Yale Professor Attacked For Anti-Semitic Articles

A now deceased Yale professor of humanities wrote several anti-Semitic articles for a Belgian collaborationist newspaper during World War II before he emigrated to the United States, according to recently released documents.

Former Yale Sterling Professor of Humanities Paul de Man, who is renowned for originating the theory of deconstructionism, published articles in 1941 and 1942 in the pro-Nazi newspaper Le Soir, congratulating Western intellectuals for protecting literature from the influence of Jews.

A Belgian graduate student recently brought to light the articles that the Belgian native de Man wrote while working for Le Soir as a literary and cultural reviewer.

De Man's colleagues said yesterday they weresaddened to learn of the discoveries and that thisnew knowledge would not shake their respect forthe former Yale Professor, who died two years agoat the age of 65.

"People were shocked and surprised that de Manhad written those articles," said Neil Hertz, aclose friend of de Man and professor of humanitiesat The Johns Hopkins University. "Although most ofthe writings are innocuous, at least one articlecan be characterized as anti-Semitic text."

"The Jews and Contemporary Literature,"published on March 4, 1941, praises Westernscholars' efforts to repel Jewish influence onliterature. "Despite the lingering Semitism in ourcivilization, literature showed that its essentialnature was healthy," de Man wrote.

Professor of French Literature Barbara Johnsonsaid that while she found the discoveriesdisturbing, she did not hold de Man's youthfulwritings against him.

"He was a man of his time, of a certain stratumof his society. What he wrote was common at thetime among many intellectuals," said Johnson, whoadheres to the theory of deconstructionism. Sheadded that de Man had repudiated his anti-Semiticbeliefs in conversations with fellow scholars.

"He [de Man] took the position that if Germanywas going to win the war--as it appeared theywould in 1941--what could cultural life be like?"Professor Hertz said. "The line he took was toestablish pockets of Belgian cultural autonomyunder German hegemonic domination."

Holocaust historian Raoul Hilberg, professor ofpolitical science at the University of Vermont,said that when de Man wrote the controversialarticles, deportation of Jews to concentrationcamps had not yet begun.

But while Hertz defended de Man's character, hecriticizted his published views. "The article saidthere was something noxious about the Jewishpresence. That is clearly offensive. But the pointis the de Man I knew was a decent and admirablefigure," Hertz said