Looking Back on the 1930s without Being Anti-Communist: Cornford, Orwell, Spender, Sommerfield

Abstract

This paper explores the possibility of looking back favourably on the 1930s without dismissing the anti-Communist arguments of those like George Or well and Stephen Spender. The representation and reception of John Cornford's participation and death in the Spanish Civil War are treated as a case study for examining the differences and similarities in outlook between Orwell, Spender and their rather less anti-Communist contemporary, John Sommerfield. The analysis suggests that all four shared the aims of defeating Fascism and opening up a transformed future society that characterised a 1930s intersubjective constellation, which is best understood by moving beyond the Communist/anti-Communist binary that has structured the period's reception.