Mafarka Before Being a Futurist: the Intimate Egypt in the Writings of F.T. Marinetti.

Abstract

This essay elaborates the complexity of Italians’ identity especially ones such as modernist artist and writer F.T. Marinetti. By analyzing Marinetti’s writings in light of his early life in Egypt, Wassef suggests that the Futurist aesthetic he formulated in Egypt reflects a combination of and interaction among his Italian and Egyptian identities and cultures rather than being the product of an artistic movement inspired by Fascism and a reality regulated by racial laws, censorship, and colonial aspirations. By proposing a new approach to the reading of Marinetti’s work published between 1909 and 1933 and a close look at the language he uses, we become more aware of the complexity of cultural identities when studying literature(s) that emerged as a result of their crossing and encounters.