Futurism and Propaganda: Manifestos, Theatres, and Magazines
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FUTURISM AND PROPAGANDA: MANIFESTOS, THEATRES, AND MAGAZINES Sydney Kellen Conrad A dissertation submitted to the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor Philosophy in the Department of Romance Studies in the College of Arts & Sciences. Chapel Hill 2016 Approved by: Federico Luisetti Ennio Rao Amy Chambless Roberto Dainotto Silvia Boero © 2016 Sydney Kellen Conrad ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT Sydney Kellen Conrad: Futurism and Propaganda: Manifestos, Theatres, and Magazines (Under the direction of Federico Luisetti) My dissertation argues that Italian Futurism, in twentieth century Europe, was able to gain widespread recognition because it modelled its methods of diffusion after the parliamentary styled campaigns of social movements. Futurism not only introduced a new style of art but also transformed the way in which art was promoted, politicized, and used as a tool for propaganda. Through an analysis of the Futurist communicative strategies - in particular the use of the manifesto, theatrical space, and literary magazines - the dissertation shows how Marinetti and the Futurists were able to bring together different methods of collective action with symbolic acts of self-representation. These elements coalesced into the Futurist campaign, which allowed the movement to spread throughout the world. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would have not been able to complete this project and understand Futurism as an international phenomenon without the help from the Foreign Language Areas Studies Fellowship, which allowed me to study the relationship between Italian and Portuguese Futurism from a cultural, historical, political, and linguistic perspective. Furthermore, I would like to thank the staff at UNC libraries and especially Libby Chenault, who ordered multiple new volumes so that I could complete my dissertation project. Moreover, I was fortunate to be given the opportunity to teach the contents of this dissertation at Virginia Commonwealth University. The course was well- received with several students presenting their research at the School of World Studies Undergraduate conference. Their work, curiosity, and dedication to the course greatly enhanced my understanding of the material. Last, but not least, I would like to thank my friends and colleagues at UNC, who inspired me and gave me moral support: Karl Fetter, Maureen Melita, Adriana Cerami, and Maria Fellie. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION: FUTURISM AS AN INTERNATIONAL MOVEMENT .............................. 1 Marinetti and Futurism ............................................................................................................... 7 Other Futurisms: Portugal and Russia ...................................................................................... 11 Futurism as a Movement ........................................................................................................... 17 Social Movement Theory and Futurism ................................................................................... 28 CHAPTER 1: FUTURIST MANIFESTOS: WELDING IDENTITY AS A COMMUNICATIVE STRATEGY .................................................................................................................................. 34 Evolution of the Futurist Manifesto .......................................................................................... 35 Collective Identity in the Futurist Manifesto ............................................................................ 39 Identity in the Portuguese Futurist Manifesto ........................................................................... 50 CHAPTER 2: FUTURIST THEATER ......................................................................................... 57 State of Italian Theater in the 1800s ......................................................................................... 59 Marinetti’s Background in Theater ........................................................................................... 62 Futurist Theater and Its Initial Manifestos ................................................................................ 66 Serate ........................................................................................................................................ 72 The Portuguese Conferência ..................................................................................................... 78 Futurist Propaganda in the Serate ............................................................................................. 81 Crowd Psychology in the Futurist Serata ................................................................................. 86 Futurist Theatrical Experiments Outside of Italy ...................................................................... 89 Mayakovsky’s Soviet Play Mystery Bouffe ............................................................................. 91 CHAPTER 3: NETWORKING AND THE FUTURIST MAGAZINE ....................................... 96 v Marinetti’s Network at Poesia .................................................................................................. 97 Lacerba and Futurism ............................................................................................................. 106 L’Italia Futurista and Futurism .............................................................................................. 112 From Orpheu to Portugal Futurista ....................................................................................... 117 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................... 126 WORKS CONSULTED.………………………………………………….……………………..138 vi INTRODUCTION FUTURISM AS AN INTERNATIONAL MOVEMENT As soon as Futurism was launched on February 20, 1909 on the front page of the Parisian newspaper Le Figaro , it immediately gained worldwide attention. Futurism offered a new aesthetic in the landscape of modernist and avant-garde movements, inspired by the technological advances of modernity. The machine, war, and speed became powerful symbols of the movement because they had the ability to change dramatically one’s sense of being. Futurist art served to articulate the ongoing changes in society that were in many respects psychological, physiological, and sociological. In the “Fondazione e Manifesto del Futurismo,” also referred to in English as the “Founding Manifesto”, Marinetti writes: È dall'Italia, che noi lanciamo pel mondo questo nostro manifesto di violenza travolgente e incendiaria, col quale fondiamo oggi il « Futurismo », perché vogliamo liberare questo paese dalla sua fetida cancrena di professori, d'archeologhi, di ciceroni e d'antiquarii. (“Fondazione e Manifesto del Futurismo” ) [It is from Italy that we hurl at the whole world this utterly violent, inflammatory manifesto of ours, with which today we are founding “Futurism,” because we wish to free our country from the stinking canker of its professors, archaeologists, tour guides, and antiquarians.] 1 As Marinetti suggests, Italian Futurism represented more than a cultural renewal for Italy but served as a model of renewal for the rest of Europe. 1 All Italian quotes from “Fondazione e Manifesto del Futurismo” come from Luciano de Maria while all English translations of the document come from Berghaus’ volume Critical Writings . 1 Thirty years later, Italian Futurism’s leader Filippo Tommaso Marinetti reflected on the international influence of Italian Futurism in an unpublished document entitled Futurismo nel mondo (1938-39). 2 Housed in the archives of the Getty Research Institute, the document addresses the international scope of Futurism in three brief articles written by Marinetti: “Poeti e artisti futuristi rumeni,” “Tai Kambara e i futuristi giapponesi,” and “Le avanguardie artistiche letterarie straniere influenzate dal futurismo italiano.” 3 The first article, “Poeti e artisti futuristi rumeni,” begins by describing the relationship between Romanian and Italian literature. According to Marinetti, the theater of D’Annunzio and Pirandello influenced Romanian literature, but Futurism led to the direct creation of Dadaism. The movement of Tristan Tzara was inspired by Marinetti’s “Zang Tuum Tuuumb” and the visual poems founded on words-in- freedom. The sound poems of Tristan Tzara and other Dadaists, for example, shared a similar nihilism that Futurism had already articulated in their theatrical manifestos and in the “Technical Manifesto of Futurist Literature.” In addition, Marinetti informs us that some Dadaists left the movement in order to create a Romanian Futurism. In “Tai Kambara e i futuristi,” Marinetti attributes the arrival of Futurism in Tokyo to the movement’s launch in Le Figaro , but the diffusion of Futurist ideas was a result of Japanese artist Tai Kambara. Marinetti writes that Kambara wrote the first book on Futurism in Japan and integrated the symbols of the machine, speed, and dynamism in the Japanese avant-gardes. In the last article, “Le avanguardie artistiche letterarie straniere influenzate dal futurismo italiano,” Marinetti shifts his focus from describing other Futurist movements to naming the specific aspects of Italian Futurism that were popular abroad. For Marinetti, Futurism proved its international impact given that many avant-garde 2 The folder labeled Le futurismo nel mondo at the Getty Research Institute consists of these three articles that are typescript with many pen