In 1926: living at the edge of time - Monoskop

IMMANENCE VS. TRANSCENDENCE
Often, a writer will use concepts and metaphors of a traditionally religious
nature just to show that humans can do without them. One of the
key intellectual concerns of the moment is to transform elements of
Transcendence into elements of Immanence. Notions and images of
Transcendence frequently seem to be evoked only so that they can be
immediately rejected, almost contemptuously. The distinction between
everyday worlds and transcendent worlds scarcely ever goes unchallenged.
Discourses of political ideology are the most obvious exceptions
to this tendency, but it is not always clear whether the transcendent
spaces that they denote are meant to be taken seriously or seen as purely
ornamental. The Italian playwright Ernesto Forzano, for example, opens
his drama Rapsodia Fascista with a conventional conversation in the
allegorical mode between the "Genius of Rome" and "Italicus, the moving
spirit of fascism." At first glance, it seems unlikely that Forzano
believes in the potentially transcendent content of this scene, because the
sacrificial mechanism to which he alludes remains completely invisible.
The death of hundreds of thousands of young Italians is presented as the
price paid for the (Fascist) resurgence of the nation: "(Italicus appears.
His cloak falls off, and he appears in a black shirt. He holds the almighty
torch in his right hand and throws back his head. He walks with slow
steps, as if attracted by the flame.) Italicus: ... Exult, Italy! ... Spirits,
exult / in the hundreds of thousands of dead / who gave their youth in
the holocaust! / Your sacrifice was not in vain! ... / Rome, rise up! ...
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