Manchester University Press
16 The dark side of Futurism
Abstract
This chapter highlights how war is represented in Filippo Tommaso Marinetti's works. It focuses on the representation of the Italian soldier, of the enemy and of battle, and finally, on the meaning he assigned to death on the front line. The chapter also focuses on the representation of the First World War. During the First World War, in the manifesto Sintesi futurista della guerra (Futurist synthesis of war) the war is represented in the first place as a conflict between Futurism and passeism. On the representational level, war thus becomes an existential battle between human beings and nature, and a cosmic battle between opposite forces, such as Good and Evil, or Futurism and passeism. The fatal conclusion according to which war was an inseparable part, or rather, 'the culminating and natural synthesis of progress', placed technological war at the core of the Futurist modernolatry.
Abstract
This chapter highlights how war is represented in Filippo Tommaso Marinetti's works. It focuses on the representation of the Italian soldier, of the enemy and of battle, and finally, on the meaning he assigned to death on the front line. The chapter also focuses on the representation of the First World War. During the First World War, in the manifesto Sintesi futurista della guerra (Futurist synthesis of war) the war is represented in the first place as a conflict between Futurism and passeism. On the representational level, war thus becomes an existential battle between human beings and nature, and a cosmic battle between opposite forces, such as Good and Evil, or Futurism and passeism. The fatal conclusion according to which war was an inseparable part, or rather, 'the culminating and natural synthesis of progress', placed technological war at the core of the Futurist modernolatry.
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Contents v
- List of figures vii
- Notes on contributors ix
- Introduction 1
- 1 Engaging the crowd 14
- 2 Heroes/heroines of Futurist culture 27
- 3 ‘Out of touch’ 38
- 4 La bomba-romanzo esplosivo, or Dada’s burning heart 56
- 5 Futurist canons and the development of avant-garde historiography (Futurism – Expressionism – Dada) 72
- 6 ‘An infinity of living forms, representative of the absolute’? 95
- 7 The dispute over simultaneity 113
- 8 Fernand Léger’s La noce 133
- 9 Nocturnal itineraries 145
- 10 ‘A hysterical hullo-bulloo about motor cars’ 159
- 11 Futurist Performance, 1910–1916 176
- 12 Le Roi Bombance 195
- 13 The cult of the ‘expressive’ in Italian Futurist poetry 208
- 14 Visual approaches to Futurist aeropoetry 226
- 15 The Untameables 243
- 16 The dark side of Futurism 255
- 17 Rethinking interdisciplinarity 272
- 18 A Very Beautiful Day After Tomorrow 284
- Index 299
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Contents v
- List of figures vii
- Notes on contributors ix
- Introduction 1
- 1 Engaging the crowd 14
- 2 Heroes/heroines of Futurist culture 27
- 3 ‘Out of touch’ 38
- 4 La bomba-romanzo esplosivo, or Dada’s burning heart 56
- 5 Futurist canons and the development of avant-garde historiography (Futurism – Expressionism – Dada) 72
- 6 ‘An infinity of living forms, representative of the absolute’? 95
- 7 The dispute over simultaneity 113
- 8 Fernand Léger’s La noce 133
- 9 Nocturnal itineraries 145
- 10 ‘A hysterical hullo-bulloo about motor cars’ 159
- 11 Futurist Performance, 1910–1916 176
- 12 Le Roi Bombance 195
- 13 The cult of the ‘expressive’ in Italian Futurist poetry 208
- 14 Visual approaches to Futurist aeropoetry 226
- 15 The Untameables 243
- 16 The dark side of Futurism 255
- 17 Rethinking interdisciplinarity 272
- 18 A Very Beautiful Day After Tomorrow 284
- Index 299
