Marinetti's Metaphorical Break with Tradition

Abstract

In “La tecnica della nuova poesia,” Marinetti openly attacks his predecessors, ridiculing their aesthetics, and proposing instead an unprecedented idea of poetry based on a new way of viewing the universe. In order for a new poetic language to be created, the old must be destroyed. In the 1912 Manifesto tecnico della letteratura futurista Marinetti calls for the abolition from language of “tutto ciò che essa contiene in fatto d’immagini stereotipate, di metafore scolorite, e cioè quasi tutto. While Marinetti identifies no substantial difference between the verse of Homer and that of D’Annunzio, he considers his own revolutionary precisely because of its “spaventosa potenza di analogia." But does Marinetti’s actual use of metaphor entirely break free of tradition? Are his analogies as revolutionary as he claims? This article explores a sprinkling of metaphors from three of Marinetti’s works written at different periods of his literary career: "Le Bataille de Tripoli" (1911), "8 anime in una bomba" (1919), and "L’areopoema del Golfo della Spezia" (1935). Although these works appertain to different literary genres, (a journalistic account, a self-proclaimed “romanzo esplosivo” and an “areopoema,” respectively) all three treat the same topic, which is Marinetti’s favorite topic—war. The purpose of my analysis is to determine the degree to which his use of metaphor departs from tradition in different genres and at different stages of his poetic development. More importantly, if Marinetti’s use of metaphor is as revolutionary as he claims, how are we to go about understanding it? Perhaps the traditional models of metaphorical analysis are insufficient. I therefore intend to incorporate into my argument various philosophical perspectives on metaphor, some of which are considered as revolutionary as Marinetti’s poetry itself.