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<p><i>The Spy Who Came in from the Cold</i>, John le Carré’s masterpiece, provides a unique opportunity to address a fundamental dilemma facing democracies: what can they do to defend themselves and remain worth defending? This article teases out two conceptions of democracy – one rooted in realism, the other in film noir – in the novel, its film adaption, and 2017 sequel to consider possible responses. <i>The Spy</i>’s reputation rests on a damning critique of the west for its Cold War conduct. What has gone unappreciated, even by le Carré himself, is antisemitism’s role in the novel. While the novel capitalizes on the west’s fear that it might turn into the enemy it’s fighting, it suggests the enemy to be feared is not Soviet Russia but Nazi Germany, that is, something even worse than the enemy it was fighting. Le Carré quickly retreated from <i>The Spy</i>’s disconcerting theorizations, domesticating them in both the film and sequel. What might account for this retreat? The idea of necessary fictions essential to democracy, especially in wartime, is one explanation.</p>

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Le Carré, democratic crisis, antisemitism: the political odyssey of The spy who came in from the cold

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年1月23日

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  • Steven Johnston

摘要

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, John le Carré’s masterpiece, provides a unique opportunity to address a fundamental dilemma facing democracies: what can they do to defend themselves and remain worth defending? This article teases out two conceptions of democracy – one rooted in realism, the other in film noir – in the novel, its film adaption, and 2017 sequel to consider possible responses. The Spy’s reputation rests on a damning critique of the west for its Cold War conduct. What has gone unappreciated, even by le Carré himself, is antisemitism’s role in the novel. While the novel capitalizes on the west’s fear that it might turn into the enemy it’s fighting, it suggests the enemy to be feared is not Soviet Russia but Nazi Germany, that is, something even worse than the enemy it was fighting. Le Carré quickly retreated from The Spy’s disconcerting theorizations, domesticating them in both the film and sequel. What might account for this retreat? The idea of necessary fictions essential to democracy, especially in wartime, is one explanation.