; Transaction, 2002. P. 21. ↩︎
  4. Benjamin, Walter. Illuminations. London: The Bodley Head Ltd, 2015. P. 95-96. ↩︎
  5. Ibid. ↩︎
  6. There is also a broader issue of fascism no longer being (for the most part) a self-identifying term but rather an allegation which is denied in almost all cases due to the iniquitousness which haunts the label in the post-war era. It is not uncommon to hear those proscribed as neo-fascist characterise their political opponents as fascist. ↩︎
  7. A marked shift in fascism, which is pertinent here, is its seeming alienation from the intelligentsia and artists more broadly. This is another consequence of neo-fascism being reiterative, both inescapably tied to a maligned ideology as well as lacking any sense of avant-garde newness. We therefore see its rejection of the established art world as part of the status-quo, and the only ‘high’ art it engages with is pining over the lost heights of ‘traditional art’. ↩︎
  8. Peterson, Jordan B.. Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief, Taylor & Francis Group, 1999. P.26-47 ↩︎
  9. https://youtu.be/Cf2nqmQIfxc?si=JcAwHP-LCt3_vhmr ↩︎
  10. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_3yOQl9E4I&ab_channel=PowerfulJRE ↩︎
  11. https://youtu.be/wtZq-zF1QG4?si=OIWz1qObexLuvVI8 ↩︎
  12. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_3yOQl9E4I&ab_channel=PowerfulJRE ↩︎
  13. Hauschild, Dominic. Fascists have twisted Tolkien into lord of the right wing (London: The Times, 2023, https://www.thetimes.com/culture/books/article/lord-of-the-rings-tolkien-fascist-italy-gnwmxfbdf ↩︎
  14. Horowitz, J. “Hobbits and the Hard Right: How Fantasy inspires Italy’s potential new leader,” The New York Times, September 21, 2022,
    https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/21/world/europe/giorgia-meloni-lord-of-the-rings.html.
    Seibt, S. “Inspired by Tolkien, Meloni is on a quest for Italy’s ‘ring of power,” France24, September 25, 2022,
    https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/10/25/italys-meloni-commits-to-eu-rejects-fascism-in-speech-to-mps ↩︎
  15. Pollard, J. ‘Fascism and Religion.’ In: Pinto, A.C. (eds) Rethinking the Nature of Fascism. Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2011. P.159. ↩︎

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