The Futurist Manifesto by Filippo Tommaso Marinetti -- Summary

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Written in 1909 in Italian.

Marinetti and his friends are having a fruitful discussion, writing, and feeling proud of being unique in their endeavors. They are distracted by the noises of vehicles going through the street. They rejoice in technology. They are filled with a sense of power and recklessness. They go in the car and shout stuff, and two cyclists disapprove. This prompts the writer to throw the car into a ditch. As fishermen and naturalists fish the car out of the muck, they "dictate our first will and testament to all the living men on earth". Their manifesto promotes:

  • taking risks and being rash
  • rebellion
  • glorifying technology
  • meshing nature with technology
  • technology that brings speed as the end of all things- the future is here
  • war and violence
  • anti-feminism, moralism, museums, and libraries (?)

They want to reform Italy so that nothing remains of the past: professors, archeologists, museums, and libraries will be gone. They want daily visits to museums done away with because ties to the past prevent future progress. They call to do this through violent revolt. It is to be a revolt of the young, who will violently rid themselves of the elder generation. 


Filippo Tommaso Marinetti. Image source

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