“Fascism and National Culture: Reading Gramsci in the Days of Hindutva” by Aijaz Ahmad: Summary and Critique

Introduction: “Fascism and National Culture: Reading Gramsci in the Days of Hindutva” by Aijaz Ahmad

“Fascism and National Culture: Reading Gramsci in the Days of Hindutva” by Aijaz Ahmad first appeared in 1993 in the journal Social Scientist. This essay holds significant importance in literature and literary theory due to its insightful analysis of the relationship between fascism, national culture, and the rise of Hindutva in India. Ahmad utilizes Gramsci’s concept of cultural hegemony to examine how Hindutva ideology seeks to dominate the cultural sphere and construct a national identity that marginalizes and excludes minority groups. The essay’s critical perspective and its exploration of the complexities of cultural politics continue to be relevant and influential in contemporary literary and cultural studies.

Summary of “Fascism and National Culture: Reading Gramsci in the Days of Hindutva” by Aijaz Ahmad

• Gramsci and Indian Context: Aijaz Ahmad draws parallels between the fascist tendencies in Italy during Gramsci’s time and contemporary India under the rise of Hindutva. He argues that reflections on fascism in Europe can help understand similar trends in India (Ahmad, p.32).
• The Role of Language and Culture in Nationalism: Ahmad highlights how both Italy and India share historical parallels regarding language and culture. In Italy, Latin and later Italian were symbols of privilege, while in India, Sanskrit played a similar role in perpetuating Brahminical dominance. The classical languages became tools for hierarchical structures, contributing to cultural fragmentation (Ahmad, pp.34-35).
• Failure of Italian Renaissance and Risorgimento: Ahmad discusses Gramsci’s analysis of Italy’s failure to create a secular, national culture during the Renaissance and the Risorgimento. These periods could not integrate the peasantry or foster a national-popular dynamic, which led to Italy’s susceptibility to fascism. This failure mirrors India’s struggles with regionalism and caste-based hierarchies (Ahmad, pp.35-37).
• Fascism as a Mass Movement: Fascism is seen not merely as a reactionary elite conspiracy but as a movement that mobilizes various social strata. Gramsci viewed fascism in Italy as addressing the structural crises of Italian capitalism, drawing support from diverse groups, including the capitalist class and petty bourgeoisie. Similarly, Hindutva mobilizes mass consent by appealing to national traditions, invoking myths of a unified past (Ahmad, pp.39-40).
• The Role of Intellectuals and the Church: Gramsci and Ahmad critique the role of intellectuals in supporting reactionary structures. In Italy, the Vatican played a crucial role in maintaining conservative hegemony, just as traditional intellectuals in India propagate a Brahminical order under the guise of preserving culture (Ahmad, pp.40-42).
• The ‘National-Popular’ and the Peasantry: Gramsci’s notion of the “national-popular” is central to his theory of revolution. A lack of alignment between intellectuals and the peasantry in Italy hindered the formation of a national-popular movement. Ahmad connects this to India’s failure to integrate various regional and caste-based identities into a unified national culture (Ahmad, pp.44-45).
• Comparisons with Hindutva: Ahmad warns of the parallels between Italian fascism and Hindutva, particularly how both movements use cultural revivalism and religious symbolism to garner mass support. He emphasizes that Hindutva, much like Italian fascism, builds on a mythic notion of national unity while marginalizing dissenting voices (Ahmad, pp.48-50).
• The Role of Economic Crises in Fascism: Gramsci and Ahmad note that economic crises do not directly produce revolutions or fascism but create fertile ground for specific ideological movements to gain traction. In India, the economic policies of liberalization have created discontent among the rural and urban petty bourgeoisie, which could be exploited by fascist forces (Ahmad, p.56).
• Importance of Collective Intellectual Agency: Gramsci’s call for a “collective intellectual” to lead the counter-hegemony against fascism resonates with Ahmad’s argument that the struggle against Hindutva requires a broad-based, organized intellectual and moral reform. This reform must address both economic and cultural issues (Ahmad, p.65).

References from the Article

• “The paradox of Italian history is that, for all the antiquity of its civilization, it never became a unified political entity until the late nineteenth century.” (Ahmad, p.35).
• “The language of classicism and imperial rule, Latin, was succeeded by Italian, which became the language of privilege, but barely two and a half percent of Italians spoke it.” (Ahmad, p.34).
• “Gramsci’s analysis of the failure of the Renaissance and Risorgimento highlights the failure of these movements to unify Italy politically or culturally.” (Ahmad, p.35).
• “Fascism mobilized diverse strata in Italy, addressing the structural crises of capitalism and drawing support from sectors that were not originally fascist in outlook.” (Ahmad, p.39).
• “The intellectual stratum in Italy, as in India, has often been complicit in preserving traditional structures of privilege, using classical languages and religious institutions to maintain social hierarchies.” (Ahmad, p.41).

Literary Terms/Concepts in “Fascism and National Culture: Reading Gramsci in the Days of Hindutva” by Aijaz Ahmad

Literary Term/Concept	Definition	Usage in the Text
Hegemony	Leadership or dominance, particularly of one social group or nation over others.	Gramsci’s concept of cultural hegemony is central, referring to how ruling classes maintain power by dominating ideologies and creating consensus among the masses.
Passive Revolution	A Gramscian term for gradual, non-revolutionary change through reforms imposed from above.	Ahmad uses this concept to describe how fascism in Italy and Hindutva in India mobilize different social strata to resolve crises without direct proletarian revolution.
National-Popular	The unification of cultural identity and political power that reflects the will of the people.	Gramsci’s idea of national-popular movements is applied to how popular consent is built through cultural narratives, particularly in Italy and India’s nationalist movements.
Cosmopolitanism	The ideology that all human beings belong to a single community based on shared morality or culture.	Gramsci’s criticism of Italian intellectuals’ detachment from the masses, rooted in their cosmopolitanism, is likened to the distance between India’s elite and common people.
Romanticism	A movement emphasizing emotion, individualism, and the glorification of the past.	Ahmad contrasts Italy’s lack of a revolutionary Romanticism with the fascist nostalgia for classical Italy, paralleling it with India’s Hindutva revivalist tendencies.
Intellectuals	Gramsci’s term for those who produce and distribute ideology and maintain cultural and political order.	Ahmad highlights the role of traditional intellectuals in preserving cultural elitism, both in Italy’s fascist past and in modern India’s Brahminical revivalism.
Subaltern	A term used to denote populations that are socially, politically, and geographically outside of power.	Ahmad critiques the “subaltern” studies’ misinterpretation of Gramsci, pointing out the limitations of using the term without recognizing class structures and hegemony.
Restoration-Revolution	A term to describe a revolution that reinstates old power structures or elites in modified forms.	Ahmad applies this to the Italian Risorgimento and India’s post-colonial situation, arguing both were incomplete revolutions that failed to displace entrenched elites.
Cultural Chauvinism	Excessive or prejudiced loyalty to one’s own culture.	Ahmad uses this to describe how Hindutva invokes an exaggerated sense of cultural and religious superiority, similar to fascism’s use of Italy’s imperial past.
Historical Materialism	A Marxist theory focusing on material conditions as the foundation of society and historical development.	Though not overtly used, Ahmad’s analysis is grounded in historical materialism, analyzing how economic and social structures influence the rise of fascism in Italy and India.

Contribution of “Fascism and National Culture: Reading Gramsci in the Days of Hindutva” by Aijaz Ahmad to Literary Theory/Theories

Examples of Critiques Through “Fascism and National Culture: Reading Gramsci in the Days of Hindutva” by Aijaz Ahmad

Literary Work	Critique through Ahmad’s Lens	Relevant Themes from Ahmad
1. E.M. Forster’s A Passage to India	Ahmad might critique the novel’s depiction of the British Raj and its view of Indian culture as a monolithic entity, emphasizing how the colonial narrative shapes the representation of national identity.	Colonialism and Nationalism: Ahmad’s discussion of cultural nationalism critiques how colonial powers shape the idea of a unified national identity, as seen in the novel’s oversimplification of Indian culture.
2. Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things	Ahmad would critique Roy’s portrayal of caste, social inequalities, and the political landscape in postcolonial India. He would emphasize how the novel exposes the failures of Indian nationalism to address deeply entrenched caste and class structures, which fascist movements exploit.	Hegemony and Subalternity: Ahmad’s analysis would focus on the power dynamics within Indian society, exploring how cultural and political hegemony shapes social oppression, particularly in relation to caste.
3. Rabindranath Tagore’s Gitanjali	Ahmad may critique Tagore’s spiritual nationalism for its potential alignment with elite cultural hegemony. Tagore’s universalist themes could be seen as an abstraction that neglects the material conditions and contradictions within Indian society, which fascist movements often exploit.	Hegemony and Culture: Ahmad’s Gramscian analysis of cultural hegemony would question how Tagore’s spiritual nationalism may have been co-opted by cultural elites, aligning with fascist cultural ideals.
4. V.S. Naipaul’s India: A Wounded Civilization	Ahmad could critique Naipaul’s depiction of Indian culture as stagnant and regressive, reinforcing orientalist stereotypes. He would likely argue that Naipaul’s narrative aligns with colonialist and reactionary views of Indian society, echoing the kind of intellectual discourse that Hindutva seeks to perpetuate.	Intellectuals and Fascism: Ahmad highlights the role of traditional intellectuals in perpetuating cultural myths and stereotypes, something Naipaul’s work inadvertently supports by portraying Indian culture as “wounded” and backward.

Criticism Against “Fascism and National Culture: Reading Gramsci in the Days of Hindutva” by Aijaz Ahmad

• Overemphasis on Historical Parallels: Critics argue that Ahmad places too much emphasis on historical parallels between Italian fascism and the contemporary Hindutva movement, which may overlook unique aspects of Indian culture, politics, and social dynamics.
• Neglect of Postcolonial Complexity: Ahmad’s focus on Gramsci’s theories may sideline the complex realities of postcolonial India, reducing nuanced political, social, and cultural dynamics to overly broad theoretical frameworks that may not fully capture India’s post-independence challenges.
• Class-Centric Analysis: The strong focus on class struggle, typical of Gramsci’s Marxism, might lead Ahmad to underplay other critical factors such as religious, regional, or ethnic divisions that are equally significant in India, especially in the context of Hindutva’s rise.
• Limited Engagement with Caste: While Ahmad draws on Marxist concepts, his analysis has been critiqued for not fully integrating the caste system’s unique role in shaping India’s socio-political fabric, which often intersects with class but operates independently in many aspects of Indian life.
• Inflexible Application of European Theories: Some critics argue that Ahmad’s use of Gramscian theory may be too rigidly European and doesn’t fully adapt to India’s specific historical, social, and cultural context, resulting in a somewhat forced comparison between Italian fascism and Indian political movements.
• Underrepresentation of Cultural Nationalism’s Positive Aspects: Ahmad’s critical take on cultural nationalism through a Gramscian lens may be seen as overly dismissive of how cultural nationalism has positively contributed to anti-colonial and democratic movements in India, including Gandhian and Nehruvian efforts.
• Dismissal of Alternative Intellectual Approaches: Ahmad’s strict Marxist critique may undervalue other intellectual traditions and critical approaches to understanding the rise of Hindutva, such as subaltern studies or postcolonial theory, which may provide alternative insights into India’s contemporary politics.

Representative Quotations from “Fascism and National Culture: Reading Gramsci in the Days of Hindutva” by Aijaz Ahmad with Explanation

Quotation	Explanation
“Gramsci’s reflections upon Italian history offer us rich analogues for reflecting upon our own.”	Ahmad draws a parallel between Gramsci’s analysis of Italian fascism and the rise of Hindutva in India, using Gramsci’s historical analysis as a framework for understanding the dangers of cultural nationalism and authoritarianism in India.
“Fascism is not merely a factional pathology that occupies its own discrete space…”	Ahmad emphasizes that fascism is not an isolated issue but a product of deep-rooted societal and historical forces, drawing on Gramsci’s insight that fascism grows out of specific social and economic conditions.
“In the present conditions, is it not precisely the fascist movement which in fact corresponds to the movement of moderate and conservative liberalism in the last century?”	This quotation links the rise of fascist movements to the failures of moderate liberalism, suggesting that when liberal democratic structures fail to meet the needs of the masses, fascist ideologies can fill the void.
“The relationship between the North and South in India bears, mercifully, no resemblance to the virtually colonial relationship between Northern and Southern Italy.”	Ahmad compares the regional economic disparities in Italy during Gramsci’s time with India, recognizing differences but also highlighting how economic inequalities and regional imbalances fuel fascist tendencies.
“Fascism, in other words, has two faces. On the one hand, it engages the whole nation in a massive social upheaval in the ideological-cultural domain…”	Ahmad explains how fascism operates on two levels—cultural and economic—mobilizing the nation with cultural narratives while making economic changes that benefit a ruling elite, in this case comparing Hindutva with fascist movements.
“The historical uniqueness of Italy as hereditary descendant of the Roman Empire… fundamentally disrupted the incipient national spirit…”	Ahmad refers to Gramsci’s historical analysis of how Italy’s Roman past burdened the formation of a cohesive national identity, drawing a parallel to how India’s ancient cultural legacy is invoked by Hindutva to shape modern nationalist ideologies.
“In our case, a revolution against foreign rulers but also an immeasurably powerful ‘restoration’ of the rule of the indigenous propertied classes as well.”	Ahmad critiques the Indian nationalist movement, arguing that while it succeeded in ousting colonial rulers, it ultimately restored power to the indigenous elite, failing to deliver a true social and economic revolution for the masses.
“The vernaculars had to wage many of their cultural struggles against Sanskrit and against that Brahminical classicism…”	Ahmad points out how the dominance of classical languages like Sanskrit parallels the cultural dominance of the elite, suggesting that the same kind of linguistic dominance underpins cultural hegemony in contemporary nationalist movements.
“What is important from the political and ideological point of view is that it is capable of creating—and indeed does create—a period of expectation and hope…”	Ahmad reflects on how fascist movements, including Hindutva, create a sense of hope and nationalism for the masses while serving elite interests, making them attractive despite their regressive agendas.
“History does not, in other words, lead automatically to Reason, Progress, Socialism; it may, and often does, equally well lead to mass irrationality and barbarism.”	This quotation captures Ahmad’s critique of deterministic views of history. He warns that without conscious struggle, history can lead to regression, as evidenced by the rise of Hindutva, which he sees as a form of mass irrationality and barbarism.

Suggested Readings: “Fascism and National Culture: Reading Gramsci in the Days of Hindutva” by Aijaz Ahmad

1. Ahmad, Aijaz. In Theory: Classes, Nations, Literatures. Verso, 1992.
2. Gramsci, Antonio. Selections from the Prison Notebooks. Edited and translated by Quintin Hoare and Geoffrey Nowell-Smith, International Publishers, 1971.
3. Anderson, Perry. The Antinomies of Antonio Gramsci. Verso, 1976.
4. Bose, Sumantra. Secular States, Religious Politics: India, Turkey, and the Future of Secularism. Cambridge University Press, 2018.
5. Chatterjee, Partha. The Nation and Its Fragments: Colonial and Postcolonial Histories. Princeton University Press, 1993.
6. Menon, Nivedita. Seeing Like a Feminist. Zubaan Books, 2012.
7. Sarkar, Sumit. Beyond Nationalist Frames: Postmodernism, Hindu Fundamentalism, History. Indiana University Press, 2002.
8. Vanaik, Achin. The Rise of Hindu Authoritarianism: Secular Claims, Communal Realities. Verso, 2017.
9. Bhatt, Chetan. Hindu Nationalism: Origins, Ideologies, and Modern Myths. Berg, 2001.