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Manifesto of Futurism

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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.

15 pages

First published January 1, 1909

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Filippo Tommaso Marinetti

153 books73 followers
Filippo Tommaso Emilio Marinetti was an Italian ideologue, poet, editor, and founder of the Futurist movement.

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5 stars
65 (19%)
4 stars
88 (26%)
3 stars
108 (31%)
2 stars
49 (14%)
1 star
28 (8%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
Profile Image for Domenico Francesco.
270 reviews15 followers
June 15, 2022
Futurism is alt-right? WTF? Why?
It's almost impossible to fully understand the Futurist movement and Marinetti's first manifesto without reading all the others which give a full view of the full movement.
Reading the 1909's manifesto outside the school context I found it even funnier and fascinating than before.
Yes, Marinetti's and futurist manifesto(s) are hyperbolic, extremely exxagerated, apparently pretentious and surely shocking for their age (and in some ways even today), but, guys, it's obviously part of the game. All the others manifestos are pretty over the top but contribute to give a good insight on how the futurist philosophical aesthetics was different was different from the upcoming Fascism. Mussolini would have been shattered in fear reading Marinetti's manifesto Against wedding (contro il matrimonio) or some of the political goals of the Futurist party, and surely, beside maybe a not-so strong practical philosophy behind, Fascism totally destroyed and cannibalized futurism's creative force. But futurist manifestos remains the symbols of one of the most original cultural phenomenon Italy has ever had, and this almost complete edition is the proof and the perfect point to start.
Profile Image for Summer SSS.
269 reviews27 followers
September 28, 2023
The actual ideology read like something a really 'edgy' high schooler would come up with, and the writing read like that one kid trying WAY too hard in a creative writing class.

Also, it's sort of funny how most of these ideas have at least some sort of reasoning behind them, but then there's like one part that's like 'and screw women too! They suck' and it's like damn what did I do.

am I shocked that no GoodReads review barely anyone even mentions the misogyny in this piece - no not at all. Sad we're all so used to it at this point.

Apparently, there's interesting historical context around this piece, supposedly it inspired everything from architecture to politics, which I would be more interested to learn about, but this manifesto alone sort of cheesy tbh :/

And how can you hate on Museums? Was the ROM's terracotta warriors exhibit not a formative life-changing experience for you? Did the ROMS National Geographic Photographer of the Year exhibit not instill a deep and profound wonder for the natural universe?
Profile Image for federico.
24 reviews1 follower
May 21, 2022
Ignoring the actual content presented in this book, the prose is a perfect-all-killer, at least in Italian. The English translations I found were all rather meek. I tried my best to translate my favourite quotes in ways I think can better deliver the rashness of the original.

There's a chance I only like this because I'm edgy and 17 years old with a burning and violent generational hatred toward boomers.

But hey.

"Let us escape from wisdom as from a horrible shell, and let us throw ourselves, as fruits filled with the pigment of pride, in the immense and crooked mouth of the wind!... Let us make food of ourselves for the Unknown, not out of desperation, but solely to fill the deep wells of the Absurd!"

"The oldest among us are thirty years old: yet, we already have squandered our treasures, thousands of treasures of strength, of love, of audacity, of cunning and of rude willpower; we threw them away with impatience, with fury, without counting, without hesitation, without rest, at breakneck speed. Look at us! We're not bleary just yet! Our hearts do not feel any depletion, for they are fed on fire, on hatred and on speed! Does that surprise you?... That's only obvious, for you don't even recall ever living! Standing on the top of the world, we throw down yet again our challenge to the stars!"

Pretentious. I know. But I love it. If you ignore the fascism, this is so well-written. This futurism thing would have been so cool had it not been involved with the wrongest side of politics to ever exist.
Profile Image for Romano.
Author 14 books28 followers
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August 17, 2018
Sería sumamente arrogante y limitado el intentar asignarle una calificación a los postulados de un movimiento artístico; especialmente a uno tan política e ideológicamente cargado de claroscuros como el futurismo.
El leerles me llena de disonancias cognitivas, ya que podría coincidir en algunos postulados estéticos [especialmente en los referentes a la cinematografía], pero me rehuso a comulgar con los éticos [Las posturas fascistas frente a la violencia, la guerra, el imperialismo, la misoginia].

Estemos de acuerdo o no con sus postulados, es muy evidente la resonancia que tienen a la fecha en la cultura visual contemporánea. Y desde un juicio de valor, no me atrevo a vislumbrar si tal influencia futurista ha sido buena o mala para la humanidad.
Profile Image for Simon.
42 reviews3 followers
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May 2, 2018
i still think theres some aspects to futurism that's interesting and wasn't explored in other areas of modernism but holy moly, i dare you to read this fucking dumbass nerd shit and not cringe.

like, i did sympathise with similar sentiments in a similar way when i was like, 16 and completely sexless and introvert, but then i miraculously grew up. meh. a par for the course in continuing to relentlessly mock the italian people i guess

also, the reason why alt-right guys havent co-opted this crap (even though it more or less reads exactly the same) is because the point of entry to read something that has 15 pages is way too risky

tldnr this shit is fucking dumb as hell dude
Profile Image for Marcos.
117 reviews13 followers
October 13, 2022
Los más viejos de entre nosotros no tenemos aún treinta años, y por lo tanto hemos
despilfarrado ya grandes tesoros de amor, de fuerza, de coraje y de dura voluntad, con
precipitación, con delirio, sin cuenta, sin perder el aliento, a manos llenas.
¡Miradnos! ¡No estamos sofocados! ¡Nuestro corazón no siente la más ligera fatiga! ¡Está
nutrido de fuego, de valor y de velocidad! ¿Esto os asombra? ¡Es que vosotros no os acordáis
de haber vencido nunca!
Profile Image for Your Salty Daddy.
105 reviews40 followers
April 16, 2019
No matter how much love or hate I give to this manifesto, I have to admit that there is something in Marinetti's ideas which are so true in this modern world.

Future, is not what we (human) can control, but only to destroy and recreate it in our own way.
Profile Image for Ilia Tchanturia.
Author 2 books48 followers
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March 11, 2022
იტალია იჭინთება რომ ფაშიზმი შვას, მაგრამ მარინეტი ნაყოფის ჩამსახავი არაა, ის არც ��ქიმია ქვეყანას შობაში დაეხმაროს, ის მხოლოდ შობის მადიდებელია, ტკივლების გასაბრუებლად
Profile Image for Marcus.
690 reviews18 followers
July 15, 2022
The excitement that this Boy Racer felt at driving fast and dangerously in a car has only been matched by JG Ballard’s Crash. He waxes lyrically about destroying the past via the destruction of history and tradition. He calls for museums and libraries to be burned down and declares a new art movement, which by all accounts did take root and had some links to the eventual rise of Italian fascism.

“We want to glorify war - the only cure for the world - militarism, patriotism, the destructive gesture of the anarchists, the beautiful ideas which kill, and contempt for woman.”
April 25, 2024
Läste denna i tron om att det var en satirisk framtidsskildring från 1909 och slogs av hur träffsäker den var. Sen insåg jag att Marinetti var fascist och att det inte alls var satir. Han var seriös i sina ord om kriget som världens enda hygien och löften om att utrota bibliotek, medier och akademin. Efter denna insikt var verket betydligt sämre enligt mig. Så mitt tips till Marinetti som författare är att prova att utforska satir som medel och kanske byta ideologi.
Profile Image for Virginia.
189 reviews4 followers
July 16, 2013
mi spiazza vedere fra i classici punti da manifesto, quelli più noti da libro di liceo, alcuni brani del tutto discorsivi e assai pungenti. In alcuni brani il linguaggio adoperato è qualcosa di incredibile, sembra quasi di sentire schioccare la lingua per la forza fonetica delle parole o del loro accostamento.
Certi brani sono poi una vera e propria sorpresa. Già che mi piacevano molto i compari futuristi, adesso li sto adorando.
Mi diverte molto anche la digressione su Venezia. Nonostante ne rimango affascinata, gli aspri commenti a lei rivolti sono divertentissimi.

(è un gran peccato per tutti gli errori ortografici, colpa di una compilazione automatica)
Profile Image for Briana.
750 reviews
April 19, 2018
I read this for a college history class and it just wasn't my cup of tea. A good thing is it's a read and gets to the point.
1,443 reviews30 followers
December 7, 2021
I'm not sure how much of this is lost in translation (the translation is.... not great) and how much of it is just largely incoherent proto-fascism.

Version I read was "The Foundation of Futurism" ["Manifesto of Futurism," 1909], translated from the French by Eugen Weber, reprinted by permission of Dodd, Mead and Company from Paths to the Present by Eugen Weber. Copyright 1960 by Dodd, Mead and Company, Inc.
Profile Image for Sahana.
153 reviews23 followers
June 20, 2022
For the sake of this review, I'm treating this manifesto as a literary work rather than what it truly is: a fascist call to arms with the goal of oppressing women/scholars/marginalized people/history keepers/anyone older than 35.

Alternatively, it is the alt-right rant of an artist who detests tourists who come to Italy and. . .do touristy things.

5 stars for style alone, because God, it is so terrible yet so irresistible.

Profile Image for Chase.
47 reviews
October 6, 2018
The author encourages war, aggression, masculinity, and violence.

He also states that “we will destroy the museums, libraries, academies of every kind, will fight moralism, feminism, every opportunistic or utilitarian cowardice.”

This work seems to promote social and political upheaval, the replacement of our current systems with anarchy.

His logic is odd considering that his entire livelihood was based on these systems working. He might have been a talented writer, but I do not agree with what he was condoning and promoting. Therefore, I cannot give this any more than 1 star.
Profile Image for Q.P. Moreno.
192 reviews9 followers
September 22, 2021
Qué grandísimo error es declararle la guerra al pasado (y a la vez, cuánta historia se construye a partir de Marinetti). Esta es la expresión más inteligente del fascismo-qua-fascismo, y de las que requiere mayor estudio, mayor enfrentamiento crítico para poder combatir.
58 reviews1 follower
January 28, 2020
Half good with forward progress, half terribly problematic espousing directly the ideals that launched the 2 world wars
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
2 reviews
May 10, 2020
Embrace your Youth

Must read for all lethargic youth looking to embrace a more optimistic, energetic existence. That of SPEED. That of FUTURISM.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews

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