end notes
the futurists declare war on pasta
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[1] The Foundation and Manifesto of Futurism, published on the front page of Le Figaro, 20 February 1909.
[2] See later, end note [31].
[3] Considering the extent to which our present age has become obsessed with the car and with technology in general, this 1909 statement seems more prescient today than it did when it was first made.
[4] Gunter Berghaus, introduction to F T Marinetti, Critical Writings, Farrer, Straus and Giroux, New York, 2006.
]5] Richard Jensen, “Futurism and Fascism”, History Today, Vol 45 No 11, p 35.
[6] David Piper, The Illustrated History of Art, Bounty Books, London 2005 at 400.
[7] Wyndham Lewis, “The Medodrama of Modernity”, Blast, Issue 1 (1914) at 143.
[8] Other prominent early Futurists were Carlo Carrà and Luigi Russolo.
[9] Notably, by the Frenchman Jules Maincave.
[10] Lesley Chamberlain, Introduction to The Futurist Cookbook, by F T Marinetti, transl Suzanne Brill, Bedford Arts, San Francisco, 1989 at 12.
[11] Danielle Callegari, “The Politics of Pasta: La Cucina Futuristica and the Italian Cookbook in History”, California Italian Studies vol 4 No 2 (2013).
[12] Callegari, op cit.
[13] My discussion of this aspect is based largely on Callegari, op cit.
[14] In Italian, Banchetti, Composizioni de vivande et apparecchio generale.
[15] Roy Strong, Feast: A History of Grand Eating, Jonathan Cape, London, 2002 at 130, cited in Callegari.
[16] Callegari, op cit.
[17] Callegari, op cit.
[18] For a discussion of other chefs who published recipe collections as a “stepping stone towards greatness”, see Callegari, op cit.
[19] Elizabeth David, Italian Food, Penguin Books, Hammondsworth, 1963, at 93 and 246.
[20] David, op cit at 94.
[21] Callegari, op cit.
[22] Fat Duck http://www.thefatduck.co.uk/Heston-Blumenthal/Cooking-Statement/, accessed November 2014.
[23] Christine Baumgarthuber, “Red Holidays of Genius” http://thenewinquiry.com/blogs/the-austerity-kitchen/red-holidays-of-genius/
[24] Callegari, op cit.
[25] Baumgarthuber, op cit.
[26] Carol Helstovsky, Garlic and Oil: Food and Politics in Italy, Berg, Oxford, 2004 at 78-9.
[27] “Re-enter Marinetti”, Rockhampton Morning Bulletin, 2 February 1931, p 8.
[28] Callegari, op cit.
[29] Helstovsky, op cit at 74: Carole Counihan, Around the Tuscan Table: Food, Family and Gender in 20th Century Florence, Routledge, New York, 2004 at 45-6. Mussolini was well aware of the political importance of ensuring supplies of cheap bread – an issue which had evidently contributed to bringing down Francesco Saverio Nitti’s short-lived prime ministry in 1920..
[30] The campaign had decidedly mixed results: Helstovsky, op cit at 81; Counihan, op cit at 46.
[31] As we have seen, the original Futurist Manifesto actually advocated contempt towards women. For the Futurists, at least in theory, sensuality was directed more at machines (“[W]e went up to the three snoring machines to caress their breasts” ... “I savoured a mouthful of strengthening muck which recalled the black teat of my Sudanese nurse”). Marinetti later argued that he was not against women as such; rather, he opposed the set of qualities which, he said, were traditionally associated with them, or imposed upon them -- fragile, romantic, soft, perfumed, providers of love, divine, obsessive, fairy-like and so on. In contrast, he regarded female agitators such as the English suffragettes [cross refer] as “our best allies” (Marinetti, Against Amore and Parliamentarianism). It is also worth pointing out that, at a time when women were almost completely excluded both from mainstream journalism and avant-garde reviews, Marinetti published the poetry of roughly fifty women in his journal Poesia: Walter L Adamson, “Futurism, Mass Culture, and Women: The Reshaping of the Artistic Vocation, 1909-1920”, Modernism/Modernity, 4.1 (1997) 89-114.
[32] Jensen, op cit.
[33] Mussolini eventually came to power in Italy in 1922.
[34] Jensen, op cit.
[35] Berghaus, op cit.
[36] As a matter of interest, it also appears that Marinetti intervened with Mussolini to prevent Nazi-style anti-Semitism in Italy: see Berghaus, op cit.
[37] Helstovsky, op cit at 37.
[38] There has certainly been a recent revival of interest, with a series of major exhibitions devoted to them, including the Tate Modern in 2009 and the Guggenheim in 2014.
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[1] The Foundation and Manifesto of Futurism, published on the front page of Le Figaro, 20 February 1909.
[2] See later, end note [31].
[3] Considering the extent to which our present age has become obsessed with the car and with technology in general, this 1909 statement seems more prescient today than it did when it was first made.
[4] Gunter Berghaus, introduction to F T Marinetti, Critical Writings, Farrer, Straus and Giroux, New York, 2006.
]5] Richard Jensen, “Futurism and Fascism”, History Today, Vol 45 No 11, p 35.
[6] David Piper, The Illustrated History of Art, Bounty Books, London 2005 at 400.
[7] Wyndham Lewis, “The Medodrama of Modernity”, Blast, Issue 1 (1914) at 143.
[8] Other prominent early Futurists were Carlo Carrà and Luigi Russolo.
[9] Notably, by the Frenchman Jules Maincave.
[10] Lesley Chamberlain, Introduction to The Futurist Cookbook, by F T Marinetti, transl Suzanne Brill, Bedford Arts, San Francisco, 1989 at 12.
[11] Danielle Callegari, “The Politics of Pasta: La Cucina Futuristica and the Italian Cookbook in History”, California Italian Studies vol 4 No 2 (2013).
[12] Callegari, op cit.
[13] My discussion of this aspect is based largely on Callegari, op cit.
[14] In Italian, Banchetti, Composizioni de vivande et apparecchio generale.
[15] Roy Strong, Feast: A History of Grand Eating, Jonathan Cape, London, 2002 at 130, cited in Callegari.
[16] Callegari, op cit.
[17] Callegari, op cit.
[18] For a discussion of other chefs who published recipe collections as a “stepping stone towards greatness”, see Callegari, op cit.
[19] Elizabeth David, Italian Food, Penguin Books, Hammondsworth, 1963, at 93 and 246.
[20] David, op cit at 94.
[21] Callegari, op cit.
[22] Fat Duck http://www.thefatduck.co.uk/Heston-Blumenthal/Cooking-Statement/, accessed November 2014.
[23] Christine Baumgarthuber, “Red Holidays of Genius” http://thenewinquiry.com/blogs/the-austerity-kitchen/red-holidays-of-genius/
[24] Callegari, op cit.
[25] Baumgarthuber, op cit.
[26] Carol Helstovsky, Garlic and Oil: Food and Politics in Italy, Berg, Oxford, 2004 at 78-9.
[27] “Re-enter Marinetti”, Rockhampton Morning Bulletin, 2 February 1931, p 8.
[28] Callegari, op cit.
[29] Helstovsky, op cit at 74: Carole Counihan, Around the Tuscan Table: Food, Family and Gender in 20th Century Florence, Routledge, New York, 2004 at 45-6. Mussolini was well aware of the political importance of ensuring supplies of cheap bread – an issue which had evidently contributed to bringing down Francesco Saverio Nitti’s short-lived prime ministry in 1920..
[30] The campaign had decidedly mixed results: Helstovsky, op cit at 81; Counihan, op cit at 46.
[31] As we have seen, the original Futurist Manifesto actually advocated contempt towards women. For the Futurists, at least in theory, sensuality was directed more at machines (“[W]e went up to the three snoring machines to caress their breasts” ... “I savoured a mouthful of strengthening muck which recalled the black teat of my Sudanese nurse”). Marinetti later argued that he was not against women as such; rather, he opposed the set of qualities which, he said, were traditionally associated with them, or imposed upon them -- fragile, romantic, soft, perfumed, providers of love, divine, obsessive, fairy-like and so on. In contrast, he regarded female agitators such as the English suffragettes [cross refer] as “our best allies” (Marinetti, Against Amore and Parliamentarianism). It is also worth pointing out that, at a time when women were almost completely excluded both from mainstream journalism and avant-garde reviews, Marinetti published the poetry of roughly fifty women in his journal Poesia: Walter L Adamson, “Futurism, Mass Culture, and Women: The Reshaping of the Artistic Vocation, 1909-1920”, Modernism/Modernity, 4.1 (1997) 89-114.
[32] Jensen, op cit.
[33] Mussolini eventually came to power in Italy in 1922.
[34] Jensen, op cit.
[35] Berghaus, op cit.
[36] As a matter of interest, it also appears that Marinetti intervened with Mussolini to prevent Nazi-style anti-Semitism in Italy: see Berghaus, op cit.
[37] Helstovsky, op cit at 37.
[38] There has certainly been a recent revival of interest, with a series of major exhibitions devoted to them, including the Tate Modern in 2009 and the Guggenheim in 2014.
To return to your place in the text, just click your Back button
© Philip McCouat 2014
Back to HOME