INITIAL SPEECH
“New year, New me.”
That I don’t apply it to the best of my ability regarding the topic I am talking about or would like to talk about, this is because I am a person who can be defined as having a heavy ass and also because; as I said in the past: I don’t have the means to do it. Which I have to say, he really knows how to bring a person down. So if you can see this video it means two things:
-I succeeded: so you will see a video done well in terms of editing, audio and more.
-I didn’t make it and according to the ancient mentality of “what the fuck do I care” I made this video anyway driven by the passion of wanting to create.
Also because with the release of this video I not only want to mark the beginning of a “new” me, who wants to commit more to the channel and its contents. But on the other hand with this video will also open a new series on the channel that will help me in the process of giving from now on my full passion for the videos that will come out no matter how long they may be or how long it takes behind every single script. And I have decided to start this series from a work that I myself have had the pleasure of reading and that I want to share with you, and ensure that it will not be forgotten and that it seems I will have the honor of being the first to talk about it here on Youtube. Therefore,
Part I Futurist art and thought
Before starting to talk about Mafarka we need to talk for a moment about its creator, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti to give a smattering. Creator of the Futurist artistic movement which developed in Italy from the beginning of the 1900s up to the outbreak of the 2nd World War, Marinetti was born in Alexandria of Egypt to Italian parents, of Marinetti’s childhood there is not much information but it is known that his pre-adolescent period and as a teenager he spent it mainly in France where he took the Baccalaureate in Paris in 1893 and then went on to study and graduate from the University of Pavia in 1899 in the field of Law. Campo who then decided to put aside to realize his passion for literature and the playwright world mainly demonstrated through the publication of his poems and theatrical writings such as Le Roi Bombance in France and Northern Italy through his magazine, Poetry, where we will see the first hints of Futurism. But it will be in 1908 after a night of revelry and a car ride that ends with him overturning his car in a ditch while dodging two cyclists that the idea really begins to be born.
Marinetti’s thought can be defined as: Extremely progressive, radical, fierce, nonconformist.
Words that help us describe not only a part of his artistic vision but also help us reflect on what Marinetti thought of the Italian society of the time. A society too tied to the past and too attached to translations which, according to him, hindered his ideal of “Progress”. And these thoughts can be seen manifested in the 1909 Futurist Manifesto published by the French newspaper”Le Figaro”. The Futurist Manifesto not only gives us an explanation of the ideals of the movement but also aims to give this sensation of a definitive turning point; going to promote a totally radical change in the art world as it was conceived at the time:
“4. We affirm that the magnificence of the world has been enriched by a new beauty: the speed beauty. A racing car with its hood adorned with large pipes similar to snakes with explosive breath… a roaring automobile, which seems to run on grapeshot, is more beautiful than the Victory of Samothrace . “
“5. We want to praise the man who holds the wheel, whose ideal shaft crosses the Earth, also launched at a run, on the circuit of its orbit . “
“7. There is no more beauty except in struggle. No work that does not have a character aggressive can be a masterpiece. Poetry must be conceived as a violent assault against the unknown forces, to reduce them to prostrate before man . “
“11.We will sing the great crowds agitated by work, pleasure or riot: we will sing of the multicolored and polyphonic tides of revolutions in modern capitals ; we will sing of the vibrant nocturnal fervor of arsenals and shipyards set on fire by violent moons electrical; the greedy stations, devourers of smoking snakes; the factories hanging from the clouds by the twisted threads of their smoke; the bridges like giant gymnasts spanning the rivers, flashing in the sun with a gleam of knives; the adventurous steamers that sniff the horizon, the locomotives broad-chested, stamping on the rails, like huge steel horses harnessed to pipes, and the gliding flight of airplanes, whose propeller flutters in the wind like a flag and seems to cheer like an enthusiastic crowd . “
“Museums: cemeteries!… Identical, truly, due to the sinister promiscuity of so many bodies that are not they know. Museums: public dormitories where one rests forever alongside hated beings or unknown! Museums: absurd slaughterhouses of painters and sculptors who are ferociously slaughtering shots of colors and lines along the disputed walls !”
“And what can ever be seen, in an old painting, if not the tiring contortion of the artist, who strove to break down the insurmountable barriers opposed to the desire to express entirely his dream?… Admiring an ancient painting is equivalent to pouring ours sensibility in a funerary urn, instead of projecting it far away, in violent jets of creation and action . “
These words are none other than a part (and perhaps even the most moderate) of the Manifesto presented and published on the pages of “Le Figaro”. As can be seen, Marinetti and his companions speak of a break with and total disenchantment with the past, with the world of academies, from traditions that do nothing but hinder the individual. Going instead to promote the concepts of Dynamism and Aerodynamics, the adrenaline of speed and war, originality and a sort of artistic individualism, with the ultimate goal of also wanting to eliminate the concepts of Space-Time as we know them.
The Futurist ideal therefore proves to be the artillery blow against the “Passatism” of the Newborn Italy. And after the publication of the manifesto, the Futurist Movement over the years will not impose itself only in the world of pictorial art and in the field of sculpture; but it will also expand on the world of music with Noise, the field of architecture with Antonio Sant’Elia, the culinary, cinematographic, even the political world; but today we will rather focus on the Futurist literary world. We’re going to talk about one of the first works of Futurism written by Marinetti himself entitled “Mafarka the Futurist”.
Written in 1909 during the creation of the manifesto “Let’s kill the moonlight”; “Mafarka the Futurist” will show itself to be different not only from the themes and narratives of the other Italian novels based on the concepts of the psychoanalytic Neonata written at the beginning of the 1900s, but this distinction continues to be present even 100 years after its publication, not only from the point of view of the themes that the work presents but also in its language and its scenes that we could define … “particular” which will not only prevent the publication of the book in Italy which will become banned from its publication but will also lead to a process that will involve Marinetti himself, but this process will be discussed later in the video, because first of all we need to talk about and analyze the work and its messages.
Part II The Mafarka-El-Bar saga
The First chapter takes place in an unspecified place in Africa, on the warfield a fighter, Mafarka-El-Bar together with his army managed to oust the kingdom of his uncle Bubassa in a coup, and accompanied by his brother Magamal are ready to celebrate victory; but, for the brothers, the war is not over yet, because at the news of the fall of the Bubassa kingdom, his allies from neighboring kingdoms are coming to his aid. And in all this Mafarka learns of a mutiny by some of his captains and they are in the act of a mass rape; Mafarka arrives on the scene and drives away those who betrayed him with blows of the whip. And this is how our adventure begins…
This chapter opens and presents itself very directly to the reader, who I would read here on Youtube BUT even if I don’t make money from these videos, I still want them to be here on Youtube or at least easily accessible on the site. Not so much because I don’t own a copy of this book; rather due to the fact that the work as I said earlier can still shock people’s sensibilities even nowadays: Rape, verbal and physical violence, description of war scenarios and so on are constantly present in the Novel written by Marinetti , even the title of this first chapter is not saved (not counting the constant use of the so-called “N-word”).
Surely if he wanted to make an impact he succeeded and he succeeds despite the age that this novel presents. In the According to And Third chapter of the Novel there is mainly narrated the feat of Mafarka in eliminating his uncle’s allies. Where in the according to he uses cunning by disguising himself as a crippled old man he slips into enemy lines, and spending the day getting the enemy army drunk and telling a comic story centered on himself and how the Devil after buying a horse from Mafarka and being extremely ill with the latter he decided to make Mafarka eat the member of a horse without his knowledge making it pass for a refined fish, giving him such a powerful desire that it is indomitable (which by the way; I want to point out that it is ironic that the member is named “zeb”).
And for anyone who thinks I’m kidding him let me read you pages 30 and 31 of the novel:
《‒So,’ added the false doctor, raising his voice, ‘the devil paid without it haggling, three thousand piastres, then he leapt into the saddle and charged out of the city at full gallop. But he soon saw, with horror, that the animal’s mane and tail lit up at the wind, so that it spread the fire everywhere, as it passed through the alleys of the villages, whose houses are belly, almost touching with theirs musci arabie…Then, the devil wanted to swim rivers; but his stallion was not quenched, though the waters were deep!… In the forests that he crossed at a gallop, dug a hole burning like the jaws of a furnace!… It was the month of April, when the beasts feel the need to copulate between them… and that stallion met no mare that he didn’t immediately want to cover. All intoxicated by the smell of wet vulva, it waved its lashing mane against the hips of the female who shuddered at the burning by delivering terrible kicks… Thus, the Devil, although he was an excellent rider, he was thrown off the saddle three times… The third time yes broke his arm!》
《Fuoribondo to see himself so battered because of such an expensive mount, the Demon returned to Rimlabur and ran to invite Mafarka-El-Bar to lunch. Then, cut itzeb to the stallion, had it cooked and ordered that it be served on the table, on the appointed evening, in the hall of his palace, whose windows breathed in either the green breath and the salty coolness of the sea. The cooks stuffed itzebwith curdled milk, and condition it so well with violets and cinnamon, that a warm and delicious smell voluptuously intoxicated the whole house. And, in the evening, she served them, tickled by that smell, they eavesdropped on the doors of the hall of the convict, clicking her tongue and rubbing her breasts to overcome the too sweet itch… “Here is an admirable fish!” said the devil to Mafarka, crossing his legs in front of the mat on which shone lozebtransfigured, in a beautiful engraved gold tray.》
Then the story continues with Mafarka who, having eaten the fish, becomes horny, becomes the servant of the Devil,and I won’t read the scene because the parts where it involves sex are extremely uncomfortable and finally Mafarka also takes the Devil’s palace by threatening him by saying:
《” “》.And amid hilarity of the story and drinks of that evening Mafarka decides to reveal himself to the enemy soldiers and be chased by exploiting the sunset of the day and the not too lucid state of his enemies to make sure that he manages to divide the army in two and that they clash between of them by eliminating both the army and their leader. And victorious by his strategy, he decides to return to Tell-El-Kibir which is essentially the former capital of his uncle’s kingdom. And this is how the second chapter ends. The your palace belongs to me!… Go away! If you don’t leave, I’ll break your buttocks”》
In the third chapter the matter takes place not too long after the end of the last one in the city Tell-El-Kibir where Mafarka is warned that Faras-Magalla – i.e. the last of Bubassa’s allies – has decided to send “all the hungry dogs of the desert ” against the city itself, obviously Mafarka at the news decides to prepare to defend against the horde that is about to arrive by preparing the men and calling the “war jars” or a vehicle or machinery capable of throwing large stones which are also mentioned in the 1st Chapter. The rest of the chapter takes place with the defense of the city against the horde of hungry dogs by the army organized by Mafarka and Magamal. This up to the last acts of the chapter where one of Mafarka’s soldiers,
The Fourth chapter is quite short, to put it simply; Mafarka celebrates his victory with an orgy of virgins, but during all of this he wonders and worries about his brother and the two have a small argument, to then resume the orgy. Nothing more, nothing less. And with the first four chapters finished we are already at ⅓ of the Novel, and, before continuing with the other 8 remaining chapters we take a moment’s break from the summary to focus for a moment on the characters encountered so far, or if I have to be honest I’m just two characters that can be analyzed since unlike all the named characters and many others they are extremely present; or our protagonist Mafarka-El-Bar and his brother Magamal. Starting from Mafarka: outside of his exploits and his skills in the military field, not much is actually known about the past of the hero of Tell-El-Kibir, or even so much about why he decided to carry out the coup d’état against his uncle if not a clue in the 5th Chapter, I remember that the book already begins in the middle of the conflict, or at least in the phase of the taking of Tell-El-Kibir itself.
In addition, a detail that has been rather omitted during all this summary, which is badly noticed by reading the Novel, is that Mafarka is not a “model” protagonist; as far as his dedication to the city he liberated and its people can be seen, admire him to such an extent that every woman feels honored to be in his arms and every man feels ready at most to die for him without thinking about it twice, Mafarka all this does not seem to interest much of his people, at least up to a point. In fact, his behavior is better defined as “strict but fair”. But on the other hand, despite being quite material or severe with people, it seems that our Machiavellian protagonist mainly cares about one person; his brother Magamal.
Magamal: Mafarka’s younger brother and also one of the few if not the only secondary characters in the novel, seems to be an EXTREMELY important figure for his older brother, and this can be seen in all the chapters summarized so far. From welcoming him and treating him very kindly in the first chapter to caring for him in the third and fourth chapters. And from what little we read about Magamal he seems to be a much more emotional character in general than Mafarka and always ready to want to get be worth even more than he is to his older brother. And he too, like Mafarka, we don’t have very much if not almost nothing about his past as his brother.
And so this is the only information we are given in four chapters? An imperfect protagonist who feels love for his younger brother? Well … yes. But as said before we are only at ⅓ of the work and its messages and representations will be better explored at the end of this adventure. You see this little analysis that I wanted to do, see it as a smattering of what will come next, and trust me, it took a while… But, speaking of the work, I think it’s time to continue.
The Fifth Chapter takes place a few hours after the end of the Fourth where Mafarka heads there to his father’s fortress, Ras-El-Kibir called Gazr-El-Husan or as named by Mafarka in the previous chapter”The Belly of the Whale” where he organizes a banquet to which the locals have been invited to celebrate the coronation of Mafarka. And, in between the banquet, the music and the exhibit of exotic fish present in the giant aquarium on the walls of the hall while a person shows up at the banquet; he is Bubassa’s young nephew, Sabbatan. Despite the hatred, Mafarka still invites him to eat his fill. And it is here in this atmosphere of hilarity and fun that a jester appears and begins to play what appears to be a game based on riddles, all right until he ends up in a pose:
《… Then came the turn of the butterfly fixed on the parchment with a pin, which he resembled the poet, a victim of his own vanity… But already most of the guests were beginning to be distracted, since almost everyone was drunk or drowsy and half-reclined on the tablecloths, so that the bizarre buffoon concluded announcing, with mysterious birdcatcher gestures, that he was about to ask the more difficult question. To then, great commotion around the tables. Some woke up to a noise of banging pots against each other and from which fruits fell and preserves flew. Others, landed from drunkenness, they complained of being trampled on. The circle of listeners narrowed. — One day a starving wolf cub was taken by a shepherd, who fed and cared for it for a long time. Finally, the wolf ate his benefactor… What does that mean?》
And it is here that with this story Sabbatan makes the connection and accuses Mafarka; but he replies:
《”You’re lying, mangy dog!… I haven’t eaten my benefactor!” I am a son of a king, ed sole legitimate heir to the crown of Tell-El-Kibir… You say Bubassa loved me? Oh! Street! … He loved me as the yoke loves the ox, as the spear loves the fish! But, on the other hand, what do you say laments?… Did I kill him, perhaps?… In reality my goodness was too great, and you have the right to reproach me… you, my guests, great citizens of Tell-El-Kibir, since it was he, Bubassa, who endangered the homeland! I’ll settle for banishing him. “In the belly of your fish?” murmured Sabbatan, held by the sides by some friends his. — Yes, in the Belly of my fish… And why not?… Was I not, myself, exiled to the Belly of Bubassa for all my youth? Luckily, I came out like a beautiful diamond swallowed… I came out with the nocturnal excrement that escapes from his intestine relaxed… Truly, he was a little affected by it in his health!…》
And it is after this discussion that we see one of the many “hardcore” scenes in the novel: that is, the moment when, as also a sign of demonstration for Sabbatan; two people, ie Ibrahim-Gandakatale and his son Aciaca are thrown and closed in the aquarium to then suffocate and be torn to pieces without too much hesitation by the fish in the aquarium. And after this scenario Mafarka asks to bring something to liven up the night and one of his servants brings two extremely charming women called Libahbane and Babilli. And Mafarka, extremely fascinated by the two women, decides to play a game with them which consists in choosing according to them the most manly man through the aid of their nostrils in total darkness, one of the two girls approaches Mafarka and it is there that he notices something wrong with the women and orders them to be thrown to the fish. But in all this rearrangement from the little bustle of the banquet a slave approaches Mafarka to give him terrible news concerning his brother.
And with this news the Sixth Chapter of the Novel opens in the midst of Mafarka’s hurried return to Tell-El-Kibir to the palace of Magamal’s wife, Uarabelli-Ciarciar. But near the entrances of the palace Mafarka meets a huge crowd present there intent on praying and in concern because a beast seems to have entered the Royal Palace. Seized by sheer concern and fear that the worst could have happened Mafarka forces his way with extreme force into the palace and walks there to find his brother and his wife in his room. But once Mafarka arrives he is present to a somewhat grotesque scenario:
《Mafarka advanced into the darkness of the bridal chamber. All around, on the columns, sphinxes and granite chimeras raged motionless, entangled in their braided beards. And it seemed to the king to hear the formidable panting of their lungs distended with effort, as those carved monsters they raised themselves on the levers of their hooked paws, trying to free themselves, with jerks of the kidneys, come on their constraints, to leap forward. He slipped on some kind of mushy mush, and didn’t understand. But a warm, sweet smell of human seed and putrefaction bit him in the nostrils, and his eyes, accustomed little by little in the dim light, they guessed the flaps of a female corpse, scattered everywhere, around he, ominously, as after a scourging. Then, wincing with anguish, he cried out to the slave, who advanced carrying his torch of flaming resin. The bed was smeared all over with a kind of scarlet mud, and it looked as if it had been torn apart by a struggle diabolic. Tufts of hair, vertebrae and bones ran between the blood-soaked pillows they looked as if they had been chewed by the teeth of a furious tiger. And Mafarka, with fluttering heart, and like a dream, stared for a long time at those miserable remains, from which exude a black odor of lust. Nothing else, nothing else remained of the divine Uarabelli-Ciarciar!…》
Immediately after this scene our protagonist sees in front of himself the fateful beast of which the people outside the castle were extremely afraid:
《A blackish monster that once resembled a gigantic slug and a colossal one nocturnal bird. But that monster had the contortions of a gorilla hanging from a branch, col body drawn up and with the head sunk between the shoulders.》
And it is there that Mafarka with extreme dismay discovers that the monster that had worried the city and that had devoured Uarabelli-Ciarciar was none other than Magamal himself after being driven insane by a bite from one of Chapter Three’s dogs. And here we also see how strong was Mafarka’s love for his brother:
《—Ah! My brother! My very direct brother! You don’t recognize me anymore, and you’re about to die! … Your blood was poisoned by the dog’s bite, and you mauled the object of your love, poor Uarabelli, your fiancée whom you adored!… Oh! No!… Don’t rage against you like that same as the statue of remorse!… Oh! I want to die too!… I extend my arms to you, for hold you here, on my heart!… What will I do with my life, without your smile?… How will I be able bear the memory of your desperate agony?… Oh! your hands! Your poor hands bhips!… Don’t bite them like that!… And don’t tear your chest apart, writhing like a serpent!… I am here to give you rest, to quench your hunger and your thirst!… Here are mine cheeks, to spite your teeth! …What do I care about the glory and the crown, since I wanted to conquer them only to give them to you, how do you play?… And you are about to die, without giving me your last glance… without pour me all your sadness in one last kiss… without confiding your last tears to me like a treasure!》
And with this speech, Magamal’s body suddenly detaches from the column and collapses to the ground. Indicating that Magamal is dead once and for all. And it is there at the sight of his brother dying, with all the anguish and sadness that Mafarka runs away from the building screaming. And with this conclusion we move on toSeventh Chapterwhich opens practically at sunset after the fateful event; with Mafarka watching the sunset looking at the citadel he looks towards the quay a black and forked sailing ship, and looking at it he takes action, leaving the palace of Uarabelli-Ciarciar with a mysterious black sack made of hippopotamus skin on his shoulders heading hastily without being seen on the ship for a location we are not yet aware of. Arrived on the ship and placed the sack, Mafarka lies down next to it, and towards him Mafarka looks at a boy with Banjo and Flute who starts playing a melody that Mafarka seems to have already heard in the past, and caressed by the music and the atmosphere of the sunset on that journey that was about to begin Mafarka begins to doze off and begins to have an internal struggle about how he feels at that precise moment:
《—I have abandoned the Struggle!… O sails of my desire, my vampires, will you then fall asleep forever?… Actually, he felt his body gradually collapsing under the rain of it melodic sand, and so fine, that it rose from the flute and furtively fell back to bury it. The calm of the evening was gently dissipating. The sailing ship was now skirting the high rocks I will do it, passing close to the lights, calm and luminous foreheads of sages, bent over their meek reflections as attentive and submissive disciples. And Mafarka, while keeping silent, asked them: – What are you listening to? Why are you trembling?… Submit?… To whom?… To what?… And the fate?… It must be built?… But what to do, when the materials are bad?… Fell apart? …Down there, the city, along the sea, now looked like a rusty iron bar, the which grew as the light was annihilated. But the negro’s flute rekindled the fires made of his lugubrious notes, which again moved the soul of Mafarka towards the reflections of the waves. He felt himself slipping gently, with those rosy flashes, in the transparency of the waters. He entered those little houses of crystal liquid, in the limpid circle of those familiar lamps, among the reverie of calm, prudent and religious faces, to flee the hurricane that it upset, outside, the leaves of his thought! “Over there,” they said, “don’t you see the fascinating barn owls of those whirlpools?… You will find them.” a soft and slow death!… Come! You can sink into our arms, and vanish like a reflex! But, abruptly, his thought leapt forward barking: — Why, why, Mafarka, do you let these dreamy shapes and images creep along and complaining, about the relentless stiffness of your lucid will?… You don’t already have to cultivate love and suicide, but rather pain, which is virile and fruitful!… Accept sadness and the bitterness with which evening waters space! Feed your heart with nostalgia! Give it give eat all the clouds and all the stars!… Let him chew and chew them, but with hardness of the rocks that bite the bleak reflections of the sky! Beware of obeying the twilight!… You are and will be a slave to this dead man you love, a slave to your mourning!… You are a victim of victim of the dogs of the Sun!… You must perpetuate in your soul the echo of their funeral cries, challenging the boulders of your future with their silvery and fetid slime!…》
And in this internal conflict between Mafarka’s resentments and the peaceful air of the nocturnal climate and music, an individual called Massabanera together with two other sailors advance towards the now sleeping Mafarka, but once he approaches Mafarka it is there that Mafarka understands that something goes wrong and jumps and starts defending himself from the three sailors who are: Massabanera, Raleh and Sabbatan that we have already seen in the Fifth Chapter. At the vision of Sabbatan, Mafarka has a moment of euphoria.
《—Oh Look!… Sabbatan! And Mafarka cackled with delight. It was Sabbatan, therefore, who had prepared him that pitfall, on the high seas! “You are not lucky, my friend! You will follow your two companions! Ah! Ah!… If you don’t feel like it already freeze your marrow, you are indeed very brave, and worthy of challenge… My strength is mine dexterity give good results… You see it!… And he pointed out to him the two corpses, stretched out on the deck, in full light. – Courage!… Come forward!… And like Sabbatan he hesitated: – On! Let’s finish it!… Look! I want you to taste this hippo skin! Mafarka lifted his brother’s body again, which had become more compact than a boulder, and shooting: — It’s Magamal, it’s Magamal, who will smash your June!… Magamal! my very direct brother! Forgive me, if I go like this flapping your poor flesh macerated in pain!… But I must also crush them, our enemies! Help me, then!… let’s fight again, a side by side, as on the walls!… And you help me with all the weight of your body!… Oh! there your anger!… I feel it grow with mine!… Thanks, thanks, brother!…》
And in the fight Mafarka and Sabbatan end up leading each other to the side of the ship clinging to a rope and it is in that moment that Sabbatan falls and Mafarka emerges victorious.
Entering the Eighth Chapter Mafarka arrives at his destination, i.e. “the Kataletoro Hypogeum” and it is there that, mooring to the shore between the palms and banana trees, Mafarka notices two “nuclei shadow”, i.e. the spirits of his father and mother, at this sight Mafarka takes the sack containing his brother and dives in to then run to them. And it is here on that the rest of the chapter unfolds in a discussion between the heartbreaking soul of the Mother in front of the sight of the now dead Magamal and the guilt of Mafarka, and this is where we get an interesting line and Mafarka’s new focus:
《It’s you, who asks me: “Where is it?”. So you no longer trust your son?… Alas! you do not you love more than Magamal! But even if it were just one word… you could have said it to me! …Now don’t get impatient, my mother! You will see him, you will see him soon!… He is here, among mine arms!… His voice resounds in mine!… Oh! they are not words, they are not symbols!… Un son will be born of me… a son of flesh and blood!… But he will be immortal, you know?… Immortal, oh my mother!… And from the bottom of eternity, you will be able to contemplate him always alive in front of you, and always radiant with youth!… So stop your crying!… You mustn’t cry anymore! Serbian your tears for the day of my death, which is approaching!…》
And it is with this promise and with a speech on the renunciation of the struggle and his title of king of Africa in order to follow his “Want much more” that the spirit of the parents take the sack containing the body of Magamal and disappear, ending with Mafarka admiring the great gulf of Agagaroh.
The Ninth Chapter opens with Mafarka inside a quarry hearing someone calling to him. Leaving the quarry, Mafarka sees this purple and ebony sailing ship accompanied by three other sailing ships and all of them are loaded with men who have come to offer Mafarka the supreme command, but Mafarka refuses the thing, also starting a speech defined as the Futurist speech. The core of Mafarka’s discourse in this chapter gives us an explanation not only of how history progresses but through it we have a more direct vision of Futurism, having two meanings: – The literal one: Since in this speech Mafarka is extremely against the choice of sailors who decided to find him only to stick to him calling them a ” “, that despite having the choice to do whatever they have decided to look for him to be his servants, but Mafarka doesn’t care about this, on the contrary, it is precisely the idea of growing old on a throne with the scepter in his hands one of his fears, and he decides to “return” it since he already enjoyed enough and that’s also why he left and retired to the quarry concentrating on his goal of creating his son who Mafarka said in the chapter will have the greatness and power of a divinity that nothing and no one can stop. breed of dogs and beaten slaves – The “Meta” one: Although this speech is addressed to sailors, as previously mentioned, it also gives an explanation of what Futurism points to and from the criticisms and questions that Mafarka makes to sailors, it can also be interpreted as a criticism of the ignorance of not wanting to have ambitions, the absence or false presence of a sense of originality and individualism which is nothing but defeatism or vulgar conformism. And this thing can be read practically throughout the entire chapter since it focuses only on this speech and also a small discussion between Mafarka and the sailors. Mafarka representing the will of the Futurists, who point to something inconceivable such as the ascension to something more metaphysical in the case of Mafarka and the sailors who tend to represent the average person, the everyday individual, or simply following something blindly without fully understanding it. And after this double meaning speech, Mafarka bids farewell to his brothers in arms and retires to continue the creation of his son. And it is from here on that we see the latest change in Mafarka’s behavior.
In the Tenth and Eleventh Chapter his determination can be seen in his son’s now almost complete construction through the use of the Smiths of Milmillah and the weavers of Lagahourso. The Chapter Ten opens with two girls called Habibi and Luba who have gone with baskets of food and drink with the intention also of spending a moment of lust with the one who by now has become the “Great King of Africa” for the population. Mafarka spotting the two girls approaching him warmly welcomes them and then suddenly frowns and drives them away because by now he is too busy with the obligation to finish his creation, finish the so-called “birth without the use of a woman” by him quoted. But his battle against lust and earthly pleasures does not end here since in the following chapter, having returned to the Ippogei to admire the panorama, an extremely sensual figure with a “pearl mother” face and an extremely attractive body. He turns out to be Colubbi, ” and came to drive away Mafarka from his goal, but despite the temptation Mafarka tries to drive away the independent woman from his seductions. But, he actually momentarily manages to escape due to a great uproar of rumours coming from the area where Gazurmah is being built and Mafarka rushes there to see what happened. Arrived at the source of the screams, another grotesque scenario appears before you: Due to the great tension and hatred between the Smiths of Milmillah and the Weavers of Lagahourso who in the course of construction did nothing but make the Weavers worse out of hatred and also spite against the Smiths they tilted the cage of Gazurmah to crush all the Smiths. Obviously Mafarka (Pissed off like the worst beasts) takes the whip and decides to punish and force the Weavers to fix their son’s cage and wings. And to make matters worse, to add to the worst, (including the fact that Colubbi returns to haunt Mafarka this time using Mafarka’s nostalgia for his youth) a hurricane is approaching the island, and Mafarka’s solution is simple, and here I want to quote the book for the umpteenth time: Blue depth of your adolescence
《With his formidable hands he uprooted three hundred giant trees and arranged them in bundles, a hundred apart cubits from each other. Then drawing sparks from two pieces of granite, he lit those funeral pyres.》
And continuing one page later…
《A whole wood, a whole large population of gigantic trees was thus sacrificed in that orgy vegetable, to anoint and perfume the agile thighs of the winds with resin and to appease them with a thousand kindnesses》
And, with this blow that would make any environmentalist faint, Mafarka manages to turn the hurricane off the island, which overwhelms three sailing ships. And after doing all this the Colubbi problem still remains.
And, we finally got to the Twelfth and Last Chapter of this novel. The novel opens with Mafarka admiring and praising his son who is now finished building, a humanoid and winged creature which, as described by Mafarka, is perfect since he will not have to submit to the laws of nature, space and time. Admiring his child, Colubbi interrupts her moment by claiming that she is Gazurmah’s mother. And here begins the last confrontation between Mafarka and Colubbi, which sees Mafarka victorious by finally posing as Colubbi once and for all. Once the confrontation is over, Mafarka decides to show his finished work to the mummy (and spirit) of the mother, making Mafarka realized after the death of his brother. And finally, as a last act both to finish the work and to free himself once and for all, through a kiss to the creation of him, Mafarka transfers his soul to Gazurmah. The latter, now fully animated, violently throws the now dead body of Mafarka and takes off. And the last six pages of the novel tell of Gazurmah’s goal and accomplishment in dethroning the Sun and making it his slave along with the other elements such as the Sea, Wind and Earth and that he must conquer the capital of the “Scarlet Emperor”.
《Thus the great hope of the world, the great dream of total music, came true finally in the wings of Gazurmah… The flight of all the songs of the earth was sublimated in theirs extensive inspired rowing!… Divine longing for Poetry! Desire for fluency! Noble advice of rivers and flames!… And Gazurmah went up. The uplifting, sweet melody of her orange wings had captivated a flock of condors, which followed him in the sky, long scarf continuously knotted and jointed》
And this is how the work ends…
Analyses: This story is certainly a unique experience. A leader who seems to crave nothing but glory, decides to stumble upon an ascension pilgrimage to something more Metaphysical. Giving up all that he has gained, the pleasure of the present and the nostalgia of the past and even his own body in order to achieve something much greater. Which distinguishes it not only from the twentieth-century stories that speak mainly of the individual as inept or the exploration of his conscience, Marinetti through this novel goes against the tide and announces that man can and is much more, an entity that can subjugate from the most mundane concepts like nature to something much deeper like space and time through nothing other the pure will and ideal in of something better. Which also has an impact against many philosophical concepts; from the spiritual ones where the ascension or the achievement of another existential plane can be achieved with patience and self-improvement up to the philosophical concepts influenced by the newborn Nihilist current where man or his existence is not worth very much or even nothing announcing Futurism not only as an alternative to the artistic world and antiquated Italian society but also as an alternative against the mentality of thinking and passive philosophy by bringing to the table a resolve of one’s problems in a straightforward way. In addition, we must think that this work not only respects and puts the standards of Futurism in the message behind the work, but even in the description of the surrounding world and in the narrative of the heroic deeds of the King of Africa. A work that does not follow a pattern of ups and downs but it starts in the middle of the moment and it always evolves into something more. Although this work is quite short, we are talking about not even 200 pages, it certainly knows how to contain some nice surprises… But the surprises do not end here because obviously how could Italian society ever have reacted to such a book
Part III The trial and acquittal of Mafarka the Futurist After the translation and subsequent publication of the book in 1910 in Italy, towards October of the same year Marinetti was required to appear at court for the charge of outrage against decency. The accusation was due to the first two chapters of the novel he created, mainly regarding what they narrate by describing scenarios and situations that the average Italian of the time could find extremely uncomfortable. Going to also lead to the temporary censorship of the book in the meantime of this legal burden. Among other things, the whole process was transcribed and represented in a book called “The trial and acquittal of Mafarka the Futurist”. Unlike the Novel itself, the process is certainly easier to explain, in short: The Case is divided into two days, and in these two days there were also present other than Marinetti, the literary critic and journalist Louis Capuanato represent the defence against the novel, explaining to the court the meaning of the book (Mainly the one explained at the end of the 2nd Part). Going to end with the acquittal and the republication of the novel and with Marinetti who through this matter managed to gain easy publicity both for his work but also for his movement (which I assume he would have done the same even if he had lost).
Surely the court case, however brief, can make us reflect on what can actually be considered art, or to be more precise whether the method by which it is communicated can be understood? Certainly here we go on the field of personal opinions. And for my part, having read the work and looking at the court case, I think Marinetti’s work manages to communicate the message he wants to give. And that the accusation with which the work was then stained is nothing more than a mere misunderstanding based on a first impact reading. And this event while I was writing my considerations and thoughts about it brought me back to a case that I would not define similar but almost. That is the case when Goblin Slayer was released back in 2018 and even in that case there was a stir around the web because of his rape scene in the first episode, but fortunately unlike the case of Mafarka the Futurist there was not a court case about it, but people’s reaction to it was pretty much similar, outrage, And linking to my original point; I believe that, yes, the means of a work can help to convey the message, or if we want to see it a little more superficially they can also only develop the plot or the character, just think of other literary works such as “I have no mouth and I must scream” by Harlan Ellison. Or staying in the anime and manga context; Miura’s Berserk or even Go Nagai’s Devilman where violence is part of the work and through that the plot and the characters develop (for better or for worse) and where many times it is asked if it is actually worth it or why you do. Even outside of the deep meanings I can say that the violence within a work can also help to remember that not everything is perfect and it also helps us to keep our feet on the ground. Obviously this speech is not going to justify in any way unjustified violence or violence done just to do it, please the last thing I want is for another Redo of Healer to be created.
Final Thoughts So, after all this tumultuous journey and me investing months of reading and researching this script, can I recommend this book to you? Well, yes, but with one exception. Avoid the Adler version. I’m sorry to say but the book is adapted a bit like the ass, where sometimes I saw dashes where there weren’t any need, dialogue jumbled and not to mention that sometimes for some reason the letter “r” was replaced by a “1”. Interesting edition but a little bad. So anyone interested in this book I do not recommend this publisher. And moreover, for those who want to understand the messages of the work and want to see an interesting case with an artistic theme, I also recommend “The Trial and The Acquittal of Mafarka the Futurist”.
I finish by quoting the last part of the process
《_As soon as, from the first sentences of the reading, the Futurists had guessed that the poet Marinetti was acquitted, a hurricane of applause broke out. It was a real tide of enthusiasm, in which the author of Mafarka the Futurist, raised in the arms of his friends, was carried in triumph. The cheering crowd accompanied the cheering Futurists through the central streets of Milan, shouting at the top of his voice: Long live Marinetti! Long live Futurism!》
Thanks and Marchetta For anyone who has come to this part one way or another I just want to say this; thank you. Thanks, thanks and thanks again. Thank you so much for watching this video, thank you so much for getting me to the milestone of 350+ subscribers, thank you for waiting so long and getting this video that I wasted all summer making. I can’t be ungrateful in your (or yours if you’re watching it with someone) patience and willingness to listen to this video. Although I know that my videos come out every Pope’s death and that not many see my videos and everyone concentrates on gnawing at the video about Mortebianca, I am still happy and determined not only to continue what I do but also this new format. And speaking of thanks, I would never have developed or shaped this idea in such a profound way without the help of the Blast editorial team. And what is the Blast…. Well, whatever your deep imagination can think of, your undiagnosed schizophrenia, or even just a webzine off the political compass. Check it out, it’s not worth the time. And another channel that I want to sponsor, are my friends on Youtube and Telegram of FuturismForever, a channel based on art, writings and avant-garde style. Take a look at them too and maybe even say hello. I’m Eisen, and we’ll see you with a new video, my dear video viewers.
Futurism Forever 