Welcome back, friends, to IN THE RAW. In today’s episode I’m talking with Taylor from Antelope Hill about their newly reissued version of Paleface, a neglected—and prophetic—book by the great modernist artist and critic Wyndham Lewis. In Paleface, Lewis takes an unflinching and unsettling look at Western man’s fascination with other races and his strange propensity for self-destruction.
Here’s how the book and the man himself are described in the blurb for the new edition.
Distinguished and highly original, the irrepressible controversialist Wyndham Lewis (1882–1957) is known for his sharp wit and sardonic insight. Though Lewis was a prolific British author, Paleface: The Philosophy of the Melting Pot, ringing perhaps a bit too true and nearly prophetic, remains one of his lesser known works, serving as a lively and provocative exposition of racial problems.
Originally published in 1929, Paleface examines the presence and role of “race-consciousness” in contemporary literature and poetry, providing brilliant commentary on the works of Sherwood Anderson, D. H. Lawrence, Ernest Hemingway, and others. In the work, Lewis contextualizes Western man’s curious modern tendency for self-destruction, particularly in light of the First World War, and considers the “melting pot” model that America aspires to and the resulting amalgamation of the “Palefaces.”
Paleface can be purchased via the Antelope Hill website or on Amazon.
IN THE RAW 48: Wyndham Lewis