WHY WAR? Debating Pacifism during the Spanish Civil War: Herbert Read, John Middleton Murry and the ‘Necessity’ of Anarchism

Open keynote by Professor Mark Antliff, Duke University.

In 1937, the Left Review sparked a debate among British writers on the Spanish Civil War, and whether Britain should abandon its policy of non-intervention in the war. Critics John Middleton Murry and Herbert Read, the latter a recent convert to anarchism, both declared for the Spanish Republic. The talk will explore their dramatically different interpretations of pacifism, the challenges posed by communism, fascism, the failure of democracy during the 1930’s, and what was ultimately at stake in the Spanish conflict. In myriad ways their exchange anticipates contemporary issues and themes having to do with this enduring, fundamental question: why war?    

Bio

Mark Antliff is Mary Grace Wilson Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Art, Art History & Visual Studies at Duke University. He has published extensively on avant-garde art, especially in relation to fascism, anarchism and pacifism in the interwar period. His recent publications include Sculptors Against the State: Anarchism and the Anglo-European Avant-Garde (Penn State Press, 2021).

The keynote is part of the workshop: The Avant-Garde and Totalitarian Cultural Politics organised by the explorative research network The 1930s Today - The Avant-Gardes in Times of Political Escalation. The network is funded by the Independent Research Fund Denmark.