In which Marinetti used the language of machines and explosions to express his view of poetry as reportage from the front: "Words in Freedom," in which he declared war on poetry by destroying syntax and spelling and by experimenting with typography; and finally love poems to his wife, Benedetta, in which he returned in part to subjects and forms that he had previously rejected.
Filippo Tommaso Emilio Marinetti (22 December 1876 – 2 December 1944) was an Italian poet, editor, art theorist, and founder of the Futurist movement. "The Manifesto of Futurism" written by the Italian poet Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, initiated an artistic philosophy, Futurism, that was a rejection of the past, and a celebration of speed, machinery, violence, youth and industry; it also advocated the modernization and cultural rejuvenation of Italy. Marinetti wrote the manifesto in the autumn of 1908 and it first appeared as a preface to a volume of his poems, published in Milan in January 1909. It was published in the Italian newspaper Gazzetta dell'Emilia in Bologna on 5 February 1909 then in French as Manifeste du futurisme (Manifesto of Futurism) in the newspaper Le Figaro on 20 February 1909. Translated by Jason Forbus
Both madcap cookbook and manifesto on Futurism, Marinetti's exuberant and entertaining book has been described as one of 'the best artistic jokes of the century' No other cultural force except the early twentieth-century avant-garde movement Futurism has produced a provocative work about art disguised as an easy-to-read cookbook. Part manifesto, part artistic joke, Fillippo Marinetti's The Futurist Cookbook is a collection of recipes, experiments, declamations and allegorical tales. Here are recipes for ice cream on the moon; candied atmospheric electricities; nocturnal love feasts; sculpted meats. Marinetti also sets out his argument for abolishing pasta as ill-suited to modernity, and advocates a style of cuisine that will increase creativity. Although at times betraying its author's nationalistic sympathies, The Futurist Cookbook is funny, provocative, whimsical, disdainful of sluggish traditions and delighted by the velocity and promise of modernity. Filippo Tommaso Marinetti was born in 1876 to Italian parents and grew up in Alexandria, Egypt, where he was nearly expelled from his Jesuit school for championing scandalous literature. He then studied in Paris and obtained a law degree in Italy before turning to literature. In 1909 he wrote the infamous Futurist Manifesto, which championed violence, speed and war, and proclaimed the unity of art and life. Marinetti's life was fraught with controversy: he fought a duel with a hostile critic, was subject to an obscenity trial, and was a staunch supporter of Italian Fascism. Alongside his literary activities, he was a war correspondent during the Italo-Turkish War and served on the Eastern Front in World War II, despite being in his sixties. He died in 1944. 'A paean to sensual freedom, optimism and childlike, amoral innocence ... it has only once been answered, by Aldous Huxley's Brave New World' Lesley Chamberlain
"Dazzling and disturbing, Marinetti's 'great fire-brand novel' recounts the erotic and exotic exploits of the warlord Mafarka in a torrid and highly stylised North Africa. When the novel was first published (the French version in 1909, the Italian in 1910), it was banned for obscenity."--cover.
Filippo Tommaso Marinetti: The Artist and His Politics explores the politics of the leader of the Futurist art movement. Emerging in Italy in 1909, Futurism sought to propel Italy into the modern world, and is famously known for outlandish claims to want to destroy museums and libraries in order to speed this transition. Futurism, however, also had a much darker political side. It glorified war as the solution to many of Italy’s ills, and was closely tied to the Fascist Regime. In this book, Ialongo focuses on Marinetti as the chief determinant of Futurist politics and explores how a seemingly revolutionary art movement, at one point having some support among revolutionary left-wing movements in Italy, could eventually become so intimately tied to the repressive Fascist regime. Ialongo traces Marinetti’s politics from before the foundation of Futurism, through the Great War, and then throughout the twenty-year Fascist dictatorship, using a wide range of published and unpublished sources. Futurist politics are presented within the wider context of developments in Italy and Europe, and Ialongo further highlights how Marinetti’s political choices influenced the art of his movement.
Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, born in Alexandria in the Khedivate of Egypt in 1876 to an Italian couple, came of age during the turn of the 20th Century. He witnessed the rapid advancement of industrial society, observed the struggles of Europe's Great Powers as a war reporter, and saw firsthand the cataclysmic events of the Great War while a soldier in the Italian army. Marinetti founded the Italian "Futurist" movement, which emphasized dynamism, speed, technology, youth, and violence, finding inspiration in the automobile, the airplane, and the industrial city, and aimed to liberate Italy from the weight of its past. Futurism's key figures were Marinetti himself, Umberto Boccioni, Carlo Carrà, Fortunato Depero, Gino Severini, Giacomo Balla, and Luigi Russolo. He would also gain some influence outside of Italy, notably with the Englishman Wyndham Lewis, whose "Vorticist" style drew heavily on Futurism. Marinetti found the world of the Great Powers, tied down by their immense histories, to be suffocating and moribund: like an open-air museum. He loved above all else the world of action and fire, machine-guns, cannons, and ironclad vessels. On this shared love of action, he drew close to Mussolini's Fascists, though this relationship was often troubled by Marinetti's criticism of what he perceived to be Fascism's reactionary tendencies. Originally published in 1933 as Il Fascino dell'Egitto, Marinetti's The Charm of Egypt is both a diary and an artistic rendering of his adventures among the Egyptian dunes. Marinetti paints the world as he saw it, through his unique Futurist perspective. His reflections on the land of his birth, and the changes wrought upon it by the forward march of technology, come together in this fascinating homage to that ancient and beautiful land. After nearly a century, Antelope Hill is proud to present The Charm of Egypt for the first time to the English reader. We hope that this beautiful account by one of Europe's most radical thinkers and artists will become a timeless artifact to be studied and enjoyed by many future generations to come.
In 1909 the Italian poet Filippo Tommaso Marinetti’s Founding Manifesto of Futurism was published on the front page of Le Figaro. Between 1909 and 1912 the Futurists published over thirty manifestos, celebrating speed and danger, glorifying war and technology, and advocating political and artistic revolution. This collection of essays aims to reassess the activities of the Italian Futurist movement from an international and interdisciplinary perspective, focusing on its activities and legacies in the field of poetry, painting, sculpture, theatre, cinema, advertising and politics. The essays offer exciting new readings in gender politics, aesthetics, historiography, intermediality and interdisciplinarity. They explore the works of major players of the movement as well as its lesser-known figures, and the often critical impact of Futurism on contemporary or later avant-garde movements such as Cubism, Dada and Vorticism. The publication will be of interest to scholars and students of European art, literature and cultural history, as well as to the informed general public.
