FILIPPO TOMMASO MARINETTI,

FUTURIST MANIFESTO&

FRANZ KAFKA, THE METAMORPHOSIS

“Manifestos, Futurism, Existentialism & More”

Filippo Tommaso Marinetti

born Dec. 22, 1876, Alexandria—died Dec. 2, 1944, Bellagio, Italy

Italian-French prose writer, novelist, poet, and dramatist

the ideological founder of Futurism educated in Egypt, France, Italy, and Switzerland and

began his literary career working for an Italian–French magazine in Milan.

1893 – left for Paris – During most of his life his base was in France, though he made frequent trips to Italy and wrote in both Italian and French.

1898 – moved to Italy to study law at Paviaone of the first members of the Fascist party

Fascism: a political system headed by a dictator in which the government controls business and labor and opposition is not permitted

Although his views helped temporarily to ignite Italian patriotism, Marinetti lost most of his following by the second decade of the 20th century

Background

Publications

1905 – won a prize for his poem “Les Vieux Marins” and founded the literary review Poesia with Sem Benelli and Vitaliano Ponti.

1909 – published Manifesto del Futurismo, the first manifesto of futurism

1909 – Mafarka le Futuriste: Roman africaine/Mafarka the Futurist: African Novel

1912 (trans. 1971) – Manifesto technico della letteratura futuristica/Technical Manifesto of Futurist Literature His best-known work

1915 – wrote a volume of poems called Guerra sola igiene del mondo/War the Only Hygiene of the World Urged that Italy be involved in WWI

Also wrote plays and about theatrical practice French Le Roi bombance (performed 1909; “The Feasting King”) Italian Anti-neutralità (1912; “Anti-Neutrality”) prose work, Teatro sintetico futurista (1916; “Synthetic Futurist

Theatre”).

Typical topicsTechnology, War, Education, EnvironmentGovernment, Art and humanistic ideals

What is a manifesto?A cry out from the speaker/writerLooks at past, present, future historyDeclares a break or change in things (relevant to the topic)Offers what could beAn urgent call to change and provide alterations

Began in form in 19th centuryPolitical or humanist in natureCritical of the past and the status quoUses reason, irony, and ridicule to get point acrossBased on principles and is uncompromising

(“we will not settle for less…”)Instructive by natureWriter’s voice is firm in tone

Futurism had its official beginning with the publication of Marinetti's “Manifeste de Futurisme” in the Paris newspaper Le Figaro (Feb. 20, 1909). His ideas were quickly adopted in Italy, where the writers Aldo Palazzeschi, Corrado Govoni, and Ardengo Soffici were among his most important disciples.

FuturismAn early 20th-century literary, artistic, and political

movement. Italian school of painting, sculpture, and literature that flourished from 1909, when Filippo Tommaso Marinetti's first manifesto of futurism appeared, until the end of World War I.

Futurists strove to portray the dynamic character of 20th-century life; their works glorified danger, war, and the machine age, attacked academies, museums, and other establishment bastions, and, in theory at least, favored the growth of fascism.Futurist principles and techniques

strongly influenced Russian constructivism.

Futurist Manifesto of 1909Prophesizes our own historic destiny

“true prophecy foresees the inevitable”

urges the youth of Italy to “break with tradition in art, poetry, and the novel and face the

challenges of a new machine age.”

Published in the Parisian newspaper Le Figaro and then later in Poesia

Published the second manifesto, Uccidiamo il chiaro di luna, two months later.

Technology & War were two of the most dominant subject foci of artists and authors in

the early 20th century

Franz Kafka

Austrian (Czech) novelist and short-story writer“disturbing, symbolic fiction, written in German,

prefigured the oppression and despair of the late 20th century.”

considered one of the most significant authors in modern world literature

term “Kafkaesque” – applied to grotesque, anxiety-producing social conditions or their treatment in literature

Born July 3, 1883 to a middle-class Jewish family in Prague (then Austria-Hungary) Father was a merchant and became the subject of some of Kafka’s writings (in a negative way) Lived with his family most of his life. Never married but engaged twice. Studied law at the University of Prague and took a civil service post 1917 – contracted tuberculosis June 3, 1924 – died in a sanatorium in Kierling, Austria

Background

THEMES OF KAFKA’S WORK: loneliness, frustration, oppressive guilt of an individual threatened by anonymous forces beyond his comprehension or control.

PHILOSOPHICALLY: he aligns with the 19th century Danish thinker Søren Aabye Kierkegaard and to 20th century existentialists.

LITERARY TECHNIQUE: Expression and Surrealism. “lucid style, blending reality with fantasy and tinged with ironic humor, contributes to the nightmarish, claustrophobic effect of his work—as in his famous long short story “The Metamorphosis”

philosophical movement or tendency, emphasizing individual existence, freedom, and choice, that influenced many diverse writers in the 19th and 20th centuries

stress on concrete individual existence and, consequently, on subjectivity, individual freedom, and choice.

A Summary: Humans have free will, can make own choicesLife is a series of choices that create conflictFew of the decisions we make are without negative

consequencesSome experiences and actions are irrational or

absurd, and follow no explanation or reasonIf a person makes a decision, he/she must follow

through according to “human law”- what we know internally to be good and right

“Existence precedes essence”- humans have meaning only because of our actions

Existentialism

Publications1915 (trans 1937) – “The Metamorphosis” –the hard-working insurance agent hero awakes to find he has turned into an enormous bug and is left by his family to de alone1919 (trans 1966) – Letter to His Father – expresses his feelings of inferiority and paternal rejection.1919 (trans 1941) – “In the Penal Colony” – fantasy of imprisonment and torture.1924 – “Josephine the Singer”1967 (trans 1973) – Letters to Felice – about his relationship with Felice Bauer (187-1960)After Kafka’s death, contrary to his wish that all unpublished manuscripts be destroyed, his friend and biographer, Austrian writer Max Brod, published them. Among them are the three novels for which Kafka is best known:

The Trial (1925; trans 1937)The Castle (1926; trans 1930)Amerika (1927; trans 1938)

Some History of the Time1900 – Most of the civilized world is now connected by the telegraph

First transmission of speech over radio waves (December 23rd)

1900 – First Olympics involving women held in Paris1901 – Arthur Korn invents the fax: Bildtelegraph became "widespread in continental Europe especially after a widely noticed transmission of a wanted-person photograph from Paris to London in 1908, used until the wider distribution of the radiofax.1903 – Invention and development of the first motorized airplane (Wright brothers)1903-1904 – First offset press is invented for printing on paper (Ira Rubel)1903-1914 – Beginnings of Modern Spaceflight Theory (Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky)1908 – First prediction of the possibility of man-made global warming (Arrhenius)1909 – First large scale investigation of species’ differences at a molecular level (Reichert and Brown)1909 – National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is founded

1912 – Paris exhibition highlighting literary and visual arts inspired by Futurism1913 – Income Tax Amendment establishes a tax on wages people make1914 – Panama Canal opens1914 – World War I begins in Europe1915 – Italy enters WWI1918 – World War I ends1920 – Prohibition of alcoholic beverages begins1920 – Women are given the right to vote1931 – The 102 story Empire State Building is completed & becomes the tallest in the world1933 – President Roosevelt inaugurated and begins New Deal to end the Great Depression1939 – Germany invades Poland to begin WWII

Some History of the Time cont.

"(Emilio) Filippo Tommaso Marinetti." Hutchinson's Biography Database (2011): 1. MasterFILE Premier. EBSCO. Web. 4 Oct. 2011.

"Marinetti, Filippo Tommaso." Britannica Biographies (2010): 1. MasterFILE Premier. EBSCO. Web. 4 Oct. 2011.

"Filippo Tommaso Marinetti." Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th Edition (2010): 1. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 4 Oct. 2011.

"Futurism." Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th Edition (2010): 1. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 4 Oct. 2011.

“Timeline: Italy.” BBC News (2011): 1. Web. 4 Oct. 2011.. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/1065897.stm

Norma, Jeremy. “From Cave Paintings to the Internet: Chronological and Thematic Studies on the History of Information and Media.” History of Science. Jeremy Norman & Co, Inc (2004). Web. 4 Oct. 2011.

"KAFKA, Franz." (n.d.): Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia. EBSCO. Web. 5 Oct. 2011.

EXISTENTIALISM." (n.d.): Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia. EBSCO. Web. 5 Oct. 2011.

“1900’s Timeline.” Think Quest. Web 6 Oct. 2011. http://library.thinkquest.org/J0110162/1900timeline.html

Damrosch, David. The Longman Anthology of World Literature, Volume F: The Twentieth Century. 2nd ed. New York: Pearson Longman, 2009.

IMAGES:

Filippo Tommaso Marinetti: http://www.last.fm/music/Filippo+Tommaso+Marinetti/+images/39430847Filippo Tommaso Marinetti: http://www.nonsolobiografie.it/biografia_filippo_tommaso_marinetti.htmlLe Figaro Newspaper Publication: http://imaginepeace.com/archives/7398Franz Kafka: http://schabrieres.wordpress.com/2010/03/05/franz-kafka-renonces-y-gibs-auf-1922/Franz Kafka: http://curi222.deviantart.com/art/Franz-Kafka-Untooned-Papiel-160260483?q=gallery%3Acuri222%2F6967484&qo=21“The Metamorphosis”: http://www.mobipocket.com/en/ebooks/ebookdetails.asp?bookid=152215

Works Cited