Interwar Germany was arguably the most literate society in human history, just a bizarre argument
What's the connection between fascism and illiteracy?
A third of British adults who used to read for pleasure don't anymore.
And according to the OECD, literacy itself, not just the habit of it, is declining or stagnating across most of the developed world.
In a new book, The New Dark Ages, @j_amesmarriott argues that we're living through a great unwinding: a retreat from the written word and the kind of rational, analytical mind that print culture built over five centuries, back towards something closer to the pre-literate world: one dominated not by books, but by images, screens, and short-form video.
In this episode of The New Society, @tanjil_rashid_ is joined by @j_amesmarriott to ask: are we really heading back into the dark?
Sep 19, 2026 · 2:54 PM UTC
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Just clarifying as James has asked me too that he thinks there isn't a direct link between fascism and illiteracy. For my part I never meant to say I thought he was suggesting Germans couldn't read or something.
This clip has been taken out of context. I don't think there is a relationship between fascism and illiteracy. I think there is one between fascism + radio/cinema. If you watch the longer video you will see that the high literacy of Germany is precisely what we are discussing.
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To be clear, the essence of my disagreement is the idea that fascism was just a wave of irrationality perpetuated by spectacle, image and sound. Spengler and Schmitt in Germany, or Giovanni Gentile and Gabriele D'Annunzio in Italy were not that.
My point of disagreement was never premised on the idea that you were saying interwar germans couldn't read, but that fascism was somehow anti-literate or purely based on spectacle. But it was primarily a literary phenomenon (and often a high brow one)
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