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UMI DRAMATURGY OF SOUND IN FUTURIST PERFORMANCE by Mladen Ovadija A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Graduate Centre for Study of Drama in the University of Toronto © Copyright by Mladen Ovadija, 2009 Library and Archives Bibliotheque et Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington OttawaONK1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Voire reference ISBN: 978-0-494-55685-6 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-55685-6 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par I'lnternet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans le loan, distribute and sell theses monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non­ support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. 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While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans in the document page count, their la pagination, il n'y aura aucun contenu removal does not represent any loss manquant. of content from the thesis. 1+1 anada THE DRAMATURGY OF SOUND IN FUTURIST PERFORMANCE A PhD Dissertation by Mladen Ovadija, Graduate Centre for Study of Drama in the University of Toronto, 2009 ABSTRACT An examination of concepts of sound in futurist theatrical theory reveals that it was the perception and adoption of sound as matter in futurist poetry, arts and performance that gave birth to an authentic dramaturgy. In their initial explorations of acoustic material, Futurists imagined and evolved a dramaturgy of sound that not only informed a range of their artistic endeavors but finds relevance in the current discourse of contemporary theatre and performance. The path of their recognition of sound's materiality is mapped through the analysis of the theory in futurist manifestos and its performative implications, the instances of dramaturgy of sound in futurist performance. Futurists returned to the primal forces of sound and used onomatopoeia in poetry initiating a new theatricality that moved its focus past the text (representation) towards the performance (presentation). They replaced verbal meaning with vocal expression and discursive language with oral, acoustic gestures revealing the corporeal essence of sound. Following the poetic principles of analogy, iconicity and synaesthesia, Futurists theorized sound as independent aesthetic matter and devised theatre in which it became equal to the plastic and kinetic elements of stage and performance. This laid the ground for the 'mixed-media' and Bauhaus' 'theatre of totality' reaching towards contemporary theatrical practice. 11 This assessment of an incipient dramaturgy of sound focuses on seminal contributions of both Italian and Russian Futurists: Filippo Tomasso Marinetti's concepts of onomatopoeia, parole in liberta, the 'lyric intoxication with matter,' or fisicoffolia, celebrated in serate by the bruitist declamation of his Zang Tumb Tumb; Francesco Cangiullo's hybrid grotesque rendition of Piedigrotta; Fortunato Depero's Colori and similar stage installations and abstract sintesi on which Giacomo Balla, Fortunato Depero and Enrico Prampolini based their plastic moto-rumorist complex; and Alexei Kruchenykh's and Vladimir Khlebnikov's creation of zaumny yazyk, a beyond-sense language that informed the Russian Futurists' staging of Victory over the Sun and Zangezi. In their recognition of the materiality of sound, evident in the examples cited above and explored in-depth in the dissertation, the Futurists were instrumental in forging a new understanding of the semiosis of sound in theatre that remains viable in current theoretical discourse. 111 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many people have helped me complete my dissertation. I would like to especially acknowledge the support and guidance that I received from my advisor, Domenico Pietropaolo, and my committee members, Veronika Ambros and Stephen Johnson, and thank Joanne Mackay-Bennett for her editorial help. I salute them all with a few parole in liberta scattered with no punctuation in a futurist manner: attention liberta knowledge support own aurality advice guidance detail parole thanks matter senses help speed flux support encouragement thanks parole vocal moto-rumorist discussion own inspiration scarrrabrang detail dynamics liberta futurist scholarship own suggestions journey consult collaboration parole non-passeist support thanks My journey would not have been possible without the love of Biljana, Jelena, Perla, my family and many friends who believed in its purpose. Most profoundly, I am inspired by those whose creativity and endeavours I admired but who will not be able to read this dissertation: my sister Perla Ovadija, Bozidar Pejovic, Smajo Karacevic, Pierre Nuic, Ranko Ibrulj, Goran Ajanovic, Hasan Tijanovic, Marko Kovacevic, Gordana Muzaferija and Andjelka Gatalo. IV TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 1 Chapter One: The Avant-garde and Conceptions of Sound 1.1. Why Futurism, Why Sound? Rebellion and Noise 8 1.2. Sound and Noise under Scientific Surveillance 20 1.3. The Synaesthetic Power of Sound 31 1.4. Hybridization of Art Forms in the Avant-garde 36 1.5. Sound and Meaning - Theatre Idiom vs. Discursive Language 42 1.6. The Century of Sound Saturation 47 1.7. Perception and Cognition: the Aural and Temporal vs. Visual and Spatial 53 1.8. Sign and Sound in the Land of Semiotics 58 1.9. The Materiality of Sound on the Contemporary Stage 65 Chapter Two: Words-in-Freedom, Sound Poetry and Performativity of Futurist Serate 2.1. Introduction 70 2.2. Bruitist Renditions of Manifestos and Sound Poetry at the Futurist Serate 74 2.3. Sound-Text Art, Sound Poetry and Connections with Dada 80 2.4. Destruction of Syntax and Dynamic Declamation ofZang Tumb Tumb 96 2.5. Onomatopoeia, Analogy and Iconicity 111 2.6. Futurist Poetry Principles in Theatre Performance and Theory 120 Chapter Three: Zaum: a Language Beyond Sense and an Idiom of the Abstract Theatre 3.1. Word-as-Such: Sound as Meaning, Content as Form 123 3.2. Sound Resources of Rechetvorstvo (Word-Making) 127 3.3. Universal Roots of Zaum: Incantation and Glossolalia 136 3.4. Sound Symbolism, Chopped-up Words, Play of Vowels and Consonants 145 3.5. Artidilatory, Ludic and Concrete Aspects of Sound in Zaum 149 3.6. Futurist Sound From Poetry and Music to Painting and Theatre 156 3.7. Victory Over the Sun: Theatrical Execution of the Poetics of Zaum 167 3.8. Zangezi: an Anti-Babel Tower/Sculpture Made of Zaum 177 Chapter Four: Dramaturgy of Sound from Futurist Sintesi to the Total Theatre 190 4.1 From Onomatopoeia, Analogy and Iconicity to Plastic Moto-rumorist Complex 193 4.2. Piedigrotta 's Hybrid Form: a Transition from Serate to Theatrical Sintesi 198 4.3. Luigi Russolo's L 'arte dei rumori and Its Role in Futurist Performance 205 4.4. Dadaist Concept of Noise: The MERZ-stage as a Prelude to Total Theatre 214 4.5. Dramaturgy of Sound in the Futurist Theatrical Sintesi 223 4.6. Marinetti's and Mansata's La radia: An Announcement of Pure Acoustic Art 234 4.7. Marinetti's and Cage's Concepts of Silence in Music, Poetry and Performance 240 4.8. Depero's abstract sintesi Colori: a Synthesization of Synaesthetic Theories 245 4.9. Plastic Moto-rumorist Complex, Bauhaus and Mixed-means Total Theatre 249 Conclusion 259 Appendix-List of Figures 268 Bibliography 294 VI 1 Introduction The Futurist dramaturgy of sound developed as part of the historical avant- garde's search for an idiom to replace the worn-out language of bourgeois literature, art and ideology. This need for a new idiom resulted from a crisis of representation in a contemporary art that was unable to face the fragmented reality of the modern world. The mimetic replication of reality that had been produced by the institutionalized and autonomous art was no longer sufficient. The avant-garde artists radically disputed all aesthetic rules of such art demanding that art becomes one with life. This required the immersion of art in its material, not only in the object, story or action it presented - that is, reality or life - but also in the very elements of the artwork - sound, paint, sculptural mass, objects, actions, and lights. Thus the art material started to be treated as self- sufficient and its materiality became of utmost importance for the artistic immersion in life. It is the futurist recognition of the materiality of sound in their poetry, plastic arts and theatre performance that provided the basis for a dramaturgy of sound researched in this dissertation. In theatre, futurist theorists and performers focused on the primal emotions provoked by the perception of materiality, both real and apparent, in a synergy of all theatrical means: language/voice, movement, sound and light. They were more concerned with the theatricality of material presence than with the logic of representation.