‘Anti-Americanism is a form of fascism’

Narrow nationalism, hatred of Jews, and chauvinism find their meeting place in anti-Americanism, the acclaimed French thinker Bernard-Henri Lévy tells Allister Heath

What is most unusual about Bernard-Henri Lévy is not that he wears his white shirts open almost all the way down to his bellybutton; one would expect little else of a French philosopher who grew up hooked on the deconstructionist theories of Jacques Derrida. Far more intriguing is that the top half of his shirts are entirely and deliberately devoid of buttons â” and have clearly been expensively and carefully tailored, manufacturing the ‘noble savage’ look for which he is renowned.

Lévy â” or BHL as he is universally known in France, where he is a household name â” was in Britain on Monday to promote his new book, American Vertigo, which will be published by Gibson Square next week. Inspired by Alexis de Tocqueville’s famous trip to the US in the early 19th century, and worried by the mounting tide of anti-Americanism across Europe, BHL set off on his very own journey of discovery.

The result, a series of observations on Americans and their foibles, is often fascinating but occasionally frustrating. His views on the need to combat Islamic extremism are unusually robust; and he is one of the last upholders of a long but often overlooked tradition of pro-Americanism in France â” albeit in BHL’s case a very French, left-wing, anti-Iraq war pro-Americanism that most US conservatives would not recognise. But his Gallic style, which is charming in conversation, takes a little getting used to in print. Even regular readers of French philosophy will probably get annoyed by his machine-gun prose, with its constant use of exaggerated repetitions for effect, and his apparent inability to cut to the chase.

There is much that Lévy dislikes about America, including its vast churches and President Bush; and like virtually all French intellectuals, he has little understanding of its successful market economy.