Farewell Mr. Waugh: Political Correctness and Censorship Continue to Wreak Havoc
Seeking something light to read following the Christmas doldrums I decided to look into what I remembered as one of the funniest of Evelyn Waugh’s comic novels, Black Mischief. I discovered that my local library, a large well-stocked one, did not have a copy and there was just a single one to be found in Montgomery County, one of the most populous and richest in the state of Pennsylvania. I believe this isn’t an accident but another example of the ongoing censorship of literature that is a curse of our time.
That’s too bad because Black Mischief for all its nastiness is worth a read as it reveals Waugh’s gift for satire at its savage best, an example of what his friend and confident, Nancy Mitford, called his “delicious cynicism.” It also introduces us to his greatest comic rogue, Basil Seal.
The novel, Waugh’s third, appeared in 1932, following the remarkable success of his two earlier comic novels, Vile Bodies and Decline and Fall which established his reputation for savage wit, brilliant prose, and a talent for the sharp cutting of scenes he borrowed from silent films. But Black Mischief’s humor has an offensive quality not found in the earlier works; perhaps a result of the two most dramatic developments of his young life (he was just 26 years old when he won fame with Vile Bodies) — an ugly divorce and his embrace of Catholicism to provide meaning to his life.
Seeking some kind of escape in 1930, Waugh undertook a tour of Africa with a commission to cover the coronation of Hailie Selassie as emperor of Ethiopia. The trip produced the first of his travel books, Remote People, but more importantly inspired Black Mischief.
The book’s setting is the isle of Azania off the coast of Africa — really Ethiopia. Basil Seal, fleeing from creditors and a series of boring romances decides to visit his fellow Oxford student, Seth, the newly crowned emperor of Azania. Waugh makes Seth a parody of every ideal of modernization and progressive ideas, always wanting to discuss such things as birth control, surrealism, eugenics, Esperanto, and other exemplars of modern thought.
Regarding Basil as the glimmering personification of sophisticated culture, Seth asks for his help in transforming Azania into a modern state. This gives Waugh the opening to mock and make fun of every vestige of the progressive outlook in English artistic circles that he despised. With Basil’s help, Seth modernizes his army by equipping them with European uniforms and the latest military hardware. He defeats his father in a civil war marked with barbarity, including his troops cooking and eating his father. They also sell their weapons, and when food runs low, eat their modern leather boots.
A grand parade honoring the transformation of Seth’s capital into a modern European-style city renamed after him features the city’s prostitutes carrying a banner “From Savagery to Culture” leading the way for Seth’s military commander, a one-eyed English adventurer named Connolly, who has an Azanian wife, called “Black Bitch.” Waugh made a point of introducing a disreputable character named Connolly in his novels, a jibe at his close friend, the writer and editor, Cyril Connolly. His wife at the time was described as “dark complected” which gave Waugh’s barb even more bite. Connolly pretended not to be embarrassed by this but dreaded how he would be represented in Waugh’s works.
In the name of modernism, Seth orders the city’s ancient and native buildings torn down and turned into poor versions of European ones. The Anglican Cathedral is gutted and the site renamed, Place Marie Stopes, in honor of the leading spokesman of the birth control movement. For his commitment to modernization, Seth is eventually overthrown and murdered.
The racism and stereotyping are carried over to Waugh’s portraits of the other inhabitants of Azania. The leading shopkeeper is an Armenian who cheats everyone — white or African. Waugh doesn’t let off the English characters. The head of the British legation is portrayed as a boob who spends his time playing cards, taking long baths, while ignoring his diplomatic dispatches. His daughter, Prudence is a classic brainless example of Waugh’s Beautiful Young Things. She is writing a long incoherent novel about the modern world and having affairs with various young men. In the course of the novel Seal becomes engaged to her.
Waugh also introduces two English women who are animal rights activists and represent the snobbish do-gooders that he despised. They come to Azania to save the animals, describing their first view of the country: “Quaint and smelly. Condition of dogs and horse appalling, also the children … Fed doggies in marketplace. Children tried to take food from the doggies. Greedy little bastards.”
The novel ends when a revolution breaks out and Seth is overthrown and murdered, Basil flees but the plane crashes and he is saved by natives. At a dinner in his honor, he discovers that they have captured Prudence and cooked her in a cannibal stew of herbs and spices.
Black Mischief was a best seller in England when it appeared in October 1932. Its first printing sold out and a second one did well also. It was not a great success in America. Books about strange British types in Africa didn’t appeal to Americans. The fact that the Great Depression had hit bottom might have something to do with Black Mischief’s sluggish sales here.
For years Black Mischief remained one of Waugh’s most popular comic novels, but its portraits of Africans will ensure that it suffers the fate of Huckleberry Finn, Othello, and The Nigger of the Narcissus.
When I taught a course in British history, I always made sure I included a Waugh novel — usually Scoop, Decline and Fall, Put Out More Flags, and occasionally Black Mischief. I don’t believe it would be wise to include Black Mischief today. I am sure the literary safety clan would denounce me to the proper authorities. Too bad. For all its modern indecencies, it remains a book impossible to read without laughing aloud.
READ MORE from John P. Rossi:
The Soldier Poets Who Knew About War
A Little-Known Film Is a John Wayne Gem
John P. Rossi is a professor emeritus of history at La Salle University in Philadelphia.
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