Emotional Conditions of Political Conversion: Rebecca West on the Allure of Communism to Western Intellectuals

The political career of Rebecca West (1892-1983) was markedly different from many brilliant inter-war socialists. Intellectuals such as Arthur Koestler, Ignazio Silone and Margarete Buber-Neumann first espoused Communism with the passionate fervour of religious martyrs only later to renounce the creed as fraudulent - “the god that failed.” By contrast, Communism could never disenchant Rebecca West because she had always abjured its secular prophecy. Even so, West was intrigued and disturbed by the fact that many intelligent men and women paid homage to Communism. What, she asked, were the origins and dynamics of this political conversion, the sources of Communism’s allure among the well educated? This talk examines and appraises her answers.