Rhetorical Strategies and Gender in Marinetti's Futurist Manifesto ...
Rhetorical Strategies and Gender in Marinetti's Futurist Manifesto ...
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<strong>Rhetorical</strong> <strong>Strategies</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Gender</strong> <strong>in</strong> Mar<strong>in</strong>etti's <strong>Futurist</strong> <strong>Manifesto</strong><br />
C<strong>in</strong>zia Blum<br />
Italica, Vol. 67, No. 2. (Summer, 1990), pp. 196-211.<br />
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<strong>Rhetorical</strong> <strong>Strategies</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Gender</strong><br />
<strong>in</strong> Mar<strong>in</strong>etti's <strong>Futurist</strong> <strong>Manifesto</strong><br />
Though the importance of Filippo Tommaso Mar<strong>in</strong>etti's contributions<br />
to avant-garde aesthetics has been a subject of controversy<br />
s<strong>in</strong>ce the very beg<strong>in</strong>n<strong>in</strong>gs of the <strong>Futurist</strong> movement, critics generally<br />
aclznowledge the <strong>in</strong>novation of what Mar<strong>in</strong>etti himself called "l'arte<br />
di far manifesti." Most recently, <strong>in</strong> a remarkable study on the "language<br />
of rupture" of the avant-garde movements prior to World War<br />
I, Marjorie Perloff locates the orig<strong>in</strong>ality of the <strong>Futurist</strong> manifesto <strong>in</strong><br />
its hybrid, multifaceted nature. As Perloff notes, the genealogy of the<br />
<strong>Futurist</strong> manifesto can be traced back to the agonistic mode of discourse<br />
of the n<strong>in</strong>eteenth-century political manifesto, <strong>and</strong> to the programmatic<br />
statements of aesthetic renovation, modernity, nationalism,<br />
<strong>and</strong> heroism articulated <strong>in</strong> the manifestos of other turn-of-thecentury<br />
movements. But the Italian <strong>Futurist</strong> manifestos differ from<br />
their precursors because of "their brash refusal to rema<strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong> the expository<br />
or critical corner, their underst<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>g that the group pronouncement,<br />
sufficiently aestheticized, can, <strong>in</strong> the eyes of the mass<br />
audience, all but take the place of the promised art work."' Indeed,<br />
Mar<strong>in</strong>etti's famous first manifesto, "Fondazione e <strong>Manifesto</strong> del Futurism~,"<br />
which marks the found<strong>in</strong>g of the movement <strong>in</strong> 1909, also<br />
marks the creation of a new genre straddl<strong>in</strong>g poetic <strong>and</strong> theoretical<br />
discourse-a collective statement directed at a mass audience, <strong>in</strong><br />
which the articulation of an aesthetic <strong>and</strong> political program is transformed<br />
<strong>in</strong>to a literary c~nstruct.~<br />
The <strong>Futurist</strong> manifesto qualifies as a genre of rupture <strong>in</strong> two ways.<br />
As the theoretical <strong>and</strong> propag<strong>and</strong>istic arena of the <strong>Futurist</strong> "global"<br />
revolution, the manifesto is the spr<strong>in</strong>gboard of revolutionary pr<strong>in</strong>ciples:<br />
the breakdown of barriers between the <strong>in</strong>dividual arts, the destruction<br />
of syntax, <strong>and</strong> the elim<strong>in</strong>ation of the psychologiz<strong>in</strong>g literary<br />
~ubject.~ And as an art work itself, the manifesto subverts traditional<br />
codes, obliterat<strong>in</strong>g boundaries between different genres <strong>and</strong> expressive<br />
registers, <strong>and</strong> occasionally exemplifies the new antigrammatical<br />
<strong>and</strong> anti-syntactical model4
An aesthetic of rupture which subverts literary conventions <strong>and</strong><br />
l<strong>in</strong>guistic contra<strong>in</strong>ts may <strong>in</strong>volve the underm<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g of hierarchical,<br />
centraliz<strong>in</strong>g order<strong>in</strong>g systems predicated upon a unitary, authorita-<br />
tive speak<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> th<strong>in</strong>k<strong>in</strong>g subject-<strong>in</strong> other words, the mise en ques-<br />
tion of traditional assumptions about subjectivity, <strong>and</strong> about the rep-<br />
resentability of self <strong>and</strong> reality. Traditionally, the studies of Italian<br />
Futurism which emphasize the novelty <strong>and</strong> importance of its formal<br />
experimentation have tended to avoid the terra<strong>in</strong> of ideological<br />
<strong>in</strong>quiry.' Some apologetic studies touch this terra<strong>in</strong> only cursorily,<br />
to posit an unproblematic congruence between the formal <strong>and</strong> the<br />
ideological realms. That approach may lead the reader to unwarranted<br />
conclusions concern<strong>in</strong>g the ideological stakes of the <strong>Futurist</strong> aes-<br />
thetic revol~tion.~<br />
It is important to recognize that anxieties about fragmentation of<br />
identity <strong>and</strong> confusion of codes lie at the psychological roots of Fu-<br />
turist experimentation. The manifesto "I1 teatro futurista s<strong>in</strong>tetico"<br />
offers an example: "la realta ci vibra attorno assalendoci con raffiche<br />
di frammenti di fatti comb<strong>in</strong>ati tra loro, <strong>in</strong>castrati gli uni negli altri,<br />
confusi, aggrovigliati, caotizzati" (TIF, 177). The diction <strong>in</strong> this pas-<br />
sage posits a condition of threaten<strong>in</strong>g confusion: "assalendoci con raf-<br />
fiche," <strong>in</strong> particular, conjures up a hostile reality at war aga<strong>in</strong>st a be-<br />
sieged subject. Still, it must be emphasized that the ideological<br />
underside of <strong>Futurist</strong> experimentation reverses doubts about subjec-<br />
tivity <strong>and</strong> representation <strong>in</strong>to an acritical, boisterous affirmation of<br />
the epistemological <strong>and</strong> artistic powers of the "multiplied" <strong>Futurist</strong><br />
man. The iconoclastic attack on l<strong>in</strong>guistic conventions is governed<br />
by an effort to control the life of matter-a fantasy of omniscience<br />
<strong>and</strong> omnipotence:<br />
Oggi, pih che mai, ,Ion fa dell'arte se non chi fa della guerra. Degne di<br />
gloria non appaiono che le fronti erette a violentare il Mistero, a gettare<br />
la sfida verso le mostruosita tentatrici dell'Impossibile. (TIF, 28)<br />
Solo il poeta as<strong>in</strong>tattico e dalle parole slegate potra penetrare l'essenza<br />
della materia e distruggere la sorda ostilita che la separa da noi. (TIF,<br />
521<br />
The object of the artist's quest is expressed <strong>in</strong> terms of negativity <strong>and</strong><br />
impossibility ("mostruosita," "Impossibile," "sorda ostilita," "se-<br />
para"). In the first pssage, the marked choice of negative periphrases<br />
to affirm the artist's power re<strong>in</strong>forces the effect of the lexical choice.<br />
But this semantics of negativity <strong>and</strong> impossibility is countered by the<br />
semantics of sexual aggression: the <strong>Futurist</strong> artist is portrayed as a<br />
warrior with his head raised to violate, or rape, the mystery of reality,<br />
<strong>and</strong> as a poet with new l<strong>in</strong>guistic powers to penetrate the hostile es-
sence of matter. The sexual overtones of these passages cast the Fu-<br />
turist epistemological <strong>and</strong> aesthetic model <strong>in</strong>to a gendered situation,<br />
which sets up an aggressive, virile subject aga<strong>in</strong>st a fem<strong>in</strong>ized reality<br />
to be conquered or destroyed.<br />
Throughout Mar<strong>in</strong>etti's writ<strong>in</strong>g we f<strong>in</strong>d various <strong>in</strong>stances of this<br />
ideological construction which I call a "fiction of power". The Futur-<br />
ist manifestos, for example, valorize avant-garde artistic practices,<br />
technology, war, <strong>and</strong> virility, <strong>and</strong> concomitantly devaluate passeism,<br />
pacifism, <strong>and</strong> fem<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>ity. Mar<strong>in</strong>etti thereby produces a fiction of the<br />
subject's power as a violent, compensatory response to the sense of<br />
crisis widespread <strong>in</strong> the modernist era.<br />
<strong>Gender</strong> plays a key role <strong>in</strong> this ideological construction <strong>and</strong> is afun-<br />
damental aspect of <strong>Futurist</strong> writ<strong>in</strong>g which has hitherto received scant<br />
attention.A critical perspective focus<strong>in</strong>g on gender issues offers pow-<br />
erful analytical leverage to the purpose of evaluat<strong>in</strong>g the ideological<br />
valences of the <strong>Futurist</strong> revolution. In particular, the mapp<strong>in</strong>g out of<br />
fem<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>ity <strong>in</strong> Mar<strong>in</strong>etti's manifestos provides a sort of bluepr<strong>in</strong>t for<br />
the <strong>Futurist</strong> male-centered project. Such a project <strong>in</strong>volves three log-<br />
ically successive steps: 1/ marlz<strong>in</strong>g boundaries <strong>and</strong> sett<strong>in</strong>g up objec-<br />
tives to be destroyed; 2)construct<strong>in</strong>g the text as a site for violent ac-<br />
tion; 31 creat<strong>in</strong>g new myths.<br />
In the first step-the stag<strong>in</strong>g of barricades-the fem<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>e pr<strong>in</strong>ciple<br />
is associated with everyth<strong>in</strong>g Futurism is supposed to fight aga<strong>in</strong>st:<br />
all past traditions <strong>in</strong> art (particularly sentimental poetry], the parlia-<br />
mentary system, pacifism, as well as constrictive mores <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>stitu-<br />
tions that lead to the country's decadence while stifl<strong>in</strong>g virile energy<br />
<strong>and</strong> courage. For <strong>in</strong>stance, <strong>in</strong> "Uccidiamo il Chiaro di Luna! ", Mar<strong>in</strong>etti<br />
writes:<br />
Si i nostri nervi esigono la guerra e disprezzano la donna, poiche noi te-<br />
miamo che le braccia supplici s'<strong>in</strong>trecc<strong>in</strong>o alle nostre g<strong>in</strong>occhia, la mat-<br />
t<strong>in</strong>a della partenza! . . . Che mai pretendono le donne, i sedentari, gli<br />
<strong>in</strong>validi, gli ammalati e tutti i consiglieri prudenti! ITIF, 1.5)<br />
The manifesto relies crucially on a rhetorical strategy that br<strong>in</strong>gs gen-<br />
der <strong>in</strong>to relation with political <strong>and</strong> aesthetic issues, a strategy <strong>in</strong><br />
which fem<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>ity worlzs as a mark of impotence, disease, <strong>and</strong> frag-<br />
mentation attached to those mental attitudes that contradict <strong>Futurist</strong><br />
hubris. In fact, the glorification of the <strong>Futurist</strong> artistic power is shored<br />
up with a polemical discourse which is the ground for figures of sexual<br />
degeneration: impotence, castration, <strong>and</strong> effem<strong>in</strong>acy are frequently<br />
used as critical categories to dismiss peremptorily other artistic <strong>and</strong><br />
political tendencies. For example, Proustian <strong>in</strong>trospective writ<strong>in</strong>g<br />
("Psicologismo semi-futurista alla parig<strong>in</strong>a") is stigmatized as "fram-<br />
mentario, effem<strong>in</strong>ato, ambiguo" (TIF, 1731; pacifist sentiments are
contemptuously attacked as a form of "castration" of the race;' <strong>and</strong><br />
academic culture is deplored as "castration" of genius.8<br />
This k<strong>in</strong>d of rhetoric also recurs <strong>in</strong> the writ<strong>in</strong>gs of Mar<strong>in</strong>etti's fol-<br />
lowers. Mario Carli's "Arte vile e arte virile," <strong>in</strong> particular, is entirely<br />
constructed around the topos of sexual degeneration. Encamped <strong>in</strong> a<br />
fortress of "healthy virility" ("sana e rumorosa vitalita futurista"),<br />
the <strong>Futurist</strong> artist launches a virulent attack aga<strong>in</strong>st the pathological,<br />
effem<strong>in</strong>ate "other": ". . . l'artista immerso nella donnesca aristocra-<br />
zia del suo <strong>in</strong>gegno, sdegnoso di rimboccarsi le maniche per una par-<br />
tita di boxe, e preoccupato solo della delicata sottigliezza delle sue im-<br />
mag<strong>in</strong>i, fragili come ricami di nuvole." Accord<strong>in</strong>g to Carli's<br />
diagnosis, almost all of the non-<strong>Futurist</strong> artists are wretched or sex-<br />
ually degenerate: "Se non sono l<strong>in</strong>fatici, sono acidi; se non sono acidi,<br />
sono nevrotici; se non sono nevrotici, sono pedera~ti."~<br />
The obsessive preoccupation with gender dist<strong>in</strong>ction which lies<br />
beneath the <strong>Futurist</strong> fiction of virile power is most explicitly ex-<br />
pressed <strong>in</strong> Francesco Cangiullo's "La scoperta del sostantivo ana-<br />
tomic~o del sesso <strong>in</strong> esso," a text which foregrounds the relation of<br />
language to sexuality. Cangiullo's declared concern is "femm<strong>in</strong>iliz-<br />
zare la Donna e maschilizzare il Maschio." The fundamental argu-<br />
ment is that sexual perversion may result from l<strong>in</strong>guistic perversion,<br />
that is from the practice of nam<strong>in</strong>g parts of female anatomy with mas-<br />
cul<strong>in</strong>e nouns <strong>and</strong> vice versa:<br />
Insomma, si pub sapere che razza di giuoco buffo e codesto delle cose<br />
femm<strong>in</strong>ili che debbono avere sostantivi maschili e, diciamo, dei cosi<br />
maschili che debbono avere sostantivi femm<strong>in</strong>ili! [. . .] Gli uom<strong>in</strong>i di<br />
sensibilita normale-e saranno sempre piu-a furia di chiamare a1 maschile<br />
quelle parti del corpo umano femm<strong>in</strong>ile, possono suggestionarsi<br />
a1 punto da non sentire piu la donna. E viceversa per le donne dalla<br />
istessa sensibilita, le quali, cont<strong>in</strong>u<strong>and</strong>o a chiamare a1 femm<strong>in</strong>ile<br />
quelle parti del corpo umano maschile, un giorno non avvertiranno piu<br />
l'u~rno.~~ (Author's emphases)<br />
Cangiullo's solution is to straighten out the ambiguities of grammat-<br />
ical gender, to close the "arbitrary gap" between signifier <strong>and</strong> signi-<br />
fied, so as to exorcise sexual deviance. Although other l<strong>in</strong>guistic rules<br />
can <strong>and</strong> must be subverted <strong>in</strong> the name of artistic freedom, or rather,<br />
of the artist's power, grammatical gender is the object of reactionary,<br />
homophobic concerns, of an effort to restore the oldest conception of<br />
language-that of the <strong>in</strong>tr<strong>in</strong>sic relation between signifier <strong>and</strong> signi-<br />
fied.<br />
This is one of a number of strategies aimed at a sharply dichoto-<br />
mized, proscriptive def<strong>in</strong>ition of gender dist<strong>in</strong>ction. In particular,<br />
Mar<strong>in</strong>etti advocated the mascul<strong>in</strong>ization of social ethos through
war-a catalyst of viriliz<strong>in</strong>g male bonds-<strong>and</strong> through an educational<br />
system structured to protect boys from fem<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>e <strong>in</strong>fluence. One<br />
might observe that there is a slippery boundary between these ho-<br />
mosocial bonds <strong>and</strong> homoerotic desire.'' Indeed, one can identify a<br />
stra<strong>in</strong> of homoeroticism displaced onto the mach<strong>in</strong>e, the great fetish<br />
of <strong>Futurist</strong> mythology-an "other" which offers a reassur<strong>in</strong>g mirror<br />
image of the subject's desire for power. Furthermore, the homoerotic<br />
underside of violent misogyny-not so obvious <strong>in</strong> the manifestos-<br />
comes to the surface <strong>in</strong> Mafarka il futurista, a text which dramatizes<br />
the perviousness <strong>and</strong> uncerta<strong>in</strong>ty of the subject's borders <strong>and</strong> affec-<br />
tive valences.<br />
Ultimately, homophobia, gynophobia, <strong>and</strong> correlated homoeroti-<br />
cism are to be traced back to an <strong>in</strong>stability of the parameters, codes,<br />
<strong>and</strong> material conditions upon which an <strong>in</strong>dividual sense of identity<br />
<strong>and</strong> power is grounded. While the manifesto's hybrid nature <strong>in</strong>stan-<br />
tiates the disruption of codes <strong>in</strong> modern chaotic, fragmentary reality,<br />
the rhetoric <strong>and</strong> thematics of gender strive to establish more rigid gen-<br />
der codes which provide a foundation for the <strong>in</strong>tegrity of the subject<br />
<strong>and</strong> for an unwaver<strong>in</strong>g code of authority <strong>and</strong> subord<strong>in</strong>ation. In short,<br />
barriers between genres can be broken; gender barriers cannot.<br />
One might say that the polarization of gender functions as the bed-<br />
rock upon which other barricades are erected. Mar<strong>in</strong>etti's writ<strong>in</strong>g (es-<br />
pecially <strong>in</strong> manifestos <strong>and</strong> polemical texts) seems to be controlled by<br />
the necessity of produc<strong>in</strong>g a rigidly b<strong>in</strong>ary construction of reality.<br />
This tendency was apparent from the very beg<strong>in</strong>n<strong>in</strong>g of the <strong>Futurist</strong><br />
movement, especially with "Fondazione e <strong>Manifesto</strong> del Futurismo,"<br />
the first declaration of a war to be engaged on all fronts <strong>in</strong> order to<br />
break with the stifl<strong>in</strong>g past <strong>and</strong> br<strong>in</strong>g Italy to the forefront of modern<br />
progress. With a strik<strong>in</strong>g comb<strong>in</strong>ation of allegory, Dionysiac <strong>in</strong>toxi-<br />
cation, <strong>and</strong> brash oratory, Mar<strong>in</strong>etti railed aga<strong>in</strong>st the worship of tra-<br />
dition while celebrat<strong>in</strong>g an anti-sentimental, virile art, <strong>and</strong> the wor-<br />
ship of strength, heroism, <strong>and</strong> courage. The follow<strong>in</strong>g are examples<br />
of the peremptory divisions drawn by the manifesto:<br />
9. Noi vogliamo glorificare la guerra-sola igiene del mondo--il militarism~,<br />
il patriottismo, il gesto distruttore dei libertari, le belle idee<br />
per cui si muore e il disprezzo della donna.<br />
10.Noi vogliamo distruggere i musei, le biblioteche, le accademie d'o-<br />
gni specie, e combattere contro il moralismo, il femmlnismo e contro<br />
ogni vilta opportunistica o utilitaria. [TIF, 11I<br />
This b<strong>in</strong>ary structur<strong>in</strong>g of reality is bound up with the structur<strong>in</strong>g<br />
of a new religion. Particularly <strong>in</strong> "La nuova religione-morale della ve-<br />
locita," the act of sett<strong>in</strong>g up boundaries between the pure <strong>and</strong> the im-
pure clearly displays a religious value. The new cult of speed, <strong>in</strong> fact,<br />
is proposed as an alternative to a no-longer effective Christian moral-<br />
ity, which has lost "div<strong>in</strong>ity," that is, power to control man's <strong>in</strong>-<br />
st<strong>in</strong>cts <strong>and</strong> to further his progress:<br />
La morale cristiana difese la struttura fisiologica dell'uomo dagli eccessi<br />
della sensualita. Modero i suoi ist<strong>in</strong>ti e li equilibro. La morale futurist~<br />
difendera l'uomo dalla decomposizione determ<strong>in</strong>ata dalla lentezza,<br />
dal ricordo, dall'analisi, dal riposo e dall'abitud<strong>in</strong>e. L'energia<br />
umana centuplicata dalla velocita dom<strong>in</strong>era il Tempo e lo Spazio. (TIF,<br />
130; author's emphases!<br />
La velocita avendo per essenza la s<strong>in</strong>tesi <strong>in</strong>tuitiva di tutte le forze <strong>in</strong><br />
movimento, e naturalmente pura. La lentezza, avendo per essenza l'a-<br />
nalisi razionale di tutte le stanchezze <strong>in</strong> riposo, e naturalmente im-<br />
monda. Dopo la distruzione dell'antico bene e dell'antico male, noi<br />
creiamo un nuovo bene: la velocita, e un nuovo male: la lentezza. (TIF,<br />
132; author's emphasesl<br />
Julia Kristeva's psychoanalytical <strong>and</strong> anthropological studies on<br />
abjection offer a theoretical framework to expla<strong>in</strong> this rhetorical<br />
strategy <strong>and</strong>, more generally, the pervasive imagery of defilement,<br />
corruption, <strong>and</strong> decay <strong>in</strong> Mar<strong>in</strong>etti's texts. In particular, we will refer<br />
to Powers of Horror, where anti-semitism, rituals of defilement, pho-<br />
bias, <strong>and</strong> the subject's repudiation of fem<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>ity are traced back to the<br />
fundamental psychic process of the subject's accession to mean<strong>in</strong>g<br />
<strong>and</strong> identity. l2Accord<strong>in</strong>g to Kristeva, the primal process of separation<br />
from, <strong>and</strong> rejection of the maternal entity results <strong>in</strong> repugnance, or<br />
abjection-a corporeal symptom or sign, which serves to defend the<br />
subject's power of identification. The abjection of corporeal waste<br />
<strong>and</strong>, <strong>in</strong> general, of that which traverses the boundary of the self, goes<br />
along with that power as its "other."'"eferr<strong>in</strong>g to primitive societ-<br />
ies where defilement is synonymous with supreme danger or great<br />
evil, Kristeva po<strong>in</strong>ts out that the ritualization of defilement is accom-<br />
panied by a strong concern for separat<strong>in</strong>g the sexes: "[Women], appar-<br />
ently put <strong>in</strong> the position of passive objects, are none the less felt to<br />
be wily powers, 'baleful schemers' from whom rightful beneficiaries<br />
must protect themselves" (70). Defilement rituals <strong>and</strong> behavior pro-<br />
hibitions are supposed to ward off the danger, <strong>and</strong>, by sett<strong>in</strong>g up sep-<br />
arations, they lay the foundations for a social order. Such rituals <strong>and</strong><br />
the concomitant abjection of the fem<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>e are traced back to the lack<br />
of "a central authoritarian power" (70).<br />
These observations offer some <strong>in</strong>sights <strong>in</strong>to the note of sacrality<br />
which is often sounded <strong>in</strong> Mar<strong>in</strong>etti's texts <strong>and</strong> cast light on the work-<br />
<strong>in</strong>gs of his misogynist strategies as a response to the crisis of the cul-<br />
tural order. Such a response <strong>in</strong>volves mark<strong>in</strong>g off boundaries along
gender l<strong>in</strong>es between a virile self <strong>and</strong> a fem<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>e or fem<strong>in</strong>ized other-a<br />
structur<strong>in</strong>g of reality which sets up an enemy to be ostracized <strong>and</strong><br />
fought. We are thus led to another fundamental strategy of the<br />
manifesto-the second step of the <strong>Futurist</strong> project: the construction<br />
of the text as a site for violence, <strong>in</strong> which woman often figures as a<br />
target.<br />
Violence with its derivatives-strife, war, destruction-is a crucial<br />
thematic focus <strong>and</strong> a most exploited semantic field <strong>in</strong> Mar<strong>in</strong>etti's<br />
writ<strong>in</strong>g. War, <strong>in</strong> particular, is celebrated as a natural phenomenon-<br />
elan vital, "world's hygiene," a necessary regenerat<strong>in</strong>g, purify<strong>in</strong>gpro-<br />
cess, <strong>and</strong> is aestheticized as spectacle-an exhilarat<strong>in</strong>g expenditure<br />
of energies. In the representation of war, the spectacle of human suf-<br />
fer<strong>in</strong>g is upstaged by the beautiful performance of the mach<strong>in</strong>e: "No-<br />
tai [. . .] come la volata lucente e aggressiva di un cannone arroventato<br />
dal sole e dal fuoco accelerato renda quasi trascurabile lo spettacolo<br />
della carne umana straziata e morente" (TIF, l0l].l4Furthermore,<br />
pa<strong>in</strong> is replaced by orgasmic pleasure: <strong>in</strong> fact, war is repeatedly fan-<br />
tasized as violent defloration or forceful <strong>and</strong> fecund copulation. The<br />
follow<strong>in</strong>g, which appears at the end of "Uccidiamo il Chiaro di<br />
Luna!", is one of the most disturb<strong>in</strong>g erotic scenarios evoked by the<br />
theme of battle: "Ecco la furibonda copula della battaglia, vulva<br />
gigantesca irritata dalla foia del coraggio, vulva <strong>in</strong>forme che si<br />
squarcia per offrirsi meglio a1 terrific0 spasimo della vittoria immi-<br />
nente! E nostra la vittoria . . ." (TIF,221.<br />
But we have already seen that as the crucible for the mold<strong>in</strong>g of<br />
the omnipotent "uomo d'acciaio" war is generally pitched aga<strong>in</strong>st<br />
woman (TIF, 15).If war means man's liberation from woman's enfee-<br />
bl<strong>in</strong>g, enthrall<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>fluence <strong>and</strong> from the obsession with lust, how do<br />
we expla<strong>in</strong> the fact that the fem<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>e body is also conjured up to per-<br />
sonify war <strong>in</strong> scenes of sexual violence? One possible answer is that<br />
such imagery, by pair<strong>in</strong>g fight<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> sex, death <strong>and</strong> pleasure, con-<br />
structs a picture of war as desirable, thus perform<strong>in</strong>g a propag<strong>and</strong>istic<br />
function.'" A more <strong>in</strong>terest<strong>in</strong>g l<strong>in</strong>e of discussion is one that aims at<br />
identify<strong>in</strong>g the common ground upon which the equation woman-<br />
war is posited. The attribute "<strong>in</strong>forme" provides a clue to a less ob-<br />
vious l<strong>in</strong>k between the vehicle <strong>and</strong> the tenor of the metaphor, po<strong>in</strong>t-<br />
<strong>in</strong>g to an unarticulated vision of war as shapeless chaos: lack of form<br />
is the negative property shared by woman <strong>and</strong> battle.<br />
Three journal entries <strong>in</strong> Mar<strong>in</strong>etti's recently published Taccu<strong>in</strong>i<br />
lend support to this <strong>in</strong>terpretation. One passage def<strong>in</strong>es battle as a<br />
"bordello," a term which means brothel, <strong>and</strong> also mess, chaos: "Sen-<br />
sazioni di bordello. Zeppo e confuso. Rumore. Andirivieni. Tutto il<br />
non previsto. Tutto il disord<strong>in</strong>e e tutta la fretta. V<strong>in</strong>ce il disord<strong>in</strong>e piu<br />
energico che contiene un'aggressiva piu forte."'"his passage may
e read as a gloss to the accumulation of fragmentary, chaotic perceptions<br />
<strong>in</strong> Mar<strong>in</strong>etti's representations of battle."<br />
The products of the brothel-like chaos of war-rubble, refuse, excrement,<br />
decomposition-are explicitly l<strong>in</strong>ked with fem<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>ity <strong>in</strong><br />
another entry, <strong>in</strong> which Mar<strong>in</strong>etti records his impressions at the sight<br />
of his female dog, Gaby, <strong>and</strong> of a young girl search<strong>in</strong>g mounta<strong>in</strong>s of<br />
putrescent refuse <strong>and</strong> carrion: "Gaby e felice di dare l'assalto a quelle<br />
montagne di fetori. S'<strong>in</strong>contra lassh con una bamb<strong>in</strong>a goriziana che<br />
passa anche lei le giornate a frugare nel letame sterco fango e immondizie.<br />
Cosa cerca? Cio che le donne cercano nella vita, i detriti i frantumi"<br />
(61).The fem<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>e, often identified with passivity, pacifism,<br />
<strong>and</strong> romantic love, is here associated with war <strong>and</strong> its products <strong>in</strong> a<br />
relationship predicated by verbs that connote activity ("frugare,"<br />
"cercare") <strong>and</strong> aggression ("dare l'assalto"). The fragmented, decay<strong>in</strong>g<br />
matter l<strong>in</strong>ked with the fem<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>e may be viewed as the abject matter,<br />
to use Kristeva's term, that traverses the boundary of the self, both<br />
def<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g its marg<strong>in</strong>s <strong>and</strong> underm<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g its <strong>in</strong>tegrity.<br />
Woman appears as the bearer of the sign of castration <strong>in</strong> another<br />
emblematic moment of the Taccu<strong>in</strong>i, <strong>in</strong> which Mar<strong>in</strong>etti recounts<br />
the episode of a young girl expos<strong>in</strong>g her genitals at the beach: her "piccola<br />
vulva" is described as a "semiaperta ferita perpendicolare dalle<br />
labbra cicatrizzate" (272).From a psychoanalytical perspective, one<br />
may argue that woman, as the image of formlessness, or "lack," is<br />
cathected by existential anxieties which are susta<strong>in</strong>ed by castration<br />
anxieties. In other words, the fem<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>e threat st<strong>and</strong>s for the disempowerment<br />
of modern man <strong>in</strong> a rapidly chang<strong>in</strong>g world which baffles<br />
exist<strong>in</strong>g ethical <strong>and</strong> epistemological codes. In order to exorcize this<br />
threat <strong>and</strong> flesh out the <strong>Futurist</strong> fiction of male power, the manifesto<br />
repeatedly displays the fem<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>e body <strong>in</strong> a violent act of sexual/verbal<br />
subjugation.<br />
Return<strong>in</strong>g to the erotic metaphor of battle, we can assert that sexual<br />
violence provides a model for a wished-for relationship between<br />
the subject <strong>and</strong> his world: the subjugation of a "shapeless" (fem<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>e)<br />
object by a powerful (male) subject. These considerations can also be<br />
extended to the manifesto's aesthetic of violent rupture. Mar<strong>in</strong>etti's<br />
texts are a locus of aggression <strong>and</strong> violence, not merely on the thematic,<br />
but also on the syntactic level: his poetics of distruzione della<br />
s<strong>in</strong>tassi, paroliberismo, immag<strong>in</strong>azione senza fili, aeropoesia attack<br />
l<strong>in</strong>guistic conventions to produce syntactic violence. The ultimate<br />
target is the old "I" of traditional literature, "sottoposto a una logica<br />
e a una saggezza spaventose" (TIF, 50): "Noi distruggiamo sistematicamente<br />
1'10 letterario perche si sparpagli nella vibrazione universale,<br />
e giungiamo ad esprimere l'<strong>in</strong>f<strong>in</strong>itamente piccolo e le agitazioni<br />
molecolari" (TIF, 100).
The epistemological implications of this revolutionary stance are<br />
less iconoclastic than it might at first appear. In fact, the scatter<strong>in</strong>g<br />
("sparpagliamento") of the self <strong>in</strong> the universe (brought about by the<br />
fast pace of modern life) is presented as a means to a more powerful<br />
unity freed from the limits of human nature: "Vittoria del nostro io<br />
sui perfidi complotti del nostro Peso, che vuole assass<strong>in</strong>are a tradimento<br />
la nostra velocita trasc<strong>in</strong><strong>and</strong>ola <strong>in</strong> un buco d'immobilita. Velocita<br />
= sparpagliamento + condensazione delllIo. Tutto lo spazio<br />
percorso da un corpo si condensa <strong>in</strong> questo stesso corpo" (TIF, 136-<br />
137; author's emphases). Destroy<strong>in</strong>g the "I" of passeist literature, the<br />
<strong>Futurist</strong> subject disperses himself to penetrate the molecular life of<br />
matter, <strong>and</strong>, with aeropoesia, rises as a super "I" propelled by mechanical<br />
w<strong>in</strong>gs to control immense spaces <strong>in</strong> the totaliz<strong>in</strong>g, both detached<br />
<strong>and</strong> dom<strong>in</strong>at<strong>in</strong>g perspective allowed by the airplane.18<br />
Just as the self is not actually dispersed <strong>in</strong> the <strong>Futurist</strong> imag<strong>in</strong>ary<br />
universe, the subject is not lostlfragmented <strong>in</strong> the cha<strong>in</strong> <strong>and</strong> texture<br />
of Mar<strong>in</strong>etti's signifiers. Even at its most experimental, Mar<strong>in</strong>etti's<br />
writ<strong>in</strong>g displays some mechanisms of ~uture,'~ which beget the subject's<br />
unity <strong>and</strong> ability to produce mean<strong>in</strong>g: glosses that explicate the<br />
mean<strong>in</strong>g of obscure aspects of the text; mathematical signs that arrange<br />
the elements of discourse accord<strong>in</strong>g to a precise logical<br />
systemj20 <strong>and</strong> parenthetic<strong>in</strong>dications of tempo that direct the read<strong>in</strong>g<br />
pace. Like the subject of idealist cognition theory, the <strong>Futurist</strong> subject<br />
is hypostatized as a self-assured center of perception <strong>and</strong> representation.<br />
This self-present, "condensed" subject regards poetic language<br />
as an <strong>in</strong>strument of <strong>in</strong>tuition (<strong>in</strong> Mar<strong>in</strong>etti's words, "il prolungamento<br />
lirico e trasfigurato del nostro magnetism0 animale" [TIF,<br />
104]), which must be freed from the h<strong>in</strong>drance of syntax as an <strong>in</strong>strument<br />
of logic <strong>and</strong> used to conquer reality: "Metteremo <strong>in</strong> mot0 le parole<br />
<strong>in</strong> liberta che rompono i limiti della letteratura marci<strong>and</strong>o verso<br />
la pittura, la musica, l'arte dei rumori e gett<strong>and</strong>o un meraviglioso<br />
ponte tra la parola e l'oggetto reale" (TIF, 141).<br />
As this passage clearly <strong>in</strong>dicates, the <strong>Futurist</strong> attack on l<strong>in</strong>guistic<br />
conventions, its destruction of the symbolic, is actually governed by<br />
a mimetic desire to master the life of matter, "to penetrate it <strong>and</strong><br />
know its vibrations" (TIF, 1051. Even the typographic revolution is<br />
fundamentally a mimetic device <strong>and</strong> a means to ga<strong>in</strong> absolute control<br />
over the <strong>in</strong>terpretation of the text.21 While the rapidly chang<strong>in</strong>g reality<br />
of the modern <strong>in</strong>dustrialized world subverts the traditional way<br />
of life <strong>and</strong> the old parameters of <strong>in</strong>terpretation, the <strong>Futurist</strong> project<br />
is to destroy <strong>in</strong> order to resymbolize, to re-affirm mastery over that<br />
which threatens to move beyond the control of language.<br />
Ultimately, no true ideological conflict exists between the misogynist<br />
rhetoric of gender <strong>and</strong> the gestures of formal disruption: <strong>in</strong> both
cases, the fundamental ideological drive is not to subvert the phall-<br />
ogocentrism of the old symbolic order, but to produce a reassur<strong>in</strong>g<br />
representation of self, founded on exclusive opposition <strong>and</strong> on the de-<br />
valuation of otherness. The declared destruction of the literary "I"<br />
does not <strong>in</strong>volve the deconstruction of the unitary subject, but its<br />
"multiplication," its transformation <strong>in</strong>to a new all-powerful one. Ac-<br />
cord<strong>in</strong>gly, modern reality <strong>in</strong> the <strong>Futurist</strong> manifesto is not, as <strong>in</strong> other<br />
texts, a problematic world of contradictions to explore; it is, <strong>in</strong>stead,<br />
a source of new myths to celebrate-a world to colonize <strong>and</strong> subjugate<br />
<strong>in</strong> a self-assertive, self-aggr<strong>and</strong>iz<strong>in</strong>g enterprise.<br />
Just as Mar<strong>in</strong>etti's syntactic destruction is coextensive with a re-<br />
constructive effort, so the theme of destructive violence is <strong>in</strong>extrica-<br />
bly bound up with the construction of new myths predicated on the<br />
terra<strong>in</strong> of modernity-the third step of the <strong>Futurist</strong> project: the utopia<br />
of the multiplied, metallicized man, who will be immunized aga<strong>in</strong>st<br />
the disease of love; the celebration of technological progress-life <strong>in</strong><br />
the <strong>in</strong>dustrial city, the "electric" war; <strong>and</strong> the exaltation of the all-<br />
powerful, but controllable mach<strong>in</strong>e, which replaces woman as the<br />
ideal of beauty <strong>and</strong> as the object of man's narcissistic love.<br />
By focus<strong>in</strong>g on the rhetorical function of gender <strong>and</strong> on the recur-<br />
rent use of erotic imagery, it is possible to <strong>in</strong>vestigate the complicity<br />
between the apparently contradictory themes of warldestruction <strong>and</strong><br />
progresslcreation. Mar<strong>in</strong>etti's most paradigmatic <strong>and</strong> illum<strong>in</strong>at<strong>in</strong>g<br />
articulation of the idea of (male) creativity was not given <strong>in</strong> a man-<br />
ifesto, but <strong>in</strong> the "explosive novel" 8 Anime <strong>in</strong> una bomba (1919),<br />
where the central idea of phallic power is expressed <strong>in</strong> a series of for-<br />
mulas or multiplied analogies:<br />
Formule<br />
MEMBRO VIRILE = sverg<strong>in</strong>are - vulva - fecondazione - baci sangue,<br />
ecc.<br />
STANTUFFO = <strong>and</strong>are venire - caldaia - <strong>in</strong>dustria - vapore, ecc.<br />
PRUA = navigare - mare vento - commercio - schiuma, ecc.<br />
ARATRO = aprire - terra - agricoltura - l<strong>in</strong>fa, ecc.<br />
SHRAPNEL = spaccare - corpo nemico - guerra - lagrime sangue,<br />
ecc.<br />
VOCE PENNA SCALPELLO = creare spirito - arte - he, ecc.<br />
BISTURI = anatomizzare - corpo amico - chirurgia - pus - salute o<br />
morte, ecc. ITIF, 8381<br />
The first analogical cha<strong>in</strong> refers to the action of fecundat<strong>in</strong>g deflora-<br />
tion. The phallic power thus evoked is then both projected on <strong>and</strong><br />
multiplied by the subsequent cha<strong>in</strong>s (<strong>in</strong> themselves marked by patent<br />
sexual connotations), so that it is set up as the paradigm or the orig<strong>in</strong><br />
of all the other manifestations of power: <strong>in</strong>dustrial production, eco-
nomic expansion <strong>and</strong> trade, agricultural productivity, artistic creativ-<br />
ity, power of giv<strong>in</strong>g life <strong>and</strong> power of giv<strong>in</strong>g death. Conversely, the<br />
multiplied analogy reverberates its violent mascul<strong>in</strong>e connotations<br />
on the procreative act. The reproductive power is thus appropriated,<br />
made male, <strong>and</strong> ultimately turned <strong>in</strong>to its opposite: a power of de-<br />
struction.<br />
The perpetrator of this violence can only be a "mechanized" man<br />
who, hav<strong>in</strong>g jettisoned sentiments <strong>and</strong> lust for woman, is engaged <strong>in</strong><br />
a genital sexuality which aims solely at mechanical relief or reproduc-<br />
tion:<br />
L'immenso amore romantic0 e ridotto cosi unicamente alla conserva-<br />
zione della specie, e l'attrito delle epidermidi e f<strong>in</strong>almente liberato da<br />
ogni mistero stuzzicante, da ogni pepe appetitoso e da ogni vanita don-<br />
giovannesca: semplice funzione corporale, come il bere e il mangiare.<br />
L' uomo moltiplicato che noi sogniamo, non conoscera la tragedia<br />
della vecchiaia! [TIF, 301)<br />
The genesis of the multiplied man <strong>in</strong>volves the <strong>in</strong>trojection of the<br />
empower<strong>in</strong>g qualities of the mach<strong>in</strong>e-energy, precision, discipl<strong>in</strong>e<br />
-<strong>and</strong> the expulsion (projection on to the other) of weaken<strong>in</strong>g human<br />
qualities-sensibility, sensualism, scepticism, pessimism. This logic<br />
of exclusion culm<strong>in</strong>ates <strong>in</strong> the concept of the all-male creation: Mari-<br />
netti's manifesto-preface to the novel Mafarka il futurista predicates<br />
the birth of this <strong>Futurist</strong> superuomo upon the exclusion of woman<br />
from the (prolcreative act. Hav<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>cited his "<strong>Futurist</strong> brothers" to<br />
free themselves from the condition of "figli e schiavi miserevoli della<br />
vulva" (TIF, 2551, the poet makes the follow<strong>in</strong>g prophecy:<br />
In nome delllOrgoglio umano che adoriamo, io vi annuncio prossima<br />
l'ora <strong>in</strong> cui gli uom<strong>in</strong>i dalle tempie larghe e dal mento d'acciaio figlie-<br />
ranno prodigiosamente solo con uno sforzo della loro volonta esorbi-<br />
tata, dei giganti dai gesti <strong>in</strong>fallibili . . . Io vi annuncio che lo spirito del-<br />
l'uomo e un'ovaia <strong>in</strong>esercitata . . . E noi lo fecondiamo per la prima<br />
volta! [TIF, 255)<br />
Thus, the <strong>Futurist</strong> discourse of destruction <strong>and</strong> creation foregrounds<br />
gender only to exclude woman as subject <strong>in</strong> the act of male (prolcre-<br />
ation: the expenditure of the female pr<strong>in</strong>ciple serves the goal of mas-<br />
cul<strong>in</strong>ization of creative economy, <strong>and</strong> the erotic imagery conveys the<br />
sense of excitement <strong>and</strong> pleasure projected <strong>in</strong> these fantasies of male<br />
progress <strong>and</strong> mastery over nature.<br />
It is important to keep <strong>in</strong> m<strong>in</strong>d that Mar<strong>in</strong>etti's metaphor of sexual<br />
violence is the radical version of a very old phallic fantasy: to expose<br />
or unveil <strong>and</strong> penetrate the secrets of nature. In her work on gender<br />
<strong>and</strong> science, Evelyn Fox Keller has shown how the genderization of
knowledge (or science) as mascul<strong>in</strong>e <strong>and</strong> of nature as fem<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>e is a<br />
historically pervasive figure <strong>in</strong> Western She has focused<br />
<strong>in</strong> particular on Bacon's metaphor of knowledge as "chaste <strong>and</strong> lawful<br />
marriage" (36)between m<strong>in</strong>d <strong>and</strong> nature, which she sees as a prescient<br />
vision of rational, "objective" thought <strong>in</strong> modern science ("a metaphor<br />
for power <strong>and</strong> dom<strong>in</strong>ation, designed to safeguard the <strong>in</strong>tegrity<br />
of the knower," 95). This vision of "a conjunction that rema<strong>in</strong>s forever<br />
disjunctive" [95), Keller argues, exposes the dual constitutive<br />
motives underwrit<strong>in</strong>g the ambition to "objectivity": power <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>tegrity<br />
of the subject. Pursu<strong>in</strong>g the question of the emotional substructure<br />
from which the claim to objectivity grows, Keller explores the<br />
l<strong>in</strong>kage among the conceptions of autonomy, mascul<strong>in</strong>ity, objectivity,<br />
<strong>and</strong> power which emerge from the child's develop<strong>in</strong>g sense of self,<br />
gender, <strong>and</strong> reality. She thus identifies "patterns of male <strong>and</strong> female<br />
socialization that reproduce a sexualization of aggression, power, <strong>and</strong><br />
dom<strong>in</strong>ation," lend<strong>in</strong>g force to the association of love with female<br />
"impotence1' <strong>and</strong> of autonomy with male "power," aggression <strong>and</strong><br />
separation from the "otheru-maternal love first, then human others<br />
<strong>and</strong> nature (1 14). In a footnote, the connection between these psychosocial<br />
premises <strong>and</strong> sexual violence is spelled out:<br />
There is little question that the denial of <strong>in</strong>terconnectedness between<br />
subject <strong>and</strong> object serves to nullify certa<strong>in</strong> k<strong>in</strong>ds of moral constra<strong>in</strong>t;<br />
it allows for k<strong>in</strong>ds of violation (even rape) of the other that would be<br />
precluded by a respect for the relation between subject <strong>and</strong> object. At<br />
the same time, however, it ought logically also serve as a protection<br />
aga<strong>in</strong>st forms of violence provoked by a relation between subject <strong>and</strong><br />
object that is experienced as threaten<strong>in</strong>g to the subject. (96; author's<br />
emphasis)<br />
This sociological explanation <strong>in</strong>directly squares with Kristeva's psy-<br />
choanalytical perspective. When promiscuity (chaos) explodes, de-<br />
stroy<strong>in</strong>g or threaten<strong>in</strong>g the "chaste <strong>and</strong> lawful marriage" between<br />
subject <strong>and</strong> object, i.e., the subject's <strong>in</strong>tegrity <strong>and</strong> control, violence<br />
also explodes-that very violence which marks the distance between<br />
the Baconian metaphor <strong>and</strong> Mar<strong>in</strong>etti's metaphor of violation <strong>and</strong><br />
rape. The latter entails, <strong>in</strong> fact, a display of power which hides a prob-<br />
lematic relationship with the other, a sense of crisis that exacerbates<br />
the need for control <strong>and</strong> the desire for dom<strong>in</strong>ation.<br />
Along this l<strong>in</strong>e of analysis we can pursue further the question of<br />
the ideological underp<strong>in</strong>n<strong>in</strong>gs of the manifesto's aesthetic <strong>and</strong> epis-<br />
temological model. The <strong>Futurist</strong> revolution is predicated upon the de-<br />
struction of the old symbolic order by an explosion of rejuvenat<strong>in</strong>g<br />
irrational forces. But the irrational is perceived as hid<strong>in</strong>g fem<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>e-<br />
connoted threats to identity, which the <strong>Futurist</strong> fiction of power tries<br />
to ward off.
The clash between the fiction of power <strong>and</strong> the specter of<br />
fem<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>ity/fem<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>ization is dramatized <strong>in</strong> "Uccidiamo il Chiaro di<br />
Luna!": this second manifesto of the war aga<strong>in</strong>st passeism, written<br />
<strong>in</strong> the form of an allegorical tale, proclaims the unleash<strong>in</strong>g of a pure,<br />
violent destructive/creative energy ["gr<strong>and</strong>i poeti <strong>in</strong>cendiari," TIF,<br />
14)aga<strong>in</strong>st tradition (the "moribund populace" of the cities of Paral-<br />
ysis <strong>and</strong> Gout). The goal of the <strong>Futurist</strong> poets is to revitalize with<br />
young blood the world which is "rotten with wisdom" [TIF, 16). To<br />
accomplish the great <strong>Futurist</strong> project [symbolized by the construction<br />
of a military railroad to the flanks of the summit of the world), the<br />
poets ally themselves with the forces of the irrational: the madmen<br />
("quei Puri, lavati gia di ogni sozzura di logica," TIF, 19), uncha<strong>in</strong>ed<br />
wild beasts, <strong>and</strong> the unrestra<strong>in</strong>ed might of the ocean. Significantly,<br />
the climactic moments of the narration are staged <strong>in</strong> Asia: the Futur-<br />
ists, after hav<strong>in</strong>g launched a first attack aga<strong>in</strong>st the decrepit European<br />
world, enter <strong>in</strong>to the cradle of civilization as if return<strong>in</strong>g to the moth-<br />
er's ~omb.~"ere they will f<strong>in</strong>ally build the emblems of their new<br />
religion, means to the ultimate victory: the <strong>Futurist</strong> railroad <strong>and</strong> the<br />
airplane. But before this can take place, an <strong>in</strong>sidious, patently fem-<br />
<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>e threat hidden <strong>in</strong> the primitive scenario must be exorcised:<br />
Ad un tratto, un grido altissimo lacero l'aria; un rumore si propago, tutti<br />
accorsero . . . Era un pazzo giovanissimo, dagli occhi di verg<strong>in</strong>e, rimasto<br />
fulm<strong>in</strong>ato sul B<strong>in</strong>ario. I1 suo cadavere fu subito sollevato. Egli teneva<br />
fra le mani un fiore bianco e desioso, il cui pistillo s'agitava come una<br />
l<strong>in</strong>gua di donna. Alcuni vollero toccarlo, e fu male, poiche rapidamente,<br />
con la facilita di un'aurora che si propaga sul mare, una verdura s<strong>in</strong>-<br />
ghiozzante sorse per prodigio dalla terra <strong>in</strong>crespata di onde <strong>in</strong>attese. Dal<br />
fluttuare azzurro delle praterie, emergevano vaporose chiome d'<strong>in</strong>nu-<br />
merevoli nuotatrici, che schiudevano sospir<strong>and</strong>o i petali delle lor0 boc-<br />
che e dei lor0 occhi umidi. Allora, nell'<strong>in</strong>ebbriante diluvio dei profumi,<br />
vedemmo crescere distesamente <strong>in</strong>torno a noi una favolosa foresta, i<br />
cui fogliami arcuati sembravano spossati da una brezza troppo lenta.<br />
[. . .] Ma, mentre ci accanivamo, tutti, a liberar le nostre gambe e le no-<br />
stre braccia dalle ultime liane affettuose, sentimmo a un tratto la Luna<br />
carnale, la Luna dalle belle coscie calde, abb<strong>and</strong>onarsi languidamente<br />
sulle nostre schiene affrante. (TIF, 21-22)<br />
Electric light is created to kill the seductive moonlight ["l'antica<br />
reg<strong>in</strong>a verde degli amori," TIF, 22),that is, to ward off the phantoms<br />
of the irrational lurk<strong>in</strong>g from the depths of the entic<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> terrify<strong>in</strong>g<br />
forest, so that the military Railroad can be built <strong>and</strong> a decisive attack<br />
can be launched aga<strong>in</strong>st the forces that resist progress. This resolution<br />
clearly dramatizes the mean<strong>in</strong>g of the <strong>Futurist</strong> mixture of primitive<br />
<strong>and</strong> technological imagery: the unleashed irrational-a force which<br />
can revitalize a decay<strong>in</strong>g world-must be channeled <strong>in</strong>to new protec-
tive <strong>and</strong> empower<strong>in</strong>g structures-Railroad, airplane, electricity-to<br />
exorcise the threats <strong>in</strong>herent to it. In the description of the battle, l<strong>in</strong>-<br />
guistic echoes po<strong>in</strong>t to a relationship between the fantasies aroused<br />
by the moonlit scenario <strong>and</strong> the passions driv<strong>in</strong>g the <strong>Futurist</strong> avia-<br />
tors: the airplanes, <strong>in</strong> fact, are imaged as "deliziose amanti che nuo-<br />
tan0 [. . .] sull'ondeggiare dei fogliami" (TIF, 251, which br<strong>in</strong>gs back<br />
to m<strong>in</strong>d the seductive swimmers emerg<strong>in</strong>g "dal fluttuare azzurro<br />
delle praterie." But <strong>in</strong> the war scene, potentially self-destructive<br />
drives are turned <strong>in</strong>to an attack aga<strong>in</strong>st the enemy, "l'eterno nemico<br />
che si dovrebbe <strong>in</strong>ventare se non esistesse" (TIF, 16).<br />
The mach<strong>in</strong>e provides the model for the new "estetica volitiva<br />
della macch<strong>in</strong>a" (TIF, 1911, that aesthetic of "splendore geometric0<br />
e meccanico" <strong>and</strong> "sensibilita numerica" which Mart<strong>in</strong>etti articu-<br />
latd <strong>in</strong> a 1914 manifesto.24 Far from be<strong>in</strong>g reducible to a naive enthu-<br />
siasm for the marvels of modern technology, this aesthetic of the ma-<br />
ch<strong>in</strong>e betrays a deep need for a new model of order, power, <strong>and</strong><br />
control: the search for a new all-male symbolic structure to restra<strong>in</strong><br />
the outbreak of the fem<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>e-connoted irrational. The technological<br />
wonderworks proposed as new aesthetic models are represented as<br />
embody<strong>in</strong>g tremendous energy <strong>and</strong> superhuman precision, <strong>and</strong> the<br />
mechanical aesthetic denaturalizes man <strong>and</strong> reality, sublimat<strong>in</strong>g the<br />
limits of the organic. The <strong>Futurist</strong> text would be a token of triumph<br />
over these limits, <strong>in</strong> reaction aga<strong>in</strong>st a culture which is perceived as<br />
be<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>fected by decadence <strong>and</strong> which is constantly associated with<br />
images of biological decay.<br />
Mar<strong>in</strong>etti's manifestos on the <strong>Futurist</strong> syntactic revolution loudly<br />
proclaim a will to clear the l<strong>in</strong>guistic ground by destroy<strong>in</strong>g the bar-<br />
riers of traditional syntax <strong>and</strong> the old, <strong>in</strong>trospective literary "I," <strong>in</strong><br />
order to open an <strong>in</strong>f<strong>in</strong>ite space for the "multiplied" <strong>in</strong>dividual-a man<br />
above the limits of nature (time, space, emotions, <strong>and</strong> desires), able<br />
to meet the challenges of modern reality. Woman is consistently co-<br />
opted to construct this fiction of power <strong>and</strong> consistently erasedas sub-<br />
ject. Ultimately, however, the representation of the fem<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>e also<br />
produces mean<strong>in</strong>gs <strong>in</strong> excess of that power, expos<strong>in</strong>g the anxieties<br />
that underwrite it. In fact, virulent misogyny, homophobia, <strong>and</strong> the<br />
eroticization of violence add up to a paranoid self-def<strong>in</strong>ition, po<strong>in</strong>t<strong>in</strong>g<br />
to the psychoanalytical tale hidden <strong>in</strong> the folds of the ideological fic-<br />
tion of power: the unexpressed anxieties about the boundaries of iden-<br />
tity which recurrently cathect the blurr<strong>in</strong>g of gender difference.
NOTES<br />
'Marjorie Perloff, The<strong>Futurist</strong> Moment: Avant-Garde, Avant-Guerre, <strong>and</strong> the Language<br />
of Rupture [Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1986) 85.<br />
'It should be noted that Mar<strong>in</strong>etti-the founder, leader, promoter, <strong>and</strong> manager of<br />
the movement-is also to be credited with creat<strong>in</strong>g the new genre. In fact, he either<br />
wrote or presided over the writ<strong>in</strong>g of most of the manifestos.<br />
3Futurism was above all a new formula of Arte-azione <strong>in</strong>tended to bridge the gap<br />
between art <strong>and</strong> life: <strong>in</strong> Mar<strong>in</strong>etti's own words, "una legge d'igiene mentale," "una giovane<br />
b<strong>and</strong>iera r<strong>in</strong>novatrice, antitradizionale, ottimistica, eroica e d<strong>in</strong>amica, che si<br />
doveva <strong>in</strong>alberare sulle rov<strong>in</strong>e del passatismo /stat0 d'animo statico, tradizionale, professorale,<br />
pessimistico, passatista, nostalgico, decorativo ed esteta." See F. T. Mar<strong>in</strong>etti,<br />
Guerra sola igiene del mondo, Teoria e <strong>in</strong>venzione futurista: Manifesti. Scritti<br />
politici. Romanzi. Parole <strong>in</strong> liberta [hereafter TIF), ed. Luciano De Maria (1968; Milano:<br />
Mondadori, 1983) 235. Subsequent references to TIF appear <strong>in</strong> the text.<br />
4See, for <strong>in</strong>stance, "I1 Teatro di Varieta," TIF, 89-91.<br />
'Marianne Mart<strong>in</strong>'s <strong>Futurist</strong> Art <strong>and</strong> Theory: 1909-1 91 5 [Oxford: Clarendon, 19681<br />
may be cited as an example of the tendency to avoid ideological issues.<br />
"uciano Caruso <strong>and</strong> Stelio M. Mart<strong>in</strong>i's "La fuga <strong>in</strong> avanti del futurismo" (Tavole<br />
parolibere futuriste, eds. Caruso <strong>and</strong> Mart<strong>in</strong>i, 2 vols. [Napoli: Liguori, 19741 1: 1-7)<br />
exemplifies such a mystify<strong>in</strong>g approach to these issues: the <strong>Futurist</strong> l<strong>in</strong>guistic revolution<br />
(the "liberation" of language from the referential/communicative function] is<br />
elevated to "passo ulteriore sulla strada della liberazione della realta" 14).<br />
'See F. T. Mar<strong>in</strong>etti, "Trieste, la nostra bellapolveriera," TIF, 290: "Invocare la pace<br />
dei popoli, non significa essere avveniristi, ma semplicemente castrare le razze e fare<br />
una coltura <strong>in</strong>tensiva della vilta."<br />
'See F. T. Mar<strong>in</strong>etti, "Contro i professori," TIF, 308: "Qu<strong>and</strong>o, qu<strong>and</strong>o si f<strong>in</strong>ira di<br />
castrare gli spiriti che devono creare l'avvenire? Qu<strong>and</strong>o si f<strong>in</strong>irl d'<strong>in</strong>segnare l'abbrutente<br />
adorazione di un passato <strong>in</strong>superabile, ai ragazzi che si vogliono ridurre ad<br />
altrettanti piccoli cortigiani sgobboni?"<br />
'~ario Carli, "Arte vile e arte virile," Manifesti, proclami, <strong>in</strong>terventi e documenti<br />
teorici de1 futurismo, ed. Luciano Caruso, 4 vols. (Firenze: Coedizioni Spes-Salimbeni,<br />
1980) 2: 131.<br />
"Caruso 2: 180.<br />
"See Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, Between Men [New York: Columbia U P, 1985).<br />
'*Julia Kristeva, Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection, trans. Leon Roudiez<br />
(New York: Columbia U P, 1982). Subsequent page references will appear <strong>in</strong> parentheses<br />
follow<strong>in</strong>g the passages cited.<br />
13Corporeal waste refers to bodily fluids such as "menstrual blood <strong>and</strong> excrement,<br />
or everyth<strong>in</strong>g that is assimilated to them, from nail-par<strong>in</strong>gs to decay" (70). Kristeva<br />
po<strong>in</strong>ts out that corporeal waste "represents-like a metaphor that would have become<br />
<strong>in</strong>carnate-the objective frailty of the symbolic order" (70).<br />
14Walter Benjam<strong>in</strong>, <strong>in</strong> an often quoted passage, qualifies Mar<strong>in</strong>etti's aestheticization<br />
of war as a paradigmatic example of an alienatedlalienat<strong>in</strong>g aesthetic sensibility,<br />
which is <strong>in</strong>strumental to the economic structure of imperialistic capitalism. See his<br />
"The Work of Art <strong>in</strong> the Age of Mechanical Reproduction," Illum<strong>in</strong>ations, trans. Harry<br />
Zohn [New York: Schocken Books, 1969) 241.<br />
'"De Maria, <strong>in</strong> his <strong>in</strong>troduction to TIF, po<strong>in</strong>ts out the fundamental role played by<br />
war <strong>in</strong> <strong>Futurist</strong> ideology, <strong>and</strong>notes the<strong>in</strong>terweav<strong>in</strong>g of war <strong>and</strong> eros <strong>in</strong> Mar<strong>in</strong>etti's writ<strong>in</strong>g.<br />
However, he does not explore the latter issue <strong>in</strong> depth, <strong>and</strong> refers, <strong>in</strong>stead, to Mar<strong>in</strong>etti's<br />
own statement on the defensive function of eros [or, rather fecundation) <strong>in</strong> war<br />
time: "Del resto lo stesso Mar<strong>in</strong>etti chiari il nesso tra erotismo e polemologia futurista:
'Noi futuristi, barbari raff<strong>in</strong>atissimi, ma virilissimi [. . .] parliamo <strong>in</strong> nome della razza<br />
che esige maschi accesi e donne fecondate. La fecondita, per una razza come la nostra,<br />
6,<strong>in</strong> caso di guerra, la sua difesa <strong>in</strong>dispensabile' " (TIF, XLVI-XLVIII. Mar<strong>in</strong>etti's eroticization<br />
of war has been emphasized, <strong>in</strong> particular, by Alice Kaplan, who views it as<br />
an <strong>in</strong>stance of the aff<strong>in</strong>ities between <strong>Futurist</strong> <strong>and</strong> fascist propag<strong>and</strong>a. See her "Futurism<br />
<strong>and</strong> Fascism: Reflections on the 70th Anniversary of the Trial of Mafarka the <strong>Futurist</strong>,"<br />
Yale Italian Studies 1.3 (1981): 18.<br />
16F. T. Mar<strong>in</strong>etti, Taccu<strong>in</strong>i 1915/1921 [Bologna: I1 Mul<strong>in</strong>o, 1987) 242. Subsequent<br />
page references will be given <strong>in</strong> parentheses after the passages cited.<br />
"See, for <strong>in</strong>stance, the section "Bombardamento," <strong>in</strong> Zang Tum b Tumb (TIF, 775-<br />
778). In these parole <strong>in</strong> liberta, the chaos of battle is figured as a cacophonic theatrical<br />
performance <strong>and</strong> the triumphal march of the <strong>Futurist</strong> bombardment as a dom<strong>in</strong>ant leitmotif.<br />
18Cf. Kaplan, "Futurism <strong>and</strong> Fascism" 47; Reproductions of Banality: Fascism, Literature,<br />
<strong>and</strong> French Intellectual Life (M<strong>in</strong>neapolis: U of M<strong>in</strong>nesota P, 1986) 86. Kaplan's<br />
work is the s<strong>in</strong>gle most important <strong>in</strong>fluence on my essay. I object, however, to<br />
her read<strong>in</strong>g of Mar<strong>in</strong>etti as "the 'clean' fascist modernis[tIu (Reproductions 108), <strong>and</strong><br />
to her qualification of Futurism as "a fascist lobby" (Reproductions 75). I f<strong>in</strong>d the relationship<br />
between textual phenomena <strong>and</strong> dom<strong>in</strong>ant ideology more problematic, <strong>in</strong>direct,<br />
<strong>and</strong> diffuse.<br />
19~or a discussion of the Lacanian concept of suture, its function <strong>in</strong> the development<br />
of a logic of the signifier <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong> c<strong>in</strong>ematic discourse, see Stephen Heath, "Notes on<br />
Suture," Screen 18 (1977-1978): 48-76.<br />
20L~igi Peirone (Lo strumento espressivo di Mar<strong>in</strong>etti [Genova: Tilgher, 19761 27-<br />
28) notes that this mathematical logic is more rigid than the syntactical one.<br />
"See Peirone 22-25, <strong>and</strong> leffrey Schnapp, "Politics <strong>and</strong> Poetics <strong>in</strong> Mar<strong>in</strong>etti's Zang<br />
Tumb Tuuum," Stanford Italian Review 5.2 (1985): 75-92.<br />
22Evelyn Fox Keller, Reflections on <strong>Gender</strong> <strong>and</strong> Science (New Haven <strong>and</strong> London:<br />
Yale U P, 1985). Page references to this text will appear <strong>in</strong> parentheses follow<strong>in</strong>g the<br />
passages cited.<br />
23See the follow<strong>in</strong>g passage, a moment of the <strong>Futurist</strong>s' journey to Asia: "Enrico<br />
Cavacchioli sonnecchiava e sognava ad alta voce: '10 sento r<strong>in</strong>glovanire il mio corpo<br />
ventenne! . . .lo ritorno, d'un passo sempre piu <strong>in</strong>fantile, verso la mia culla . . . Presto,<br />
rientrero nel ventre di mia madre! . . . Tutto, dunque, mi e lecito! . . . Voglio preziosi<br />
g<strong>in</strong>gilli da rompere. . . Citta da schiacciare, formicai umani da sconvolgere! . . .Voglio<br />
addomesticare i venti e tenerli a gu<strong>in</strong>zaglio . . .Voglio una muta di venti, fluidi levrieri,<br />
per dar la caccia ai cirri flosci e barbuti' " (TIF, 181.<br />
''See F. T. Mar<strong>in</strong>etti, "Lo splendore geometric0 e meccanico e la sensibilita numerica,"<br />
TIF, 98-107.