Crypto-fascism
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Crypto-fascism is the secret support for, or admiration of,
Origin
In an ABC television debate during the chaos of the 1968 Democratic National Convention, Gore Vidal described William F. Buckley, Jr. as a "sort of pro or crypto-Nazi".[1][2][3] Buckley responded, "Now listen you queer, stop calling me a crypto-Nazi or I’ll sock you in the goddamn face".[4] Vidal later clarified in an essay published in Esquire in 1969, "I had not intended to use the phrase 'pro crypto Nazi.' 'Fascist-minded' was more my intended meaning".[5] In later reporting on this event, the term Vidal used to describe Buckley is sometimes misquoted as "crypto-fascist".[6]
The term "crypto-fascist" had first appeared five years earlier in a German-language book by the sociologist Theodor W. Adorno, German: Der getreue Korrepetitor, lit. 'The Faithful Répétiteur'.[7] Adorno used "crypto-fascism" as early as 1937 in a letter written to Walter Benjamin. In this document, the term is not linked to secret support or admiration of fascism but it is used to refer to someone who is insufficiently conscious when displaying such regressive tendencies.[8]: 212
Usage
The term was used by German Nobel laureate
In an other example, in 2011, writing for the Guardian, Rick Moody suggested that "mainstream Hollywood cinema" and specifically comic book artist and film director Frank Miller are "crypto-fascist" because they promote the view that "war against a ruthless enemy is good, and military service is good, that killing makes you a man, that capitalism must prevail."[10]
See also
References
- ^ "Gore Vidal vs William Buckley Democratic Convention Debate 3 Archived 2022-08-09 at the Wayback Machine"
- ^ Buckley Jr., William F.; Vidal, Gore (2 October 2016). ""Crypto-Nazi" and Other Insults". Independent Lens. Season 18. Episode 1. 1:16 minutes in. PBS. Archived from the original on 23 November 2021. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
- from the original on 5 September 2021. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
On a night of riots at the Democratic convention in Chicago, Buckley and Vidal had their own climactic on-air clash. Vidal called Buckley a "crypto-Nazi," prompting a reaction that still stuns. "Now listen, you queer," Buckley replied, "stop calling me a crypto-Nazi or I'll sock you in the goddamn face and you'll stay plastered."
- ^ Vulliamy, Ed (1 August 2015). "'Don't call me a crypto-Nazi!' The lost heart of political debate". The Guardian.
- ^ Vidal, Gore, "A Distasteful Encounter with William F. Buckley Jr.", originally published in Esquire, September 1969
- ^ Connor, Simpson (1 August 2012). "Corrections on The New York Times' Gore Vidal Obituary Are Amazing". The Atlantic.
- OL 12762704M.
- OL 7692255M. Retrieved 14 December 2021. p. 212:
Namely, that the anti-historical, and indeed crypto-fascistic, faith in nature which is hostile to all social analysis, which eventually leads him towards a kind of 'national community' [Volksgemeinschaft] based on biology and imagination.
- ^ from the original on 18 November 2021. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
Das ist nicht mehr kryptofaschistisch. nicht mehr faschistoid, das ist nackter Faschismus. Verhetzung, Lüge, Dreck.
[That is no longer crypto-fascist. no longer fascistoid, that is naked fascism. Incitement, lies, filth.] - ^ Moody, Rick, "Frank Miller and the rise of cryptofascist Hollywood", The Guardian, November 24, 2011