Futurism in Goa: Early Interactions with Marinetti in Portugal’s Colony in India
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Duarte Drumond Braga
Abstract
Futurism in colonial India and its contribution to Lusophone Goan literature is still a largely unexplored topic. During the early twentieth-century, a group of Goan poets formed part of a Catholic élite community whose use of Portuguese was more common than amongst the rest of the population. Paulino Dias and Nascimento Mendonça were two of its most significant members, and in 1913, Dias launched the Revista da Índia (India Review), which cultivated Portuguese as well as Hindu literary imagery within a Europeanized milieu. This essay explores the magazine’s founding manifesto, authored by Dias, which has been excluded not only from the Euro-American canon but also from the Asian and Lusophone annals. The text makes it possible to revise customary chronologies and attributions and demonstrates that Goan Modernism offers highly relevant material for a reconsideration of the Modernist and avant-garde canons. Beyond that, Dias vernacularized Italian Futurism and engaged himself in a complex recovery of an Indian identity while absorbing also other European avant-garde trends, including Portuguese saudosismo. In short, the magazine gathered and combined opposing aesthetics, such as tradition and innovation, preservation and destruction, nationalism and internationalism, European ultra-modernities and Vedic imagery. As such, Dias’ critical attitude towards Italian Futurism and other European aesthetics allows us to reconstruct some key features of a Portuguese-speaking Indian modernity.
Abstract
Futurism in colonial India and its contribution to Lusophone Goan literature is still a largely unexplored topic. During the early twentieth-century, a group of Goan poets formed part of a Catholic élite community whose use of Portuguese was more common than amongst the rest of the population. Paulino Dias and Nascimento Mendonça were two of its most significant members, and in 1913, Dias launched the Revista da Índia (India Review), which cultivated Portuguese as well as Hindu literary imagery within a Europeanized milieu. This essay explores the magazine’s founding manifesto, authored by Dias, which has been excluded not only from the Euro-American canon but also from the Asian and Lusophone annals. The text makes it possible to revise customary chronologies and attributions and demonstrates that Goan Modernism offers highly relevant material for a reconsideration of the Modernist and avant-garde canons. Beyond that, Dias vernacularized Italian Futurism and engaged himself in a complex recovery of an Indian identity while absorbing also other European avant-garde trends, including Portuguese saudosismo. In short, the magazine gathered and combined opposing aesthetics, such as tradition and innovation, preservation and destruction, nationalism and internationalism, European ultra-modernities and Vedic imagery. As such, Dias’ critical attitude towards Italian Futurism and other European aesthetics allows us to reconstruct some key features of a Portuguese-speaking Indian modernity.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Table of Contents V
- Editorial IX
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Section 1: Futurism Studies
- The Futurist Manifestos of Early 1910: Dates and Editions Reconsidered 1
- From Bologna to the World: The International Futurism of Athos Casarini 51
- Parisian Rivalries before the War: Futurism and Cubism as Enemy Brothers (1912–1914) 93
- Futurism in Occupied Fiume, 1919–1920 123
- Italian Futurism between Fascism, Modernism and Nazi Germany 163
- Vasily Kamensky and F. T. Marinetti: Italian Words-in-Freedom and Russian Typographic Visual Poetry 189
- The Scream of the Boor: Bruno Jasieński and the Politics of Art in Polish Futurism 225
- A Rêve onanistique: Futurism and Portuguese National Identity in Raul Leal’s Correspondence with Filippo Tommaso Marinetti 247
- Futurism in Goa: Early Interactions with Marinetti in Portugal’s Colony in India 279
- Out of the Archive: Marinetti in Cambridge (1914) 307
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Section 2: Obituaries and Anniversaries
- Mariana Aguirre (1977–2022): Obituary 327
- Akademiia Zaumi 339
- The 100th Anniversary of Zenit (1921–2021): Futurism and the Yugoslav Avant-garde 349
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Section 3: Critical Responses to Exhibitions, Conferences and Publications
- Cesare Andreoni (1903–1961), a Futurist in Milan: A Study Day Promoted by the Archivio Cesare Andreoni in Milan 359
- Aroldo Bonzagni and His (almost) Futurist Epoch 367
- Italian Futurism in the Gianni Mattioli Collection Presented in Russia (2021) 375
- Depero New Depero: Rovereto Presents the Artist and His Reception after 1960 385
- The Futurist Novel before and After the First World War 399
- Paolo Buzzi and the Futurist chiaro di luna 405
- Gian Pietro Lucini in Context: Futurism and the Pursuit of a New ‘Avant-garde’ 413
- Fortunato Depero’s ‘Bolted Book’ 419
- Visualizing the Invisible: Photography and Futurist Art 427
- The Permanent Revolution of Fascist Art 433
- Space, Geography and Centre-Periphery Relations: New Perspectives on Ultraism and Estridentism, 1918–1927 439
- Ilya Zdanevich (Iliazd): Ambassador of Georgian Futurism 445
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Section 4: Bibliography
- A Bibliography of Publications on Futurism, 2019–2022 465
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Section 5: Back Matter
- List of Illustrations and Provenance Descriptions 493
- Notes on Contributors 501
- Name Index 509
- Subject Index 541
- Geographical Index 571
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Table of Contents V
- Editorial IX
-
Section 1: Futurism Studies
- The Futurist Manifestos of Early 1910: Dates and Editions Reconsidered 1
- From Bologna to the World: The International Futurism of Athos Casarini 51
- Parisian Rivalries before the War: Futurism and Cubism as Enemy Brothers (1912–1914) 93
- Futurism in Occupied Fiume, 1919–1920 123
- Italian Futurism between Fascism, Modernism and Nazi Germany 163
- Vasily Kamensky and F. T. Marinetti: Italian Words-in-Freedom and Russian Typographic Visual Poetry 189
- The Scream of the Boor: Bruno Jasieński and the Politics of Art in Polish Futurism 225
- A Rêve onanistique: Futurism and Portuguese National Identity in Raul Leal’s Correspondence with Filippo Tommaso Marinetti 247
- Futurism in Goa: Early Interactions with Marinetti in Portugal’s Colony in India 279
- Out of the Archive: Marinetti in Cambridge (1914) 307
-
Section 2: Obituaries and Anniversaries
- Mariana Aguirre (1977–2022): Obituary 327
- Akademiia Zaumi 339
- The 100th Anniversary of Zenit (1921–2021): Futurism and the Yugoslav Avant-garde 349
-
Section 3: Critical Responses to Exhibitions, Conferences and Publications
- Cesare Andreoni (1903–1961), a Futurist in Milan: A Study Day Promoted by the Archivio Cesare Andreoni in Milan 359
- Aroldo Bonzagni and His (almost) Futurist Epoch 367
- Italian Futurism in the Gianni Mattioli Collection Presented in Russia (2021) 375
- Depero New Depero: Rovereto Presents the Artist and His Reception after 1960 385
- The Futurist Novel before and After the First World War 399
- Paolo Buzzi and the Futurist chiaro di luna 405
- Gian Pietro Lucini in Context: Futurism and the Pursuit of a New ‘Avant-garde’ 413
- Fortunato Depero’s ‘Bolted Book’ 419
- Visualizing the Invisible: Photography and Futurist Art 427
- The Permanent Revolution of Fascist Art 433
- Space, Geography and Centre-Periphery Relations: New Perspectives on Ultraism and Estridentism, 1918–1927 439
- Ilya Zdanevich (Iliazd): Ambassador of Georgian Futurism 445
-
Section 4: Bibliography
- A Bibliography of Publications on Futurism, 2019–2022 465
-
Section 5: Back Matter
- List of Illustrations and Provenance Descriptions 493
- Notes on Contributors 501
- Name Index 509
- Subject Index 541
- Geographical Index 571
