ABSTRACT
Intellectual support for the Nazi cause is an interesting issue. Two of the most prominent literary men of the century lent open and public support to the Nazi cause— Ezra Pound and Knut Hamsun. This chapter explores the case of Pound and, more briefly, that of Hamsun. It is quite significant that after World War II ended, both men were diagnosed by professionals as suffering from some form of "mental illness." The chapter shows how the structure of betrayal materializes, and how its moral content and context can be interpreted differently. Pound's and Hamsun's affinity for fascism and Nazism is part of a larger puzzle. Many intellectuals have aligned themselves with questionable characters and oppressive ideologies. Structurally, the nature of treason in Pound's and Hamsun's acts is clear. They violated the trust invested in them by free democratically elected governments and violated their loyalty to these regimes.
