George Grimes Watson (13 October 1927 – 2 August 2013) was an

anti-communist Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communist beliefs, groups, and individuals. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when th ...

scholar A scholar is a person who is a researcher or has expertise in an academic discipline. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher at a university. An academic usually holds an advanced degree or a termina ...

literary critic A genre of arts criticism, literary criticism or literary studies is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical analysis of literature' ...

and

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

. He was a

fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...

, and

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

of English at

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

Early life

Watson was born in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

, Australia, on 13 October 1927. He was educated at

Brisbane Boys' College Brisbane Boys' College (BBC) is an independent, Presbyterian and Uniting Church, day and boarding school for boys, located in Toowong, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

and the

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

, where he graduated in English in 1948. He secured a scholarship for a second degree and graduated in English from

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

in 1950.

Career

A talented linguist, he worked for the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

, both as an interpreter and checking its publications. Watson became a lecturer of English at

in 1959 and a fellow of St John's College in 1961. Watson met

C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer, literary scholar and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Magdalen College, Oxford (1925–1954), and Magdalen ...

at Oxford's Socratic Club in 1948 and attended his lectures. Later, he counted him among his finest professors and, after Watson joined Cambridge, among his colleagues. Among Watson's English students at St John's was

Douglas Adams Douglas Noel Adams (11 March 1952 – 11 May 2001) was an English author, humorist, and screenwriter, best known as the creator of ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy''. Originally a 1978 BBC radio comedy, ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the ...

. Watson held the Sandars Readership in Bibliography at Cambridge in 1991-1992 and lectured on "Lord Acton and his library."

Politics and views

Watson was an active member of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

, and he was a member of Liberal Party co-ownership committee from 1951 to 1957. He stood in

Cheltenham Cheltenham () is a historic spa town and borough adjacent to the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716, and claims to be the mo ...

in the

1959 United Kingdom general election The 1959 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday, 8 October 1959. The Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party under the leadership of incumbent prime minister Harold Macmillan won a landslide victory with a majority of 100 seats ...

. In the

1979 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom The 1979 European Parliament election, was the first European election to be held in the United Kingdom after the European Communities (EC) decided to directly elect representatives to the European Parliament. It was held on 7 June. Elections ...

, he fought the Leicester European Parliament constituency. He was senior treasurer of the

Cambridge University Liberal Club Cambridge University Liberal Association (CULA) is the student branch of the Liberal Democrats for students at the University of Cambridge. It is the successor to the Cambridge Student Liberal Democrats, which in turn was formed from the merge ...

from 1978 to 1992. In his will, Watson left £950,000 to the Liberal Democrats and the painting ''Rocky Landscape with Saint John the Baptist'' by Joos de Momper to the

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current di ...

, London. Watson contributed to '' Encounter'', a Cold-War intellectual journal, and published material arguing that

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

was a

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

and that

socialism Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

promoted genocide. He was featured in the 2008 documentary film ''

The Soviet Story ''The Soviet Story'' is a 2008 documentary film about the Soviet Union and Soviet–German relations before 1941 and after, written and directed by Edvīns Šnore, and sponsored by the Union for Europe of the Nations group in the European Parl ...

'' where he argued that

Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

was responsible for coming up with the idea of genocide.''The Soviet Story''. Minute 16:37. For this, he was criticised by Latvian political scientist and cultural commentator

Ivars Ijabs Ivars Ijabs (born 17 November 1972) is a Latvian political scientist and politician. He is a lecturer and professor at the University of Latvia and holds a PhD in political science. In May 2019, representing political alliance Development/For!, ...

and Robert Grant, who argue that Watson's views are based on mistranslation and distortion reflecting his ideological bias. The translation of '' Völkerabfälle'' as "racial trash" lay at the centre of this, with defenders of Marx and

Friedrich Engels Friedrich Engels ( ;"Engels"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. In the ''Lost Literature of Socialism'' (1998), Watson cited an 1849 article written by Engels called "The Hungarian Struggle" and published in Marx's journal ''

Neue Rheinische Zeitung The ''Neue Rheinische Zeitung: Organ der Demokratie'' ("New Rhenish Newspaper: Organ of Democracy") was a German daily newspaper, published by Karl Marx in Cologne between 1 June 1848 and 19 May 1849. It is recognised by historians as one of the ...

'', stating that the writings of Engels and others show that "the

Marxist theory of history Historical materialism is Karl Marx's theory of history. Marx located historical change in the rise of Class society, class societies and the way humans labor together to make their livelihoods. Karl Marx stated that Productive forces, techno ...

required and demanded genocide for reasons implicit in its claim that

feudalism Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of struc ...

, which in advanced nations was already giving place to

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...

, must in its turn be superseded by

. Entire nations would be left behind after a workers' revolution, feudal remnants in a socialist age, and since they could not advance two steps at a time, they would have to be killed. They were racial trash, as Engels called them, and fit only for the dung-heap of history." Watson's claims have been criticised by Robert Grant for "dubious" evidence, arguing that "what Marx and Engels are calling for is ... at the very least a kind of

cultural genocide Cultural genocide or culturicide is a concept first described by Polish lawyer Raphael Lemkin in 1944, in the same book that coined the term ''genocide''. The destruction of culture was a central component in Lemkin's formulation of genocide ...

; but it is not obvious, at least from Watson's citations, that actual mass killing, rather than (to use their phraseology) mere 'absorption' or 'assimilation', is in question." Talking about Engels' 1849 article and citing Watson's book, historian Andrzej Walicki wrote: "It is difficult to deny that this was an outright call for genocide." In the film ''The Soviet Story'', Watson stated at minute 16:37 that Engels is "the ancestor of the modern political genocide." While confirming the use of the term ''Völkerabfälle'' in Marx's daily newspaper to describe several small European ethnic groups, Ivars Ijabs responded: "To present Karl Marx as the 'progenitor of modern genocide' is simply to lie."

Works

Books

Watson's works, many of them reprinted, in the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

include: * ''

Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature The ''Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature'' is an encyclopaedic bibliography of literature in English published by the Cambridge University Press. It was first published in the 1940s, and a revised edition was issued from 1969 with the pr ...

'', Vols. 1–5 (1969–1977) * ''Unservile State'', essays in liberty and welfare (1957) * ''Concise Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature'' (1958) * ''British Constitution and Europe'' (1959) * "Dryden: 'Of Dramatic Poesy' and other critical essays", 2 vols (1962) * ''Literary Critics'', a study of English descriptive criticism (1962) * ''Literary Critics'', a study of English descriptive criticism (1964) * ''Concise Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature, 600–1950'' (1965) * ''Coleridge the Poet'' (1966) * ''Is Socialism Left?'' (1967, 1972) * ''Study of Literature'' (1968) * ''New Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature'', edited by George Watson (1969) * ''Literary English since Shakespeare'', edited by George Watson (1970) * ''The English Ideology'', studies in the language of Victorian politics (1973) * ''Literary Critics'', a study of English descriptive criticism (1973, 1986) * ''Politics and Literature in Modern Britain'' (1977) * ''The Discipline of English: A Guide to Critical Theory and Practice'' (1978, 1979) * ''Castle Rackrent'' by

Maria Edgeworth Maria Edgeworth (1 January 1768 – 22 May 1849) was a prolific Anglo-Irish novelist of adults' and children's literature. She was one of the first realist writers in children's literature and a significant figure in the evolution of the novel i ...

, edited with an introduction by George Watson (1980, 1995, 2008) * ''Shorter New Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature'' (1981) * ''Idea of Liberalism: Studies for A New Map of Politics'' (1985) * ''Writing a Thesis: A Guide to Long Essays and Dissertations'' (1987) * ''Certainty of Literature: Essays in Polemic'' (1989) * ''Biographia Literaria, or, Biographical Sketches of My Literary Life and Opinions'' by

Samuel Taylor Coleridge Samuel Taylor Coleridge ( ; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets with his friend William Wordsworth ...

, edited and with an introduction by George Watson (1991) * ''Critical Essays on C. S. Lewis'', edited by George Watson (1992) * ''Lord Acton's History of Liberty'', a study of his library, with an edited text of his ''History of Liberty Notes'' (1994) * * ''Never Ones for Theory?: England and the War of Ideas'' (2002) * ''Take Back the Past: Myths of the Twentieth Century'' (2007) * ''Heresies and Heretics: Memories of the Twentieth Century'' (2013)

Articles

* "Were the Intellectuals Duped?", ''Encounter'' (December 1973) * "Millar or Marx?", ''

The Wilson Quarterly ''The Wilson Quarterly'' is a magazine published by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. The magazine was founded in 1976 by Peter Braestrup and James H. Billington. It is noted for its nonpartisan, non-ide ...

'' (Winter 1993) * "The Messiah of Modernism: F. R. Leavis (1895–1978)", ''The Hudson Review'', Vol. 50, No. 2 (Summer 1997), pp. 227–241. * "Hitler and the Socialist Dream", ''The Independent'' (November 1998) * "Remembering Prufrock: Hugh Sykes Davies 1909–1984", ''Jacket'' (Fall 2001)

References

Notes

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, George G. 1927 births 2013 deaths Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford British literary critics Fellows of St John's College, Cambridge Liberal Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Literary critics of English People from Brisbane People educated at Brisbane Boys' College University of Queensland alumni