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When the 20th century emerged, it was well-known that Italy was far behind in industrial and technological innovation when compared to ‘first class’ countries such as the United States, Great Britain, and Germany. A wide group of people became particularly concerned about the mobility and prosperity of their artistic world as it appeared to be fixated upon what was characteristic of the Renaissance and Baroque periods. They were sorely grounded in the past, so in 1909, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti began the movement known as Futurism, whose purpose was to encapsulate a sense of contemporaneousness and velocity in the industrial business that people were learning to thrive off of.
Futurism would become one of the most commercial and almost vogue movements of the 20th century. Politics and arts collided, intending on being the driving force that would help Italy spiral to that inner circle of upper tier countries. These so-called futurists would hold events known as ‘serata’, where they would read and write poems and show off whatever artwork they had. One instance, “Long live War, only hygiene of the world! Long live Asinari di Bernezzo! Down with Austria!” (Marinetti Futurist, 216) was screamed amongst thousands of spectators and no matter how contrary it was, they would bombast audiences in order to spark riots.
They thought that such disconcerting and demolition would conclude the current state of affairs and permit a more powerful and invigorated to bloom in the fatherland Marinetti adored, Italy. According to Marinetti’s ‘The Futurist Political Movement’, the “martial and ferociously patriotic attitude was the principal cause of the hostility and the calumnies that were systematically hurled at us in abundance by the Italian press” (Marinetti Futurist, 216). He essentially reiterates his futurist values found primarily in his Manifesto of Futurism.
At first thoughts, viewpoints towards war and chaos would be vehemently frowned upon, but to futurists war was necessary for progress and that only good could come from it. When the Lybian War broke out many futurists were quite fond of it being that every citizen had the right to freedom, however the country’s balance and sanctity was expected to come first. Their issue was that they were desperately in search of a cultural identity, but expected the government to construct it or at least have a great deal of influence in such an establishment. In another excerpt from the Manifesto of Futurism, “We intend to destroy museums, libraries, academies of every sort, and to fight against moralism, feminism, and every utilitarian or opportunistic cowardice” (Marinetti Futurist, 51). How were citizens expected to move forward, come up with these new avant-garde ideas, and develop that Italy individuality, if their ‘freedoms’ had such a terrible restriction? In addition, when it came to women, there were immense amounts of contempt and misogynistic terminology being utilized against them, it was honestly a pivotal pillar in the Futurist movement. To them, females symbolized the union of marriage, intimacy, and were a major obstacle to men in pursuing artistic careers or higher learning for that matter. According to Rosa Rosa’s, ‘Women of the Near Future’ excerpt, “If it weren’t for women, by now war would’ve ended”. Over time, it’s nice to see that some people acknowledge the importance of women in society, obviously some people recognized the wrongs that were being aimed towards women and eventually they reaped their long-deserved benefits through ‘equal pay’, even taking over male dominant jobs.
Referring back to Marinetti’s ‘Manifesto of Futurism’, he spoke of the magnificence of war, it was “the world’s only hygiene”, which would ultimately reveal the transcendent transformation of the old world into a new social and graceful world. He declared it would serve as the spark, to maintain the new heights of speed and barbaric acts of demolition for the new world of glorifying the Italian nation. Marinetti would eventually be seen in cohorts with Mussolini as a member of the Central Committee. Towards the beginning, Futurism simply had nationwide political and cultural goals, but at such a historical turning point, a deep-rooted relationship with fascism was inevitable. As previously stated, their values were epitomized by nationalist support of war, vehement dismantling of the olden days, along with a more fluid social order and conformation of art and politics that would thrust Italy into a position as an international power.
In Marinetti’s eyes, Mussolini coming into power was definitely a paramount triumph for both Futurist and Fascist movements and was headed in a good direction. As levels of wickedness declined from the vast landscape of Italy, there was an almost overwhelming nature of the brutal forces of and avant-gardism of this new mix of aesthetics and industry. Ultimately, futurism can be summed up in the tongues of fascism: a sect of unreasonable and spectacle of power amongst other world nations. For instance, in Bragaglia’s ‘Futurist Photodynamism’, he explains how the artist must progress with a constantly changing society. He states that “photography is the perfect reproduction of reality” and how capturing everyday life gives one a better sense of balance and how to maintain that desired aesthetic. According to Giuseppe Prezolini’s ‘Futurism and Fascism’, he accentuates how aligned futurism and fascism actually are in regards to patriotism and rhetoric backed up by artworks, not to mention the “Circumstantial proximity . . . and sheer turmoil of so many forces”. Now this is where, they slowly break apart, fascism was more into “hierarchy, tradition, and observance of authority. . . fascism wants to stay within the lines of thought that have been traced by the great Italians and the great Italian institutions, including Catholicism. Futurism instead, is a protest against tradition: it’s a struggle against museums, classicism, and scholastic honors”. So, the big question was how this could all tie in with fascism, if it’s actually trying to bring back morals. Another contrary point entails internationalism, again fascism was almost solely Italian, and therefore couldn’t form any bonds with other fascist nations.
If one had to state the defining difference it would be that futurism is based upon more freedom and expression, whereas fascism sought to shove everything Italian down the minds of their youths, thereby being more strict and barricaded. Fascism cannot agree with any of the devastating and catastrophic values of futurism, and would have to utilize their set form of logics (the Italian way) to bring back the principles that wrangle with futurism. The distinguishing issue was the fascism wanted to let its name be known throughout the fatherland, but was worried about eradicating everything reeking of futurism such as its unruliness and anti-traditionalism.
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