Spring/Summer 2005 - University of Toronto Press Publishing

ITALIAN STUDIESItalian Futurist PoetryEdited and translated by Willard BohnTORONTO ITALIAN STUDIESFounded by F.T. Marinetti in 1909, Italian Futurismwas the first major avant-garde movement of thetwentieth century. It was also one of the longest lasting,having continued as long as Marinetti and hiscolleagues remained active – until 1944. Despite theprovocative manifestos and outrageous public performancesthat earned its members internationalfame, their remarkable poetic achievements havereceived little post-war scholarly attention. Thisanthology, by the widely recognized Italian Futuristscholar Willard Bohn, seeks to correct this oversight.It is commonly believed that Futurist poetryrarely strayed from three main subjects: modernmachinery, warfare, and the Fascist dream. Bohndemonstrates that, in reality, it was much morediverse. Although military, mechanical, and patrioticthemes occur in a number of poems, includingsome in this volume, the Futurist repertoire wasactually much larger. Ranging from Symbolist exercisesto radical experiments worthy of Dada orSurrealism, it was also surprisingly creative.Italian Futurist Poetry contains more than 100poems (both Italian and English versions) by sixtyonepoets from across Italy. Arranged in roughlychronological order, the anthology reflects numerousaesthetic, historical, and cultural developments.It is a major contribution to the understanding ofmodern Italian culture and, indeed, of twentiethcenturyavant-garde literature in general.Willard Bohn is a distinguished professor in theDepartment of Foreign Languages at Illinois StateUniversity.A Tragedy RevealedThe Story of Italians from Istria, Dalmatia, andVenezia Giulia, 1943–1956Arrigo PetaccoTranslated by Konrad EisenbichlerTORONTO ITALIAN STUDIESAs the Second World War drew to a close, Europeanborders were being redrawn. The regions of Istria,Dalmatia, and Venezia Giulia, nominally Italian butat various times also belonging to Austria andGermany, fell under the rule of Yugoslavia and itsdictator Marshal Tito. The ensuing removal andgenocide of Italians from these regions had been littleexplored or even discussed until 1999, when theesteemed Italian journalist Arrigo Petacco wroteL’esodo: La tragedia negata degli italiani d’Istria,Dalmazia e Venezia Giulia. Now this story is availablein English as A Tragedy Revealed.Petacco explains the history of the regions andhow they were shifted between empires for centuries.The greater part of the story however detailsthe genocidal program of the Yugoslav Communistgovernment toward the native Italians in theregions. Based on previously unavailable archivaldocuments and oral accounts from people whowere there, Petacco reveals the events and exposesthe Italian government’s mishandling – and thenofficial silence on – the situation. This is a rivetingwork on a little-known, tragic event written by oneof Italy’s most highly regarded journalists.Arrigo Petacco is a journalist, author, and historianliving in Liguria, Italy.Konrad Eisenbichler is a professor at VictoriaCollege, University of Toronto.Approx. 270 pp / 6 x 9 / April 2005Cloth ISBN 0-8020-3948-0 £40.00 $60.00 EPaper ISBN 0-8020-3783-6 £20.00 $29.95 CApprox. 210 pp / 6 x 9 / April 20051 mapCloth ISBN 0-8020-3921-9 £28.00 $45.00 T37