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“La structure psychologique du fascisme,” in Œuvres complètes, vol. 1, ed. Denis Hollier (Paris: Gallimard, 1970): 339-71; originally published in La critique sociale 10 (Nov 1933): 159-65, 11 (Mar 1934): 205-11. English translation: “The Psychological Structure of Fascism,” trans. Carl L. Lovitt, Visions of Excess, ed. Allan Stoekl (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1985), 137-60. |
| Bibliographical Notes Historical Notes Key Terms Critical Bibliography Works Cited |
1.
1. Hitler is appointed chancellor of Germany on 30 Jan 1933
1. On the dual nature of the sacred:
The notion of the duality of sacred forms is one of the conclusive findings of social anthropology: these forms must be distributed among two opposing classes: pure and impure (in primitive religions certain things—menstrual blood, for example—are no less sacred than the divine nature; the awareness of this fundamental duality has persisted until relatively recent times: in the Middle Ages, the word sacer was used to designate a shameful illness—syphilis—and the deeper meaning of this usage was still intelligible.) The theme of sacred poverty—impure and untouchable—constitutes precisely the negative pole of a region characterized by the opposition of two extreme forms: in a certain sense, there is an identity of opposites between glory and dejection, between exalted and imperative (higher) forms and impoverished (lower) forms. This opposition splits the whole of the heterogeneous world and joins the already defined characteristics of heterogeneity as a fundamental element. (144-45)
“the conclusive findings of social anthropology”: GB is referring to the findings of Emile Durkheim in Les formes ˇlˇmentaires de la vie religieuse: le syst¸me totˇmique en Australie (Paris: Alcan, 1912) [The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life: A Study in Religous Sociology, trans. Joseph Ward Swain (New York: Free Press, 1915).]
1. “Superiority” as a feature of the “pure,” or “imperative” form of heterogeneous life:
Superiority (imperative sovereignty) designates the entire set of striking aspects—affectively determining attraction or repulsion—characteristic of different human situations in which it is possible to dominate and even to oppress one’s fellows by reason of their age, under the control of one person . . . . (145)
2. Dual tendencies of sovereignty: Cruelty (sadism) and Order
In human terms, the ultimate imperative value presents itself in the form of royal or imperial authority in which cruel tendencies and the need, characteristic of all domination, to realize and idealize order are manifest in the highest degree. This double character is no less present in fascist authority, but it is only one of the numerous forms of royal authority, the description of which constitutes the foundation of any coherent description of fascism. (146)
3. The dialectical necessity for heterogeneous life:
The inability of homogeneous society to find in itself a reason for being and acting is what makes it dependent upon imperative forces, just as the sadistic hostility of sovereigns toward the impoverished population is what allies them with any formation seeking to maintain the latter in a state of oppression. (146-47)
4.
Unification, the principle of homogeneity, is only a tendential fact, incapable of finding in itself a motive for requiring and imposing its existence; and, in most circumstances, the recourse to an external requirement has the value of a primary necessity. Yet, the pure having to be, the moral imperative, requires being for itself, namely, the specific mode of heterogeneous existence.