Schnapp - Fascist Mass Spectacle

18 BL: Fascist Mass Spectacle
Author(s): Jeffrey T. Schnapp

Source: Representations, No. 43 (Summer, 1993), pp. 89-125
Published by: University of California Press
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JEFFREY
T. SCHNAPP
18 BL:
Fascist Mass Spectacle
Moscow OR ROME? The question was posed withurgencythroughout the 1920s and 1930s. Socialistpamphleteersdrew up diagrams to illustrate
the starkchoice confrontingall of humankind:"Fascismor Communism; Rome
or Moscow."' Fascistsyndicalistslike Sergio Pannunzio envisionedcontemporary
historyas a clash betweenthe twosecularchurchesthathad arisenafterthedeath
of God: the fascist"religionof spirit"and the Bolshevist"religionof matter."2
Others formulatedthe dilemma less as a choice between Rome or Moscow than
betweenRome and Moscow versusthe old Europe:
ofhistory.
Modernrevolution
is bornin these
Italyand Russia... twospatialunfoldings
The firstgreatin the spiritualgrandeurof itsuniversalmission.The
gigantictheaters.
secondgreatinthehumangrandeurofitsmanypeoples.The politicalprocessthatbegan
in 1789and extendedintothecapitalist
phase,nowexplodesand reachesitsrevolutionary
and thefresh
ofRomancivilization
epilogue,fusinginequalmeasuretheenduringvitality
ofMoscow'santi-civilization.3
and primitive
vitality
A widespread convictionsubtends these views: namely,that liberal democracy
had run its fullcourse in history.Industrializationhad ensured the triumphof a
new mass societyand, so manybelieved,the demise of all liberal formsof social,
cultural, political,and economic organization. The bourgeois individual, who
once stood at the centerof the universeof liberaldemocracy,had been buried in
the trenchesof WorldWar I. The question facinghumankindwas, therefore,one
of succession.What sort of being would take the place of the bourgeois subject?
What sortof mass societywould arise out of the trenches'mud? Would the identityof the new subject and societybe anchored in the concept of class or in that
of the nation? Would theircharacterbe utopian, utilitarian,and collectivist;or
instead mythical,aesthetic,and individualist?Did all roads lead to Moscow or
instead to Rome?
withinwhicha new mass subject could be shaped
Culture was the laboratory
and new formsof mass organizationtestedout. I use the metaphorof the "laboratory"advisedly,not only because it pervades the culturaldebates of the 1920s
and 1930s, fromthe Proletkultto the Bauhaus, but also because it underscores
the inaugural role assigned by both revolutionsto cultural artifacts.Works of
fascistor communistart were conceived not merelyas instrumentsof propaganda; theywere to serve as messengersfromthe future,relaysfromthe imagiREPRESENTATIONS
43
Summer 1993 (C
THE REGENTS
OF THE UNIVERSITY

OF CALIFORNIA
89
nary to the real, activatingwithin the collective'smind and body the entire
And since the
complex of the revolution'svalues yetto befullyrealizedin history.
values in question encompassed everyarea of human activity-fromworkto leisure,frompoliticsto ethicsto individualpsychologyto a regimeof bodilyhygiene
and exercise-culture was envisaged in total,even totalitarian,terms.
artof choice, much as it had
From the startthe theaterwas the revolutionists'
been during the French Revolution.Due to its value as a tool for mobilizingan
art form,and to
illiteratepopulation, to its statusas the preeminentfin de sitecle
itspotentialas a totalspectacleblendingall of the arts,the theaterunderwentan
explosion in the years followingthe October Revolution.Hundreds of amateur
and professionalclubs sprang up throughoutRussia and performedagitprop
works,leading ViktorShklovskyto remarkwrylythat"drama circles... are propagatinglike protozoa. Not lack of fuelnor lack of food nor the Entente-nothing
can stop theirgrowth."4Thousands of actors performedin open-air mass spectaclesrecreatingthe eventsof the revolution;workertheatersproliferatedunder
the guidance of Alexander Bogdanov's Proletkult;and directorssuch as Vsevolod
Meyerholdproclaimeda "TheatricalOctober,"launchinga war againstthe bourgeois theateras millionsstarvedand Russia battledthroughitsbittercivilwar.By
1920, it seemed to Shklovskythat "all Russia is acting; some kind of elemental
processis takingplace wherethe livingfabricof lifeis being transformedintothe
of everydaylifewas understood
The purpose of thistheatricalization
theatrical."5
as
once
and
utilitarian.Through the revotheorists
at
utopian
by contemporary
lutionarytheateritwas hoped that"a new generationof harmoniouslydeveloped
individuals"would be forged.6
Fascismwas in itsinfancyas Russia decked itselfout as a livingstage. Originatingfromwithinthe fold of socialism,the fascistmovementemerged in 1919
and war vetout of an ill-definedgroupingof nationalists,irredentists,futurists,
erans,drawn togetherbytheiroppositionto Italy'sparliamentarianregime,to its
politicsof accommodationvis 'a vis a wave of strikesand factoryoccupations,and
to the Treatyof Versailles.Althoughsmall,the movementwas able to seize state
power in 1922. But it was not untilthe late 1920s thatfascism's"culturalrevolution" trulybegan: first,because Mussolinihad ruled over the old parliamentary
stateuntil 1925, when his dictatorshipwas declared; second, because fascismwas
an inherentlyunstableideological formation.Fascismdid not have at itsdisposal
a complete philosophical systemlike that provided by Marxism-Leninismas it
struggledto address such fundamentalconflictsas thosebetweenitspopulistand
elitistcurrentsor betweenitscultof heroic individualismand itsinstitutionalcall
to order. Rather,fascismwas littlemore than a complex of ethical principles,
glue. Unable to
credos, and aversions,held togetherby a rhetorical-aesthetic
to
the
its
of
recourse
utopias of theory
resolve the question of identitybymeans
and technology,haunted byitsown belatednesswithrespectto itsBolshevikrival,
fascismrequired (and attemptedto stimulatethrough the lavish patronage of
90
REPRESENTATIONS

1. Ferdinando
Gatteschi,poster for18 BL,
1934. Posted throughout
Florence and reproduced in
newspapersand on the cover
this
of Gioventfifascista,
postershows the spectacle's
protagonistrollingover a
line of barbed wire earlyin
act 1. In later printingsthe
slogan "Credere, Obbedire,
Combattere"("Believe, Obey,
Fight")was handwrittenover
te truck'sradiator; the
inscription"A. Blasetti
Director"took the place of
the acronym"G.U.F."
FIGURE
t-I
/
-/\
---y
X
v+(Gruppi
i
i
Universitari
Fascisti).Source: Blasetti
Archive.
modern art) "an aestheticoverproduction-asurfeitof Fascistsigns,images, slogans, books, and buildings-in order to compensate for,fillin, and cover up its
unstable ideological core."7This is one reason whythe fascistregime,despite its
authoritarianism,tended towardan "eclecticismof the spirit"in itsculturalpolicies, encouraging a proliferationof competingformulationsof fascistmodernity,
among whichMussolini feltfreeto choose as a functionof circumstance.8
This essay examines one such formulation:an experimentalmass spectacle
thatwas engaged both in negotiatingthe fascistrevolution'srelationto itsSoviet
predecessor and in forgingan alternativeto Bolshevism'smechanicalmass subject-the fascistideal of 'tmetallizedman." Entitled18 BL (afterthe model name
the spectacle was the featuredeventof the 1934 Littoof its truck-protagonist),
riali Della Cultura e dell'Arte, fascism'syouthOlympicsof art and culture (fig.
1).9The collaborativecreationof seven young writersand a filmdirector,18 BL
trucks,eight bulldozers,four fieldbrought togethertwo thousand actors,fifty
and machine-gunbatteries,ten fieldradio stations,and six photoelectricbrigades
in a stylizedSoviet-stylerepresentationof the fascistrevolution'spast, present,
18BL

91
and future.But howevertitanicitsscale, itsambitionswere even greater:to institute a theaterof the future,a modern theaterofand forthe masses that would
end, once and for all, the crisisof the bourgeois theater.Against the bourgeois
stage'semphasis on individualpsychology,itsreliance on the starsystem,and its
maintenance of partition between interior and exterior forms of spectacle
(between the theater'sprivatedramas and the state'spublic acts of self-display),
18 BL elaborated a totalconceptof spectaclefounded on fascism'swholesale theatricalizationof Italian life.Moreover,it aspired to fashiona distinctivemass hero
forthe new mass theater:a being cast in the image of the nation'sleader, at once
individualized and mass produced; a subject identifiedwith the transnational
values of industrialism,as well as withnew image and voice technologies,but in
whom the principleof the nationcould be modernizedand preserved.It created,
in short,a mass protagonistwho could representthe fascistrevolution'scontinuitieswithits Bolshevikdouble but who, in so doing, could also embody the distinctivefascistethos of constant exertion and fatigue endured by means of
individualand collectivediscipline.
18 BL was but one of a number of interlockingtheatricalinitiativesundertaken in early 1930s Italy,so I begin byexaminingthe event'sbroader context.I
then turnto the spectacleitself,to itsorganization,realization,and failure,concluding withsome remarkson fascistcultureas a whole. I wish to insistfromthe
outset,however,thatmyobjectof analysishere cannot be designated as the "official theaterof the regime."A diversityof theaterscoexisted during the 1930s,
some traditionalin character,some avant-garde,few"propagandistic"in the ordinary sense. No simple correlationexists,therefore,between state sponsorship
and explicitpoliticalcontent.Those fewmajor worksthat,like 18 BL, endeavored
to devise specificallyfascistformsof theaterhave generallybeen dismissedeither
as "kitsch"or as expressionsof artisticbad faith.
I view the effortto dissectworkslike 18 BL and to reconstructthe complex
social choreographyof theirstagingas a challenge to the modes of writingculturalhistorythathave prevailedin thestudyof Italian fascism.For reasons having
claims,the first
to do withthe urgentneed to dismantlefascism'scultural-political
generationof post-warculturalhistorianswas averse to an enterpriseof thissort.
thisgenerationtookas axiomaticBenedetto
Whetherliberalor Marxist-affiliated,
Croce's notion, articulatedin the 1925 "Manifestoof the Anti-FascistIntellectuals," that fascismand culture were diametricallyopposed. Its historiography
writing,turned a blind eye to the
thereforeemphasized apoliticalor anti-fascist
political commitmentsof writerssuch as Giuseppe Ungarettiand Luigi Pirandello, and elaborated thefictionthatneorealism-the characteristicculturalform
of the 1930s and 1940s-represented a revoltagainst the unrealityand manipulationsof the fascistepoch. Althoughitsfindingswere sometimesvaluable, this
historiographicalmodel was graduallydisplaced by more complex second- and
histhird-generationapproaches that addressed a question the first-generation
92
REPRESENTATIONS

torianseithercould or would not: namely,How did Mussolini'sregime maintain

the support of the Italian populace duringa period of over two decades? Terror
and censorshipwere inadequate responses; so, inspiredby the ground-breaking
work of historians such as Renzo de Felice, "consensus"-orientedhistorians
of the realms of
turned theirattentionto the fasciststate'sinstrumentalization
media, culture,intellectualinquiry,and leisure. "Consensus" studies have revolutionizedthe studyof fascistculturalpolitics.Yet,due to an inherentbias toward
mattersof policyand a desire to provide a unified,top-downperspectiveon fascistculture,theytend to shyaway fromsustained engagementswithfascistaestheticartifacts,withthe resultthatthe latterstillremain largelyunread.
I believe thatit is preciselythissort of analysisof the fascistimaginarythat
mustnow be undertakenin the pursuitof a complementary,as it were "lateral,"
perspectiveon the culturalhistoryof the fascistdecades. Culturalhistorians,that
is, need to look beyond the broad descriptivetaxonomies that have heretofore
occupied them to bring to bear a broader set of methodologicaltools (psychoanalysis,reception theory,and so on) on the reading of the period's aesthetic
production.In so doing, theirtaskwillbe twofold:on the one hand, to propose
new periodizations that help to account for the notable continuitiesbetween
aestheticproduction;on the other
fascist-periodcultureand pre-and post-fascist
hand, to attend to the deeper question of how and whya generationof writers
and artists,as well as a substantialsegmentof theiraudience, not onlyheard and
gave heed to the regime's call to forge an authentic fascistculture but also
expanded upon and reinventedthiscall, often transformingit into a personal
calling. Fascism'sinterpellativesuccess in post-WorldWar I Italy,that is, points
less to the efficacyof certainviolenttacticsand policyinitiativesor to the crisisof
the liberalstatethan to the fact,well understoodbyGeorges Bataille,thatfascism
elaborated a mythfar more powerfuland psychologicallyastute than that provided byeitheritsliberalor socialistrivals.'0While Mussolini'spolicyeffortshave
been well described,it is only recentlythatthe persuasive effectsof thisrevolutionarymythor itsabilityto sustaina pluralityof competingculturalformulations
has begun to .be accounted for in any detail." The event under consideration
here, 18 BL, put forwardone distinctiveredactionof thisfascistmyth.Although
influentialamong intellectualsin the heady atmosphereof the early 1930s, with
itsdebates on the collectivenovel,rationalistarchitecture,and fascisttypography,
thisversionwould prove less successfulin the long run. And thislack of success
renders 18 BL all the more valuable a case studyof the uncertaintiesof fascism
in the making.The first(and last) fascistexperimentwithSoviet-stylemass theaterwas manythingsto manypeople: to thefascistyouthorganizations,a training
exercise; to itsdirectorand his supporters,a batteringram against culturalconservatives;to the theatercommunity,a solution to the crisis of the theater; to
Mussolini'sstate,a potentialanswer to the vexingquestion of fascism's(cultural)
identity.In thisessay,thisclusterof meaningsis explored.
18BL

93
Shklovsky'searlier-citedremark that the fabric of Russian life was being

"transformedinto the theatrical"in the wake of the 1917 revolutioncould well
be applied to fascistItaly.As never before,theatercame to permeate the fabric
of Italian lifein the 1920s and 1930s, fromthe streetsto the public squares to the
factoryfloorto the corridorsof Palazzo Venezia. Among the fascisthierarchs,no
less than six ministersor Grand Council or Directoratememberswere involved
with the theater: Enrico Corradini, author of Giulio Cesare;Roberto Farinacci,
who penned a play entitled Redenzione;Galeazzo Cianno, foreign minister
between 1936 and 1943 and author of La fortunadi Amleto;Cornelio di Marzio,
creatorof Occhidi gufo;Alessandro Pavolini,futureMinisterof Popular Culture,
author of Le fatalone;and, finally,Edmondo Rossoni, head of the fascistlabor
unions and ministerof agriculturebetween 1935 and 1939, co-authorof II canto
del lavoro,withmusical accompanimentprovidedby Pietro Mascagni. Never one
to be outdone bymembersof his entourage,Benito Mussolinidabbled frequently
in the contemporarytheater.During the 1930s he collaboratedwithGiovacchino
Forzano on a trilogyof tragediesdepictingthe lives of Napoleon, Cavour, and
(howevermodesttheirliterary
JuliusCaesar.12 To theseexercisesin playwrighting
value) one must add a vigorous participation in debates concerning state
patronage of the theaterand opera.'3
The hierarchs'singular commitmentto the art of theater must be viewed
against the backdrop of a widelyperceived and decried "crisisof the traditional
theater": a crisisof inadequate facilities,of a diminishingcontemporaryrepertory,of a falteringstar system,and of audiences in decline due (or such at least
was a widespread perception)to growingcompetitionfrommoviesand sporting
events.It was as an expressionof the formercommitmentand in response to the
latter crisis that a series of policy initiativescame about in the later 1920s,
designed to achievethreeinterrelatedgoals: first,to absorbthe fragmentedworld
of theaterinto the regime'scorporativestructures;second, to expand the traditional audience of theater,whether from the standpoint of topography or of
social class,in order to forgea genuine mass and nationalaudience; and third,to
alterand ideologicallyinflectthe wayin whichtheatricalworkswere delivered to
thisnew audience. The firstof these aims was addressed via the creation of the
Corporation of Spectacle in December 1930: a national entitybringingtogether
individuals at all levels of the music,theater,and filmindustries.'4The second
and the thirdobjectiveswere addressed via the creationof "philodramatic"associations,Theatrical Saturdays,Thespian Cars, and open-air festivals.Like the
open-air festivals,"philodramatic"associations had preexisted the March on
Rome, but it was under fascismthattheycame into theirown. They consistedin
amateur drama clubs that,under the aegis of the fascistafter-workorganization,
the Opera Nazionale Dopolavoro (OND), trained workersin the theaterarts.'5
Such clubs had been rare in the prefascistera, but by 1938 theynumbered over
2,000 and performedin 1,200 theatersall over Italy,in addition to which they
94
REPRESENTATIONS

staged 360 open-air performances before an audience of nearly 200,000

spectators.
If the philodramatists'stagecraftremained for the most part traditional
(embarrassinglyso in the eyes of fascistintellectuals),the intended intellectual
horizons were hardly provincial.'6The juries of the annual philodramaticcontestsalwaysincluded major criticslike Silvio D'Amico, and the movement'sstandard referencemanual was authored byno less than Antonio Valente,one of the
designers of the 1932 Exhibitionof the FascistRevolutionand inventorsof the
Carri di Tespi. It called fora theatercast in the image of "our era of the masses":
a theatersuited to the "incredulousand, in a way,atheisticspiritof the modern
world"and founded not on individualprotagonists,but instead on an "aesthetics
of thecompany."'17But beyondsuch qualitativeconsiderations,itis the sheer scale
of the movementthatis striking.As earlyas 1931, the philodramatistsperformed
13,733 playsin a singleyear.By 1938 the numberof regularphilodramaticactors
had surpassed 32,000, and the movementwas administering45 acting schools
and 469 regional theaterlibraries.'8
To this mass mobilizationof amateur dramatistscorresponded initiatives
focusedinsteadon the professionaltheater.The so-called"TheatricalSaturdays,"
a programof reduced-ratematineeperformancesheld in smallercities,reached
over400,000 workersand peasantsin 1936 alone. But farmore telling,as regards
the regime'sdeterminationto forgea nationalmass audience, were the Thespian
travelingtheatersdesigned by Valente and Forzano. First
Cars: state-of-the-art
developed in the late 1920s, the Carri di Tespi were divided into foursquadrons,
each withitsown companyof up to fourhundred actors,dancers, musicians,and
staff.Three were dedicated to stagingplays; a fourthto operas.'9 For nearlyten
years,thesefourcompaniescriss-crossedthepeninsulaeveryspringand summer,
performingbeforesmall-townaudiences rangingin size fromtwoto fifteenthousand. Their 1937 schedule, for instance,took them over 10,000 miles,withthe
drama cars performing124 timesbefore 170,000 spectatorsand the opera car
performing75 timesbefore 430,000 spectators.The tours' immediate purpose
was thatof bringingprovincialaudiences withinthe fold of Italian high culture.
They aimed to furtherfascism's"spiritualand intellectualreclamation"of Italy
and to propagate the nationallanguage "in thoseareas where dialectsstilldeform
our marvelouslanguage."20
But on a deeper level, the medium was the true message. Mobile and modular,capable of rapid assemblyand disassemblybyteamsof technicians,featuring
thebestin contemporarystageand lightingdesign,theThespian Cars functioned
as vehiclesforfascistvalues.2' Their mere arrivalconstitutedan event,thanksto
media coverage and to effortson the OND's part to coordinate transportationof
rural workersto the show.Such expectationswould come to a head on the day of
the performanceas the trucksrolled into the city'smain square, whereupon an
army of technicianswould feverishlyset about the task of erectingcanvas and
18BL

95
steelarmatures.22Alwayswell attended,thispre-performance"show"was meant

achieved throughcorporativeorganization.In the
to put on displaytheefficiency
words of Paolo Orano:
ofworkis appliedwiththeutmostrigor.Everygesturehasa funcThe scientific
discipline
tionand is brief,resolute,firm.Hands and shouldersturntowardpieceswhoseposition
oftubesrisessolidlyup
thescaffolding
Suddenly,
is knownprecisely.
in theconstruction
he livesand mastersthesectorof materialfor
intotheair.Everyworkeris a technician;
whichhe is responsible.23
Broken down into segmentedtasksthatcan be masteredby individual laborers
disciplineof work"displayed in the
workingin close collaboration,the "scientific
building process may sound just like the sortof Tayloristideology advocated by
But it is only superficially
Lenin during the firstphase of the Sovietrevolution.24
so inasmuch as the end producttowardwhichthe disciplinestrivesis not a technological utopia founded on an ethos of utilitarianism.Instead, it aspires to
realize an aesthetic "totality"(identical to the nation): a totalityamounting to
more than the sum of any given set of individual parts,functions,or elements.
In the case of the Thespian Cars, the totalityin question is at once human,
mechanical,aerial, and electrical.Explicitlyassociated withthe advent of beauty,
itclaimsto resultfromfascism's"miraculous"overcomingof human nature,time,
and space-an overcoming,however,whose authenticityis guaranteed by its
being bound by nature,time,and space:
and precision.
isintelligence
and certainty
The skeletontakesshapebeforethe
Everything
ecstaticeyesof onlookers;itbecomeswalls,pillars,and vaults.Fromthehammerto the
and interthatdistributes
and multiplies
bolttothepulleytothedynamotothegenerator
theentiregamutofdevicesas wellas
currentforpurposesoflighting:
ruptstheelectrical
standbeforethepeople.A peoplewhosees and learnsjust
thefullrangeof technicians,
crudematterintostyle,
schoolofinnovation
transfigures
howrapidlyand easilyfascism's
of
of construction,
and beauty.Here thenis the miracleof transformation,
harmony,
thatis,ofthecorporative
age.25
makingthingsmentimespaceobey:themiracle,
The rapid passage described here from crude matterto art, from mere technologyto a transfiguredtotality(the corporativeage), was centralto the mythos
of the Thespian Cars, to the "politicalstyle"of the fasciststate,and, as will soon
be seen, to the concept of spectacleelaborated in 18 BL.
One could go on detailingotherfeaturesof the Thespian Cars: theirrefined
electricalcontrolbooths,theirlongitudinaltracksfor rapid set changes, and so
on. One could also document theirincreasinguse as platformsfor politicalpropaganda: "Giovinezza" and the "Hymn to Rome," forinstance,were sung at the
conclusion of the opera car's tour in 1937, a year during which"the most significant epic lyricsconcerned withthe FascistEmpire" were recited during intermissions.26But the key point would remain much the same: throughthese and
other aspects of theirdesign, construction,and staging,the cars portrayedthe
96
REPRESENTATIONS

fascist governmentas a ubiquitous agent of cultural-politicalmodernization

reachingout directlyto attendto the needs of the Italian masses and to forgethe
nation into a unifiedwhole. Moreover,the sleek visionof fascistmodernityconveyed by the cars and by theirstagecraftwas not to be contemplatedin isolation.
Rather,the "marvelous reality"that theywould bring to the provinces was to
not onlywiththeopen skybut also withtheclassical,medieval,and renaisresonate
sance architecturalbackdrops provided by Italian cities,so as to implya genealogicallinkbetweenthe nation'spast and presentgrandeur.27Such indirectforms
of allusion to culturaltraditionwould give way to far more heavy-handedones
during the period of Italy'simperialadventuresin Ethiopia, where open-air festivals brought as many as two million spectatorsa year into sites such as the
Roman arena in Verona.28
just describedreached as manyas threemillionItalians a year.
The initiatives
Yet theywere never intended as more than a preparatorystage. A second phase
was alwaysenvisioned in which the prefascistrepertorywould yield its place to
an authenticfascistrepertorymade up of worksthatwould convey the revolutionaryspiritof the times.29This fascistrepertorywas rarelyconceived in narrowlypropagandistic terms. Propagandistic intent,crude didacticism,and an
excessivereliance upon mechanizationwere among the featuresof the Sovietrevolutionarytheatermostregularlydecried in the culturaldebates of the 1930s, to
the point thatin 1932 Mussoliniwent so far as to turndown a proposal for the
building of two national theaterson the grounds that "the belief that modern
materialist
facilitieswillsave theprose theater"is "a typicallymechanico-positivist,
Musand
to
them
authors,
The
solution
instead
with
contemporary
lay
error."30
soliniaddressed himselfin April 1933, insistingthat"a Statecannot createitsown
literature."'3'He went on to summon them "to prepare a theater of masses, a
theaterable to accommodate 15,000 or 20,000 persons [thatwill] stirup great
collectivepassions, be inspiredby a sense of intensehumanity,and bring to the
The
stage thatwhichtrulycountsin the lifeof the spiritand in human affairs."32
"theaterof masses" Mussolinihad in mind was, in the firstplace, a physicalplant
akin to a modern sportsarena. In the second place, the phrase envisaged a popular, even populisttheaterthatwould forego the representationof private emotionsin favorof "thegreatcollectivepassions."The taskof puzzlingoutjust what
such passions mightconsistin or just how one mightfindfor them an adequate
dramaticformwas leftto others.
Like many fascistintellectuals,Alessandro Pavolini,the originatorof 18 BL,
heard Mussolini'sspeech as an invitationto create a theatermodeled afterfascism's most immediatecontributionto Italian national life: the mass rallies and
ceremonies that had become a common featureof daily life since the March on
Rome. Such an interpretationwould have been buttressedby il Duce's frequent
as the dramaturge of the Italian masses. In the phrase "stirup the
self-styling
greatcollectivepassions,"Pavoliniand his cohortsdoubtlessalso heard echoes of
18 BL

97
the culturalwar cryof F. T. Marinetti's1909 Manifestoof Futurism: "We will sing

the greatcrowdsstirredup bywork,pleasure, and revolt;we willsing the multicolored and polyphonictidesof revolutionin modern capitals."33Since futurism
had played an inaugural role in the rise of fascism,for Pavolini there could be
littledoubt thatthe "multicoloredand polyphonictide"bestsuitedto the requirementsof both the futuristleader and Mussoliniwas the fascistrevolution.Here,
then, was a fittingsubject matterto be sung in the new mass theater.And who
betterto sing it than Italy'syouth: the firstgenerationto have been raised in the
bracingclimateof the fascistera, the firstgenerationuntaintedbythe pre-fascist
past?
Pavolinihad risen rapidlythroughthe ranksof the PNF to become the federal secretaryof the Florentinefascio byage 26. In thiscapacityhe was entrusted
withorganizingthe 1934 "LittorialGames of Culture and Art": a national competitionamong universitystudentsin fieldssuch as painting,poetry,economics,
and politicalscience.35The games were a keycomponent in the regime'soverall
strategyfor "avoiding at all costs a riftbetween the generationthat foughtthe
war and the Revolution,and subsequent generations."36In the words of Achille
Starace,nationalsecretaryof the PNF duringthe 1930s, "thegoal of the Littoriali
was and is to directlyinfluenceyouth,spurringthem to reflectseriouslyoutside
the classroomon the mostpressingproblemsof contemporarypoliticaland spiritual life,in order to have a decisiveimpacton theirtrainingas a rulingclass."37
A breeding ground for the future fascistelite, these "Olympics of the spirit"
seemed the ideal settingforthe firsttheater"born and realized byforceswithno
prior experience of theateror spectacle: conceived by youth,directed by youth,
and acted out byyouth."38
The project was set in motion in late 1933 as Pavolini convened a series of
meetingsat the Casa del Fascio in Florence,attended by seven young to middleaged critics,playwrights,directors,and set designers: Luigi Bonelli, Gherardo
Gherardi, Sandro De Feo, Nicola Lisi, Raffaello Melani, Corrado Sofia, and
Giorgio Venturini.(Called in at a later point were the choreographer Angela
Sartorioand Ugo Ceseri, the actor who would play the driverof the lead 18 BL
truck.)In a period of intensedebate over the so-called "choral" novel, the spectacle took shape as a group creation.As Pavolinidescribesit:
of thespectaclewasdiscussed,thenideas
Firstthephysiognomy
Each of us contributed.
theidea ofarticulating
thewholearoundan 18
and finally
foritsplotwereputforward,
as singleand collectivepersonage;as
BL truckwas seizedupon: a truckas protagonist;
oftheFascistsquadrons,and ofbuildingprojects.39
heroofthewar,ofthestruggles
The era of the masses, it was thought,required new collectiveformsof art and
new collectiveheroes, be theyhuman or mechanical. The psychologismof the
naturalistnovel would have to give way to a mass epos that,mimingcommunications technologiessuch as radio and followingthe lead of novelistslike John
98
REPRESENTATIONS

vastand
Dos Passos and the Sovietwriters'collectives,commingled"theinfinitely
the infinitelyminute, the individual'svoice and the mob's howl."40The intertwined realitiesof urban experience, the trialsof the modern mass individual,
could be represented by pressing modernisttechniques, like the insertionof
externalobjectsintothenarrativestreamand the use of multiplenarrativevoices,
fascistformof realism.Such was the theorybehind
intothe serviceof a distinctly
the "choral novel" as formulated by the publisher Valentino Bompiani. It
remained to be seen, however,whetherthe proposed collectiveepos would be a
matter of process or simplyof product. In Pavolini's experiment the answer
would be "both." Every phase of the production process-from the shaping of
the scriptto the sellingof tickets-would put on displayfascism'scultureof collectivedisciplineand collaboration.And the spectacle itselfwould place masses
of actorsand machineson stage beforea mass audience.
Among the plotsconsideredbyPavolini'scollectivewere a sequence of battles
fromWorld War I, the so-called eccidiodi Empoli,and the murder of the young
fascistGiovanniBerta at the hands of Florentinecommunists.4'The lattertheme
prevailed at first,but as deliberationsproceeded the fascistmartyrwas shunted
aside in favorof an 18 BL truck.42The selectionof a truckas hero may not seem
self-evident,especiallygiven the importanceof the national train systemto the
fascistimagination.Since the late nineteenthcenturytrainshad indeed become
a privileged symbolof modernizationthroughoutthe world. This was all the
more true in a fragmentednation such as Italy,where theyhad come to signify
three key fascist"conquests": the reimpositionof discipline afterthe labor disruptionsof the post-warperiod, the forgingof a centralizednational state,and
the democratizationof once-bourgeoismodes of transport.This rendered trains
an effectivesymbolof centralgovernmentalpower. But when it came to representingthe revolution'sbeginnings,it was the truck-the proletarianvehicle par
excellence-that would prevail (much as in Bolshevistand Maoist iconography).
In the specificcase of Pavolini'sspectacle,the choice of an 18 BL was ensured by
the fact that this particular truck was already fully enshrined within the
mythologyof fascistsquadrism. Featured in the worksof painterssuch as Mario
Sironi,the 18 BL merged the iconographyof industrywiththe evocationof fascism's"outlaw"origins.43
A firsttreatmententitled18 BL was developed fromthe brainstormingsessions held at the Casa del Fascio.44Each author was assigned the task of fleshing
out a subsection of the work and, after collectivediscussion, the drafts were
passed along to Alessandro Blasetti,the young filmmakerPavolini had selected
to directthe spectacle.45Regarded bymanyas the Eisensteinof the fascistcinema,
Blasettihad just completed a suite of historicalfilmsinvolvinglarge numbers of
amateur actors,notablySole,TerraMadre,and 1860. From these directorialexperiencesBlasettiwould bringto 18 BL a batteryof techniquesformountingbattle
scenes and achievingcomplex twilightlightingeffects,as well as a stylizedrealist
18BL

99
~~~~~.--4-
tAcme;
*tAf
A 0
j;
P.lsg
^-
H-
- v*
J
-.-.@. zj
2 (above). Site map of the "Theater of the Masses"; La nazione,18 April

1934. The theaterwas builtdownriverfromthe Ponte della Vittoria,beyond
the Oltrarnoneighborhoodof San Frediano and across the Arno fromthe
Cascine, Florence'slargestpublic park. Black areas representbuildingsand
grayareas vacant fields.Arrowsmarkthe two pointsof access to the stadium:
Viale della Regina (numbered tickets)and Via Isolotto(general admission).
FIGURE 3 (below). Alessandro Blasetti,lightingand stage design foract 3, pencil
drawingon mimeograph,1934. The positionsof searchlightbrigades are
indicated by numberedboxes. Numberswithincirclesindicatestagingareas
connected byfieldtelephoneto home base (1). Lettersmarkthe principalroads
traversingthe stage. Cross-hatchedzones stand forthe canted platformson
whichthe action unfolded. Pencilled-inarrowsindicatethe movementof trucks
and actorsfromroad C to A, thenonto and offthe centerof the stage under
searchlights3, 11, and 12. Source: BlasettiArchive.
FIGURE
C)1
.0--
100
.... -,x
REPRESENTATIONS

4. Leftside of stage duringact 2, press

photo, 1934. This photo seems to show Road A
bending around the centralpart of the stage,
withRoad B enteringit fromleft.Note staging
platformin rear center,power lines running
along back of the stage,and controlbooth in
foreground,covered in brush and camouflage.
Source: BlasettiArchive.
FIGURE
mode of narrationalwaysopen to allegoricalintimations.Blasettireworkedthe

collective'stextswiththe demands of stagingsuch a large spectaclein mind,carryingover fromhis filmsnumerous formaland thematicelements.46 During the
ensuing monthsof preparationhe would adopt, for instance,Sole's Manichean
dialectic of darkness and light,according to which the Pontine marshes represented the values of "darkness and old age" and the reclaimed swamps the
FromTerraMadre,he would borrowthe mass openpromiseof "sun and youth."47
air ceremonialsand use of intervalsof silenceas a dramaticdevice. From 1860 he
would carryover,among many other ingredients,the film'svast landscape settings;itsmythsof rural virtueand urban vice; itsmass choreographies;itsuse of
songs, flags, and banners; its tendencyto create dislocated relations between
bodies and voices; itsoblique presentationof Garibaldi throughthe masses convergingtoward unityunder his leadership; and the triumphalparade featured
in itscoda.48
But the firstchallenge facingBlasettiwas less the scriptthan the design and
18BL

101
constructionof an outdoor theater: an arena, as per it Duce's orders, "able to

accommodate twentythousand persons." This Blasetti set about with several
dozen workers,a team of thirtyearth movers,and withbarely six weeks at his
disposal.49Inspired perhaps bycontemporaryprojectslikeWalterGropius's"total
theater" and Gaetano Ciocca's teatroper masse,the young directorhad initially
dreamed of building an amphitheaterthatwould turn the conventionalGrecoRoman theater inside out: placing the audience at the center of a crater,surrounded by a circular upward sloping stage.50But practical factorsled to the
adoption of an alternateplan (fig.2). The site selected for18 BL was on the left
shore of the Arno, across fromthe Cascine, Florence'sprincipalpublic park. The
terrain,knownas the Alberetadell'Isolotto,was cleftin two bya deep gully(Via
Argin Grosso) whichthe cityauthoritiesagreed to expand so thatBlasetticould
transformit intoa command post and lightingpit.The gentlysloping riverbank
to the northwas chosen as a seatingarea; thesteeperinclinerisingup to the south
as a stage.5' The stage was roughlysix hundred feetwide by two hundred feet
deep, occupyingan area equivalentto two and a half footballfields.Blasettihad
a series of artificialhillscarved into thisplatform:a three-steppedhill to the left,
ridge
a two-steppedhillto theright,and, at thecenter,a three-hundred-foot-long
witha basin hollowed out in itsmiddle,behind whichrose a conical hilltop-the
stage's highestpoint (figs.3 and 4). Some twelvestagingareas were cut into the
various hillsidesfor the preparationof the spectacle'sscenes, as well as a circuit
horses,and trucks.A network
of roads and trenchesformovingactors,artillery,
of field telephones was installed to ease communicationsbetween the staging
areas and the director'sheadquarters.52
Since thiswas a stage withouta curtain,Blasettideterminedthat the action
should migratefromone area of the stage to another,followingthe movements
of Ceseri and his truck.While the spectacle unfolded withinthese sharply lit
zones, new scenes could be prepared in the darkened areas; during pauses in the
main action,"thunderoussounds and luminous effects[would] draw the public's
attentiontoward zones extraneous to the action" in order to "hold togetherthe
dramatic design of the action fromone momentto another."53Given that both
sides of the stage sloped steeplydownward,Blasettienvisaged 18 BL as a kind of
shadow play in reverse,withfiguresrisingup and disappearing rapidlyover the
horizon line. The actors and machines,thatis, would be viewed in profilefrom
below,as in the filmsof Alexander Dovzhenko. Their silhouettes,cut out against
eitherthe nightskyor against fieldsof lightproduced by means of pyrotechnics
and searchlights,would therebyappear to have been raised to a higher,more
volatile plane of existence: a plane defined by the propensityof these sharply
outlined bodies and machinesto suddenlyemerge out of or dissolve into seas of
darknessor brilliantlight(fig.5).54
In addition to lighting,there was a second element that would sustain dramatic tension in 18 BL: the alternationbetween silence and the "thunderous
102
REPRESENTATIONS

sounds" alluded to above.55The scale of Blasetti'sstage was such that microphones had to be planted throughoutthe landscape in order to ensure the diffusionof the work'stersedialogues and choral shouts.The musical score, songs,
and sound effectswere all recorded in advance forbroadcastover the same loudspeakers employed by the microphones. The procedure was not unlike that
adopted in 1860 where,in order to avoid the limitationsimposed bybulkysound
equipment,Blasettihad the filmshotas ifsilent,dubbingthe dialogue and sound
effectsover what,in essence,was a silentfilm.This recourse to microphonesand
a recorded soundtrackwould laterprovecontroversial,56
but itsprincipalaim was
to permitactorsto move about withoutconcern forwhethertheycould or could
not be heard.57 It also permittedthe amalgamation of natural and artificial
sounds: mechanically reproduced music, voices, and machine sounds could
therebybe intermingledwithlive noises produced on stage by actors,weapons,
and trucksso as to create an unstableboundarybetweenthe real and the imaginary.58Moreover,it allowed for some highlyoriginal spatial effects,forming"a
vast sonic fieldthat,besides surroundingthe audience, can move sounds, songs,
rhythms,and noises close up or faraway."59But mostimportantof all, in a spectacle withinwhich a few individuals would speak for the nation, it permitted
amplification.A "vocal gigantism"could be achieved thatwould grantthe occasional dialogues exchanged among the human protagonistspriorityover the sea
of machine noises.60
Because thistheaterforthe masses was also meant as a theaterofthe masses,
the seating area too was designed as a theatricalspace. Shaped like a rectangle
witha curved back, it was flankedon both sides bya highembankment.Much as
FIGURE
5. "Act1: Network
ofBarbedWire
Under Enemy Reflectors,"

press photo, 1934.
Source: BlasettiArchive.
18BL

103
in a modern sports arena, the more expensive numbered seats (5,000) were
placed along thecentralaxis,and theinexpensive"popular" seatingareas (15,000
places) relegatedto theflanks.6'This distinctionbetweennumbered and unnumbered seatingmayseem perfectlyordinary.But itbecomes somewhatless so when
one observes thatit corresponds to a complex social choreography,reflectedin
turnin the play'sstagingof the dialecticbetweenmass man and the heroic individual. Two separate entranceswere provided for the public. The one on the
Oltrarno side of the river was restrictedto the popolari, who were obliged to
assemble in Piazza Gaddi and descend a blind alleywayknownas Via Isolotto: a
"natural"itinerarygiventhatmanyof themwould be arrivingfromthe adjacent
proletarianneighborhoodof San Frediano (siteof Berta's "martyrdom").As they
stadium,these working-classspectatorswould have been
entered the mist-filled
dazzled by eighteenlarge open books topped by bayonetsbuilt in a ring around
the stadium's periphery.Powerfulfloodlightswere pointed against the books'
whitepages so as to bounce lightback out into the stalls.Amidstthese pages yet
to be inscribedby the firstgenerationof fascistyouth,the popolari would have
gazed upon the procession of dignitariesenteringthe theater'smiddle section.
The latterwould include writerslike Ugo Ojettiand Massimo Bontempelli,most
of Italy'stheatercritics,and hierarchslike Galeazzo Ciano, so an equation would
have been implied betweenfascistfaces,fasces,weapons, and books.62
The elite membersof the public would reach theirnumbered seats by followingan itineraryrestrictedto the cityside of the river.Having traversedFlorneighborhoods, they would have reached
ence's affluentnineteenth-century
Piazza Zuavi, proceeding down the spacious tree-linedpromenades of the Cascine to the theater'strue entrance: a bridge of riverboats,lit by torches held by
boatmen (fig.6).63 Boat-bridgeswere one of the most ancient formsof military
bridging,so the symbolismof movingacross the rivertowarda "theaterof war"
as ifone were a soldiercould not have been loston the audience. But the primary
aim was surelysymbolic.I quote froma contemporarysource:
For thisnew typeof theatera new methodof entrywas essential.The theaterof the
a phanhermetic
temple:willitbe,amidstthenightlights,
Alberetaisa kindofinaccessible
themythsthatWagnerconceivedfortheBayreuthstagebutwith
recreating
tasmagoria
newmeansthanthoseofwhichhe disposed?Here we are dealingnotwithmyth,
entirely
thelatteris sufficiently
poeticto partakeof
Nevertheless,
butwithcontemporary
history.
ofmyth.64
theappearanceand fascination
Traversingthis bridge, standing under a celestial X formed by beams of light
projected fromopposite sides of the Arno, the spectatorwould have gazed down
the riverand over thecity'srooftopsupon such monumentsas Giotto'sbell tower.
He would then have completed his "walk on the water," ascended a broad
stairway,and passed through a triumphalgatewayof fasces marked with the
Roman numeral twelve(dating the spectacle according to the revolutionarycal104
REPRESENTATIONS

FIGURE 6. Giannetto
Mannucciand MaurizioTempestini,
boat
bridgeentrancetoTheateroftheMasses,pen and inkdrawing,
di massee 18 BL,"Scenario
1934;GuidoSalvini,"Spettacoli
3, no. 5
(May,1934):251-55.As indicatedin thisearlydesign,theinitialplan
wasfora doubleboatbridge.As lateas 22 March1934,Blasetti
pleadedwithlocalmilitary
authorities
foradditionalboats,fearing
A dearth
thata singlebridgecouldnothandlethemassofspectators.
ofboatsensuredtheadoptionofa singlebridgesolution.
endar). Beyondthe gatewaylay the cementbookswithbayonetsand, beyond

them,the mistyswirlof theassembledcrowdsurroundedbytheTuscanlandscapeand underthenightsky.There,theheartofthehermetic
templewouldat
lasthavebeenreached:a placeofmasscommunion
wherethedistinction
between
membersof the priesthoodand merebelieverswas maintained,
even as they
rubbedshouldersand mergedintoa singlecommunity.
18 BL's firstand onlyperformance
tookplace on 29 April1934,one week
of theLittoriali.
aftertheopeningdayceremonies
The sell-outaudienceassembledaccordingtoplanand thebridge,thevariousmassingpoints,and thebooklitauditoriumall seemto haveinfusedtheassembledspectators
withthesense
thattheythemselves
weretheprotagonists
of Mussolini'smasstheater:"There
werenot3,000actors,"observedone audiencemember,
"but23,000."65
The twohourshowbeganwiththestageand theseatingarea veiledina curtainofsmoke.
At theappointedhour,a call to ordersoundedovertheloudspeakersand the
lightsand smokewereextinguished,
exposingto viewtheimmensestage,the
surrounding
landscape,and thenightsky.The first
oftheplay'sthreeactsbegan
withthe trumpetcalls fromthe openingbarsof Renzo Massarani'sorchestral
18BL

105
score, Squilli e danzeper ii 18 BL.66 Then came the broadcast of the spectacle's
leitmotif,"The Captain's Testament,"a World War I hymnassociated with the
Alpine brigades instrumentalin Italy'svictoryover Austria in the battle of the
Piave River.
The action may be summarized as follows.Act 1, scene1. The location and
volume of the chorus of voices oscillateas a lightscans the rightportion of the
stage,findingbodies, barbwire,and gallopinghorses.Suddenly the rumbleof an
18 BL Fiat truckis heard and, as itcrossesoverthe horizonline,artillerybarrages
lightup the nightsky.A spotlightrevealsthe truck'sdestination:severalhundred
second-line Italian soldiers to whom its driver,Ugo Ceseri, delivers rationsand
mail. The truck's nickname, "Mother Cartridge-Pouch" (Mamma Giberna),is
shouted out in the course of a dialogue.67Scene2. New volleysare firedin the
distance as a machine-gunbattle has front-lineItalian soldiers pinned against
barbed wire on the middle hilltop. The truck now rambles up the slope, its
armored shield riddled bybullets.Snippetsof dialogue can be heard interwoven
withmechanicalsounds. The driverheaves food sacksintoa trenchand continues
down the backside of the slope out of view.Scene3. The truckreappears around
the corner of the third hill. The twilightreveals that it is brimmingover with
young soldiers who are being transportedto the front.Several dozen 18 BLs
followin itswake and unload theirsoldiers,whojoin in an assault across the top
of the ridge. Machine-gun battles startand stop until victoryis at hand. Far
behind the firsthill, an Italian flag is hoisted against the light of a sign that
announces the conquest of Trento and Trieste.Ceseri's truckleads a parade of
18 BLs over the horizon towardthe flag,accompanied bysong. End of act 1.
The transitionbetweenWorldWar I and the labor strikesof 1922 is marked
by the firingof a curtainof red fireworksover the public. Act2, scene1. Beyond
the red rain,the repositionedstage lightsreveala new landscape on the lefthand
side of the stage. Strewnacross itare abandoned workimplements,batteredhaystacks,rottingproduce. Factorysirenssound but theirwail is soon distortedinto
the squawk of rustygears and the electronicgrowlof a howlingmob. Ceseri and
his mechanic attemptto unload their 18 BL's cargo. They preach against the
strikeand become the targetof a mob of strikersbrandishinga red flag. The
mob's"mechanicalhowl"-the phrase is fromthescript-grows to deafeningproportionsas the strikersbatterthe truckand leave the mechanic unconscious. At
thisinstantthe truck'sengine startsup. The circleof strikersopens up and Ceseri
can be heard cryingout for revenge as the truckflees into a gully.Scene2. A
banquet table bearing the word "PARLIAMENT" appears atop the central
hillock.Seated at the table are politiciansrepresentingthe liberal,socialist,and
popular parties.Some wear black tuxedos and oversizetop hats thathang down
over their eyes; others are sloppilydressed and full of rhetoricalbluster.The
strikersrally round them, remainingsilent except for an occasional chorus of
"Long live the people's representatives!"Soon all conversationhas ceased and the
106
REPRESENTATIONS

onlynoises thatcan be heard are those of knivesclangingon plates. An applause

thenringsout. A socialistpoliticianstandsup to begina speech. Instead of a voice,
however,the sound of a barrel organ issues fromhis mouth: a wind-up organ,
likethatemployedbybeggarswithmonkeys,playingthe Dance of the Seven Veils
fromthe opera Salome.Behind him, hundreds of slogan-bearingballoons float
into the sky"filledwithemptypromises."The barrel organ churns away forseveral minutes,afterwhichitbegins to wind down as a newsboycriesout headlines
announcing the foundationof fascistgroups. The music stops. One of the elders
croaks the words of Luigi Facta before the March on Rome: "But what do these
Fascistswant?" At this instantMother Cartridge-Pouchthundersdown the hill
and overturnsthe tables of parliament.AfterwardCeseri harangues the mob:
"One hundred and thirtymillionin damages to farmingthanksto the socialist
dictatorshipin the Bologna region! Workers,when willyou freeyourselvesfrom
leaders?" Scene3. Fire alarms ring out. Fascisthymnsare sung
your mystifying
far away and nearby.A factoryis ablaze in the leftcorner of the landscape. Ceseri's 18 BL, filledwithblackshirts,goes to therescue but is ambushed byan armed
socialistmob. Bullets flyand, when the ambush is over,darkness redescends. In
the twilightone can see the fascistdead being heaped onto the platformof Ceseri's truck,as if an altar. The truckrolls up to the summitof the stage's central
crest. Two hundred fascistsconverge upon the truck,arranging themselvesin
formationand standingmutelyat attention(fig.7). Over the horizona whitelight
glows withever increasingintensity.From out of the light,a "metallicand clear
voice" (Mussolini's) interruptsthe funereal silence, calling out: "Heroes of the
war and martyrsof the revolution!""Present,"theyanswer."To whom does Italy
belong, to whom Rome?" "To us," theyanswer. But the chorus of voices is no
longerisolated. Black shirtsshoutout "to us" fromall sides of the auditoriumand
stage. Led bya truckconvoy,theyparade out across the landscape and converge
over the horizon line, where their silhouettesvanish into the light. Act 2 has
ended; the March on Rome has begun.
The finalact of 18 BL concerns one of the centerpiecesof fascistdomestic
policy: the draining of the Pontine marshes,the reclamationof marshland for
purposes of farming,and the constructionthereof fascistnew towns.Since these
events project the action of 18 BL ten years forward,Blasettidevised a second
interludeto markthe shiftfromtheearly 1920s to 1932 duringwhicha squadron
of airplanes overflewthe crowd and dropped broadsheetscelebratingthe principal accomplishmentsof fascistrule.68Act3, scene1. The lightsdrop and a heroic
dance music sounds. The stage is aswarmwithchildren,who wend theirway up
over the horizon followingfurrowscut into the land by peasants,whose tools are
in view.The children are followedby one hundred athletesin formation,who
performa gymnasticdance withlances and bows: emblems of the "human reclamation"accomplishedbyfascisteducation. Scene2. Offin a hollow to the left,a
swamp comes into view under a faintgreenish spotlight.Filled withreeds and
18BL

107
7. "Act3, Scene2: Present!,"

pressphoto,1934."In the
from
darksilence... a beamshinesforthevermorebrightly
behindthehillofthespectacle.Evermorenumerousfascist
convergefromall directions
in evergreater
squadronsmutely
numbers.Theygatherroundthealtarand biersofthemartyrs.
theyforma square";fromtheoriginal
Rigid,at attention,
script,"18 BL: Spettacolodi masseperil popolo,"Gioventis
fascista
4, no. 8 (15 April1934): 13.Source:BlasettiArchive.
FIGURE
withvoicesof
croakingsintermingled
bubblingwithmud,it emanatesfroglike
"Billionsspentto uglify
departone mutters,
rumorand doubt.As thegymnasts
hungryforwar,
generations
arebeingfashioned,
therace!Violentand ignorant
continuesuntil,atop the
slaughter,and excess.. ." The rumor-mongering
appearsin profile
figureon horseback
hightest
pointon thestage,a monumental
beamsoflight:theCommander.
He utterstwosteelywords:
againstintersecting
"Qui.Colmata."
(Here. Landfill.)A legionof trucksroarsup and beginsto fillin
the swamp.The Commanderrotates180 degreesand issues an order to a
squadronofbulldozerson theothersideofthestage:"In threedays,theroadto
Littoriawillcrossthisvoid.Wewillworkall night."Scene3. The entirestageis lit.
on theright,
On theleft,thefilling
thebulldozersand trucks
operationcontinues;
canbe seentilling
Hereand therepacksofworkers
theland.
carveouta highway.
A factory
whistlesounds,markingtheend of thenightshift.The truckshead
backtotheirshedsas revolutionary
songsaresung.The stageisleftemptyexcept
whosebanteris overheardas theyawaita ridefromMother
fora fewstragglers
nowrebaptized
OldCartridge-Pouch.
StilldrivenbyCeseri,she
Cartridge-Pouch,
arrivesfromoffstage
them
right,batteredand torn.Althoughable to transport
108
REPRESENTATIONS

halfwayacross the stage,her motoris blownand soon begins spewingsmoke. All

effortsat revivalfailand, instead of abandoning her,theydecide to push her up
to the lip of the firstswamp. As she wobbles toward the precipice,trucksfilled
withworkersarriveon the scene. They surround her and shut offtheirengines.
or the
The left hillock is now ablaze "in the mode of dazzling transfigurations
head of Moses" amidst the dead silence.69Ceseri stands at the center of this
funerealcompositionand proclaims:"She has foughtthewar,the revolution,and
thebattleof land reclamation.Now she willsupportthe highwayto Littoria."The
old truck is pushed over the precipice and buried, as Ceseri prophecies her
return:"In threedays she willreturnto her duties anew, myold lady. Forever!"
The trucksdepart and pass above her,barelyvisible,as the sound of marching
drums is heard, blended withmusic. White buildings flickerin the distance as
Italy marches offtoward the cityof the future: Littoria,firstof the fascistnew
towns.A trumpetcall heard offin the distanceechoes back withredoubled force.
War,revolution,reconstruction:thesewere the threegreatthemesof 18 BL's
theaterof and forthe masses. However crude itsunfoldingof these themesmay
sometimes seem, the spectacle aspired to elevate contemporaryhistoryto the
statusof mythby means of a hybridstagecraftmerginghyperrealismwithallegory,and even politicalcaricature.70In an era when the transitionfromsilentto
talkingfilmswas being completed,it triedto adapt to the stage the use of layered
soundtracks,cinematiclightingtricks,and editing techniques such as montage
and the rapid crosscuttingof scenes.7' But, forall its attemptsto transportcinematicsensationsto the stage,18 BL also setout to transcendthecinema and forge
a hallucinatorynew dramaticform.It set out to achieve a higher,more distinctivelyfascistformof tragicpathos, "to embody the real and the symbolicsimultaneously,creatinga kindof actualized mysticalexperience . .. of a heroicsubject
In the words of Corrado Sofia,one of 18 BL's authors,it sought
matter."72
to reawakenthesameenthusiasm
expressedbycrowdsin sportsarenasand perhapsto
thanthecinema,becauseactualvoicesand humanfigures
succeedinbeingmoreseductive
The
attraction.
and theopen air thatsurroundsthestage,are all sourcesof instinctual
cinemathrusts
thespectator
intoa darkroom.On thescreenitpresentsflatand colorless
forms,ratherthanto an
and scientific
figures.By itsnatureit is tiedto documentary
factsin mystery.73
capableofenveloping
imagination
Sofia's theorizationis exemplaryinasmuch as fascism'sattitudetoward the film
medium had been ambivalentfromthestart.On theone hand, fascismcelebrated
cinema as the state's"mostpotentweapon"; on the other,an aversiontowardthe
medium itselfpromptedfascismto singleout the theateras the privilegedfascist
art and to place theatricalvalues at the centerof fascistpolitics.Film,Sofia suggests,is by its verynature a decadent medium. It attenuatesthe bond between
spectators'and performers'bodies, reducing the world to a series of flat and
colorless projectionsmeant forsilentand solitarycontemplation.The theaterof
18BL

109
masses,on thecontrary,restoresto thebodyitscentralrole and in so doing forges

mutually
seductiverelationbetween representationand reality,
a transformative,
art and life.The mass audience and mass performersleave behind the cloistered
interiorsof the old theaterand cinema in order to stand before one another in
actual timeand space, under the open sky.Withinthisnaturalsettingan "instinctual attraction"between them can break down the barrierbetween auditorium
and stage, provokingthe sortof healthycontagionfosteredbyathleticeventsor
mass rallies. And the spectacle itselfis designed to excite such primordial passions. Plot is stripped down to its minimal constituentelements: hero versus
antihero,black versusred versuswhite.Actionsare simple,readilyaccessible,and
anchored in the historicalpresent.The poetic word is subordinated to the mysterious play of images and rhythms.74
Physicalactions,optical tricks,acrobatics,
effectsand affectsoccupythe place of honor
magic,fireworks... in short,external
And the
once held in the theaterby the values of individualityand interiority.75
end result toward which this complex of techniques strivesis the forgingof a
charismaticcommunity,a microcosmof the fascistizedItalian nation: "the fusion
of thousands and thousands of souls withina single frameworkof ideas and
events."76
Such at least was the theoreticalmatrixwithinwhich the creatorsof 18 BL

were operating: a modernistmatrixindebted to Bontempelli'snotion of "magic
realism"and to hiswritingson theaterand sport.77UnfortunatelyforBlasettiand
his collaborators,18 BL fellshortof fulfillingthese ambitions.The new theater
of the masses was applauded, praised for its audacity and patrioticsentiments,
but it was just as oftendismissedas a resounding flop. To make mattersworse,
the latterverdictwas trumpetedbyCorrado Sofia,who launched a seriesof fierce
attacksagainstBlasettifromthe pages of Quadrivio.78
Already in the monthspreNow Sofia came out
ceding the performancethere had been hintsof rivalry.79
of
of
acts: of having
a
list
"treasonous"
accused
Blasetti
into the open and
long
been a poor directorto startwith;of havingneedlesslydestroyedthe lead 18 BL
truck;of developingthe spectaclearound machinesand mechanized voices when
and of havingwanted "to
Italians were "staunchenemies of machine-worship";80
month"
when
"revolutionsmustbe
in
little
more
than
a
revolutionizeeverything
prepared carefullyin even the most minimalparticulars."8' Blasetti responded
angrilyin La tribuna,acceptingblame for18 BL's failingsbut calling attentionto
Sofia'svolte-face:onlyweeks beforeSofia was takingfullcreditforthe spectacle;
now he pretended to have been disaffectedfromthe start.82A counterattackfollowed severaldayslaterand featuredsuch accusationsas thatBlasetti'strueambition in 18 BL had been to gain forhimselfa governmentpension.83This in turn
provoked yet another furious rejoinder, as well as intercessionson Blasetti's
behalf byLeo Bomba and Gherardo Gherardi.84
As mighthave been anticipated,technicalproblemscontributedtheirshare
to the mixed reception that greeted 18 BL. The vast stage had diminished the
110
REPRESENTATIONS

audience's abilityto participatein everyaction. Able to hear but unable to see,

manyspectatorswould feel no "instinctualattraction"towardthe mass of protagonists on stage. Instead of being transportedinto an unstable realm where the
domain appeared permethresholdbetween realityand some magical/mythical
able, theywould be left,like Bontempellihimself,witha lingering"sense of emptiness,depression, and coldness."85Visibilityproblems were aggravated by the
discontinuousnatureof the narrative,and bythe oftenawkwardsynchronization
between the soundtrackand the eventson stage. Not least of all, there was the
performance'sfinale,which Blasettihad not been able to rehearse. In a neardisastrous Pirandellian twist,Mother Cartridge-Pouchhad changed her mind
about being buried at the last momentand for several tense minutesthe comto roll her over intothe swamp.
bined forcesof a dozen actorsproved insufficient
In the end theydid succeed, but only afterBlasettiswitchedoffthe lightsand
summoned a second truck.When the lightscame back on Mother CartridgePouch was in her grave, but many spectatorshad already departed and the
intended tragiceffecthad been buried long before the truck.86
Technical deficienciesthere were, but at the heart of the controversysurrounding 18 BL loomed the deeper question of whethera machine was a fitting
hero for the fascisttheater.Some young members of the crowd thought not,
greetingthe event'sconclusion withcries of "What the hell do we care about a
The objectionwould be repeated oftenin theensuingmonthsof debate,
truck?"87
alwaysin tandem withcriticismof the collectivedraftingof 18 BL's script.(For
the fascistimaginationmechanizationand collectivizationwere indissociable.)In
the words of the novelistUgo Ojetti,"The idea of makinga machine intoa hero,
whetherthat,as some say (but I doubt), of Mussolini,or instead of Marinettior
Pavolini,is a stupididea.... Artis man. Machineswithoutmen are soullesswood
and metal; and theyare mass-producedas equal, nay,identical."88Ojetti'saversion to mechanical heroes is motivatedby the fear that they summon up the
specterof a soulless mass society:a societyfounded not on the values of nationalism but on those of internationalism.Such a societyhad a name, and other
commentatorswould proveless reticentregardingitsidentity:mechanicalheroes
To
"are well suited to peoples forwhom the machine has become a religion.
draw near to such mentalitiesmakes it more difficultto uproot the error committedby those who, aftera cursorylook at our affairs,would liken our RevoluFor these and other like-mindedviewers,the
tion to the Russian revolution."89
recourse to a mechanical protagonistand the collectiveauthorshipof the script
Like its enemy twin,fascismwas
raised grave doubts about fascism'sspecificity.
committedto building an industrialmass society,whichis to say a societydependent upon the close interconnectionbetween machines and human beings. Yet
fascismalso claimed to stand in oppositionto Marxistmaterialism,utilitarianism,
and collectivism,and in favorof values associated withvague termssuch as soul,
spirit,beauty,heroism,individualism,and Latinity.Could such values, however
4.
18BL

defined,be fullyreconciled withmechanizationand industrialization?Perhaps

not for a culturalconservativesuch as Ojetti,but forcommittedmodernistslike
the creatorsof 18 BL the answerwas affirmative.
The spectacle'sdetractorswere rightin at least one importantrespect: 18 BL
was indeed haunted by Soviet antecedents.The machine as protagonistof mass
actions had long been one of the heroic themes of Soviet culture,a factamply
a contemporarybestIi voltodel bolscevismo,
documented in Rene Ffildp-Miller's
theater.It claimed
the
revolutionary
Soviet
sellerthathad devoted twochaptersto
thatunder socialism"the imitationof machineshas been raised to the statusof a
sacrament,comparable to the imitationof Christ,"and discussed at lengthSoviet
experimentswithcollectiveauthorship.90The Sovietinterestin developing modernist forms of epic founded upon the interactionbetween machinery and
human masses would also have reached Blasettiand his cohortsvia the cinema.
Eisenstein'stheoreticalwritingswere available in translationand, by the early
1930s, Italian cinema clubs had startedto exhibithis silentfilms,fromTheBattleto the quasi-documentaryThe GeneralLine, whose final parade of
shipPotemkin
tractorswas a probable source for 18 BL.91 But an even more direct source of
inspirationwere the Soviet revolutionaryfestivals,avant-gardeexperimentsin
mass pageantrythat had stimulatedgreat interestin Italy during the cultural
debates of the early 1930s.92 Among these, the most immediatelypertinentis
oftheWinterPalace, a collectivelyauthored reenactmentof
perhaps The Storming
the eventsof October 1917 cast in the same hyperrealistyetallegorizingmold as
18 BL. Performedin Petrograd'sPalace Square in 1920 before a public of nearly
100,000, this multimediaspectacle surrounded its 8,000 protagonistswithgunAnd as can be seen in
fire,artillery,rockets,and a panoply of lightingeffects.93
its
climactic
and
episode featured
photographs,
drawings
several contemporary
a white truckcarryingthe fleeingKerenskygovernmentwitha platoon of Red
Armytrucksin hot pursuit.Other parallels could be cited fromworks such as
ofLiberatedLabor and Meyerhold'sHistoryof Three
Yurii Annenkov'sTheMystery
in FUl6p-Miller'saccount,"200 cadets fromthe
the
latter
involving,
Internationals,
cavalryschool, 2300 soldiers,sixteencannons, fiveairplanes withreflectors,ten
mounted reflectors,armored trains,armored cars, motorcycles,field hospitals,
etc.,not to mentionvariousmilitarybands and choruses."94(The proletariantheaters of Erwin Piscator and Ernst Toller, also well known in fascistItaly,could
also be cited in this regard.)95But, however considerable the direct impact of
Sovietprecedentsmighthave been, itis essentialto emphasize thatthe "haunting"
of 18 BL is more than a simple question of influence.The drama is builtupon a
series of binaryoppositionsthatbetraysimilaritiesbetween fascismand its Bolsheviktwin,even as theyattemptto institutedifferences.(Elided bythisbinarism
is fascism'strue historicalnemesis,liberal democracy.)The red strikersparade,
The metallic
fight,and chantchorusesjustliketheirblack-shirtedcounterparts.96
howlof theirvoicesechoes themechanicalroar of the fascists'trucks.Both groups
112
REPRESENTATIONS

collectives,and both constitutethemselvesin a

are presentedas undifferentiated
choral dialogue witha leader's mechanized voice.
This said, itmakes a substantialdifferencewhetherthe voice in question consistsof a wind-up barrel organ playingthe tune of Salome'sDance of the Seven
Veils,or insteadissues forthfroma livingequestrianstatuein the formof metallic
orders. What I mean is thatwhile the detractorsof 18 BL may have been right
about the work's Soviet resonances, they were blind to the contrast it was
attemptingto enforcebetweenfascistand Bolshevikattitudestowardmachinery.
I willtermthisa distinctionbetweenmechanization
and
For purposes of simplicity,
metallization
(even thoughit mustbe noted thatthe distinctionis hardlyabsolute,
due to an increasingculturaland politicalconvergencebetween fascistItalyand
StalinistRussia during the 1930s). Mechanization had been one of the driving
forcesbehind the Sovietrevolutionarytheater.It was identifiedwithan effortto
stripthe stage bare and disclose its most intimateworkings.Instead of a factory
of seductivemythsand illusions,theproletarianstagewould therebybecome both
of contemporarysociety,and a place where
an instrumentforthe demystification
alternatefuturescould be staged and produced: in short,a factoryin which the
workingmachines,and
efficientinteractionbetweenmechanized actor/workers,
a transparentscenic apparatus would exemplifythe communistsocietyof the
future. Since the actor-workerrepresented the ideal citizen of this future
republic,contemporarydramatistssuch as Meyerholdsought to transformhim
or her intoa utopian subjectidenticalto theclasslessand sexlesseconomic subject
the revolutionwas attemptingto forge. Inspired by theireconomistcolleagues,
studiesof Taylorand othersa model forthe
theyfound in the motionefficiency
reduction of "the work of acting" to a series of biomechanical functions: a
machinelikedisciplinewhose objectiveswere economy,rhythm,and deliberateness. This "mechanico-technologicalreconstructionof man's daily life" was
viewed not as dehumanizingor deindividualizingbut, on the contrary,as emancipatory.Mechanizationwas the means to a utopian end: the creation of a body
withoutfatigue(the robot) and of a societyfreed fromthe burden of alienating
work (communism).
The creatorsof 18 BL were also strivingto shape a new societywithinand
outside the confinesof the theater,and for them, no less than the Soviets,the
productionprocess wasjust as integralto the revolutionaryspectacle as the final
product. Yet, committedto the fascistideal of an absolute theater that would
collapse the boundaries between the real and the ideal, theyviewed Soviet-style
mechanizationas the foe of a theatrical"imaginationcapable of envelopingfacts
in mystery."
The functionof mass theateras theyconceived it was at once ritual
and inaugural:"ritual"to the extentthatbyhavingactorstoo young to have participatedin the March on Rome reenact the battlesof theirfathers,it hoped to
generations;"inaugural"
bridgethe gap betweenthe pre-and post-revolutionary
to the extentthatthe spectaclewas organized in such a way as to offera preview
18BL

113
of a futurefully"fascistized"society.Accordingly,the production of 18 BL was

organized along strictmilitarylines. The two thousand actors,mostlymembers
of the GUF and Fasci Giovanili(although soldiers,Balilla, and Giovani Italiane
participated),were divided into armylikeunits, each assigned a number and
placed under the leadership of a war veteran.And theirtrainingas Thespians
was indistinguishablefrommilitarytraining.The director,functioningas a surrogate Duce, oversawthese war games as if a fieldcommander,linked by wiring
to the entireexpanse of the stage:
oftelephonecontrols,
a network
signals,
bells,and variegated
In a centralcabincontaining
inhisgrip.Fromtime
fatefirmly
the"director"
havethespectacle's
will,likea commander,
oftheaction,portionsofthelandscapeor detailson
to time,dependingon theunfolding
a position,
a communications
trench,
a hilltop.The "vision"
thestagewillbe illuminated:
willthusbe unbrokenand synthetic.97
The authority,omniscience,and ubiquitygrantedthe directorbythe networkof
cables was not limitedto the stage. Strictlyfigurative"wires"joined him to the city
and the PNF, all of whom made a show of contributing
authorities,the military,
resources,manpower,and technicalassistancein order that"the vision"be realized without impediment.98And from the start Blasetti had made clear his
demands for absolute authority:"Nothingthat I have requested can be diminished in scale or granted without full cooperation....
The execution of produc-
tion orders must be absolutely military,which is to say immediate, without

hesitationor need for discussion."99Heroic acts of the collectivewill were the
order of the day and, whetheractual or imagined,constituteda spectacle in and
of themselves.Rehearsalscarriedon late intothe night.In an ostentatiousdisplay
of fascism'srevoltagainst the lifeof ease and comfort,the stage and auditorium
were completed afterweeks of continuousday and nightshiftsbya construction
crewdesigned to embodytheideals of discipline,class collaboration,and national
mobilization.Similarideals extended to the audience, segmentsof whicharrived
on special trainsunder theaegis of thefascistyouthand after-work
organizations.
Even in the domain of ticketsales there were to be no "inopportune contradictionsor privileges."18 BL would inauguratea genuine mass art form,so no complimentaryticketswere distributed.'00Visibilitywould be comparable from all
sectorsof the auditorium in order to ensure that one perspectivealone would
emerge by the spectacle'send: a unifiedcollectivevisionordered and organized
bya single director/dictator.
Withinthesettingof thissocietyin a stateof perpetualmobilization,machines
are notjust tools to be used by human protagonists.Their functionis a higher
one, that of servingas idealized doubles of both the collectiveand its director/
commander. I employ the word "doubles" because, contraryto Soviet practice,
two parallel dramatic universescoexist on stage in 18 BL: one human and one
mechanical-one involvingtheinterplayof men withtheirleaders; the otherthat
114
REPRESENTATIONS

trucks.Like theirhuman
of Mother Cartridge-Pouchwithher "chorus" of fifty
counterparts,machines are treated as irreducibleentitiesin 18 BL. They are
mechanical "individuals"who can be organized into larger collectivegroupings
or totalities(or placed in the serviceof a totalityas prostheticdevices), but who
cannot be broken down into a series of interchangeablefunctionsor parts. This
permitsfascistmachineryto take on human attributes
principleof irreducibility
such as age, gender,will-power,and courage. It also ensures thatany minglingof
and not the exchange
man and machine willassume the formof "identification"
machines stand for
of parts or functions.Withinthiseconomyof identification,
an ideal: not thatof a body withoutfatigueor of a societywithoutalienation,but
instead the distinctivelyfascistideal of constant exertion and fatigue coldly
resisted. . . in otherwords,"metallization."'0'
Metallizationis a paradoxical concept whose tentaclesextend deep into contemporarymass culture,but whose crucialimportanceto fascismI willnow limit
myselfto sketchingout in some finalremarks.Unlike the sexless stage machines
of the Russian theater,the mechanicalhero of 18 BL is neitheran emblem of an
atemporal utopia nor a specimen of advanced engineering. She is simply a
mother truck: a plain, utilitarianvehicle destined for obsolescence, a carrier
thatwilleventuallybe used up. The first
"pouch" for young soldier-"cartridges"
mass-produced Fiat truck,she embodies the fascistmasses, even when singled
out with respect to the other trucks.'02Her mass identityis confirmedby two
furthersigns: her gender-the masses were alwaysfeminizedin contemporary
propaganda-and by her placementunder a relayof male governorsextending
fromCeseri to Blasettito Mussolini.But if feminized,whythen should she be a
mother?A clue is provided by the sole other female presence in 18 BL: Salome.
Temptress and decapitator in Oscar Wilde's play and Richard Strauss's opera,
Salome is conjured up in order to forge a symboliclink between the menace of
decadent sensualityand Marxian materialism.'03Her dance, garbled and parodied bya barrelorgan, becomes a strip-teaseakin to the denuding of Sovietstage
withitsfalse promisesof a techno-mechanicalutopia. Againstsuch seductiveillusions importedfromEngland, Germany,and Austria-indeed against sexuality
as such-18 BL elaborates the chaste metalliccountermythof the Latin mother
truck: an autocarro tipo normale whose norm is heroic service, dedication, and
incessantwork. Able to bear the feverishexploitsof 1917, 1922, and 1932 with
icy coolness, she succumbs in the end only to be transfiguredinto a symbolof
national sacrifice.Like her figurative"sons,"the soldiersof World War I and the
March on Rome, Mother Cartridge-Pouchlaysdown her body in a finalgesture
of self-offering
thatliterallypaves the wayto futureglory.
18 BL thus ends on somethingof an elegiac note. The vehicle thathad come
to personifyfascism'sresistanceto fatiguesubmitsto nature'siron law of degeneration over time via an act of fruitfulsacrifice.And this at the culminating
momentof a workin whose tableaux the promiseof a transfigurednational col18BL

115
lectivityis alwaysshadowed bythe menace of dissolutionand loss. Fascismnever

ceased reflectingupon decline,whetherin the domain of the body or the history
of peoples. Having littlefaithin the abilityof science or technologyto decisively
alter humankind'stemporalpredicament,secular and anticlericalat its origins,
the movementtried to practicewhat it called "realism,"a skepticalanti-idealist
turn of mind withties to Bergsonian phenomenology.This said, it was deeply
fearfulthat"realism"could lead back to a sense of sadness and fatigue,in short,
back to the ethos of decadentismand materialismthatthe revolutionclaimed to
have overthrown.National skepticism,melancholy,and mourning were symptomsof the liberal-democratic/socialist
paralysisthathad preceded the March on
Rome, and against them fascismpreached a gospel of constantactivity,
cheerful
and
self-creation, eternalyouth,even goingso faras to inventsecularotherworlds
forthe preservationof itsmartyrs.It was in thisspiritthatan earlyversionof the
~~~
~~~~
~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FIGURE 8 (left).Xanti Schawinsky,

"1934-XI I," poster;Annitrenta:
Artee culturain Italia (Milan, 1983), 487.
FIGURE 9 (right).R. Bertelli,Continuous
ProfileofMussolini,wood,
early 1930s. Photo: collectionof Paul Sullivan.
116
REPRESENTATIONS

scriptfor18 BL had proposed thatMotherCartridge-Pouchbe resurrectedafter

threedays of burial. But in the finalversionof the spectacle,the perilsof ending
on an elegiac note were evaded bymeans of a less batheticdevice: a swiftshiftin
focus away from the burial scene toward fascism'spresent achievementsand
futurepromise.The mothertruckmayhave passed away,capitulatingto the inexorable realityof aging,but fascismis alwaysalreadyon the move and the ideal of
metallizationshe once embodied has been fullytransposedintothe human realm
byii Duce.
The viewersof 18 BL did not need to have thisfinaltranspositionexplained
to them.The mostfleetingallusionswould do. A metallicvoice heard over loudspeakers,an equestrianprofile,and a slogan or twowere enough to insinuatethat
Mussolini was the spectacle'ssecretprotagonist.'04Such economy of means was
possible because by the mid 1930s fascismhad begun to fillits ideological voids
witha totalitariancult. This was not a traditionalcult of personalitybut rathera
modernistcult of the dictator'smetallizedbody as missile,as axe, as man of the
crowd, as hero with a thousand faces, as helmet,as mask, as head with a 360degree gaze (figs. 8 and 9). In this vast proliferationof images, fascistartists
decomposed and recomposed fascism'smost original though paradoxical creation: the mythof an individualwho could stand at the centerof a reconstructed
universe; a being, at once hyperphallicand hyperchaste,who might reconcile
man withmachine,individualwithmass, matterwithspirit;a deusexmachinafor
the gigantictheaterof modern revolution.
Notes
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
I wishto acknowledgethe supportof the National HumanitiesCenterand the Simon

Guggenheim Memorial Foundation during the time that this essay was written.I
would also liketo thankMaryHunterand Donald Raleigh fortheirhelp with,respectively,the musicologicaland Slavic portionsof thisessay'sargument;and, especially,
Mara Blasettifor her makingavailable to me the manuscriptmaterialsand photographs in her collection. All future referencesto documents held in the Blasetti
archiveare designatedwiththe initialsBA.
ScottNearing,Fascism(New York,n.d.), 58.
"La finedi un regno,"Criticafascista
9, no. 18 (15 September 1931): 343.
Bruno Spampanato, "La rivoluzione del popolo," Criticafascista 10, no. 21 (1
November 1932): 403.
inRevolutionary
Movement
Quoted fromLynnMally,CultureoftheFuture:TheProletkult
Russia (Berkeley,1990), 125.
Russianand SovietTheater:1905-1932, trans.Roxanne
Cited in KonstantinRudnitsky,
Perman,ed. Lesley Milne (New York, 1988), 41.
Platon Kerzhentsev,CreativeTheater;cited in ibid.,45.
Jeffrey
Schnapp, "Epic Demonstrations:The 1932 Exhibitionof the FascistRevoluand Politics,ed. R.l. Golsan (Hanover, N.H., 1992), 3; but
tion,"in Fascism,Aesthetics,
18BL

117
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
118
Stanford
ItalianReview
see also Barbara Spackman, "The FascistRhetoricof Virility."
8, nos. 1-2 (1990): 81-102.
The phrase "eclettismodello spirito"is from Mussolini's inaugural speech for the
Italian Academy on 28 October 1929. On this subject see Giuseppe Carlo Marino,
L'autarchiadellacultura(Rome, 1983), 3-17.
Passing referencesto 18 BL may be found in Emanuela Scarpellini,Organizzazione
(Florence, 1989), 238-40; Adriano AprA's
teatralee politicadel teatronell'Italiafascista
Blasetti:Scritti
sul cinema(Venice, 1982), 31; Giovanni Lazintroductionto Alessandro
deltaculturae dell'arte
(Naples, 1979), 22-23; Enzo Maurri,Rosescarlatte
zari,I Littoriali
bianchi(Rome, 1981), 77-78; and Mario Verdone, "Spettacolo politicoe 18
e telefoni
cultura,e politica,ed. Renzo De Felice (Turin, 1988), 483-84.
BL," in Futurismo,
withfascism,Georges Bataille'stheorizationis often
Due perhaps to his own affinities
strongerthanthatof the Frankfurtschool. As a pointof entrysee "The Psychological
1927-1939, ed. Alan Stoekl
Structureof Fascism,"in VisionsofExcess:SelectedWritings,
(Minneapolis, 1985), 137-60.
I have in mind a research agenda not unlike thatwhichinformsthe work of Diane
in
ofa FascistCulture:TheRealistMovement
Ghirardo Ruth Ben-Ghiat'sTheFormation
Italy,1930-1943 (Ph.D. diss., Brandeis University,1991); and, across the Atlantic,
Miti credenzee valorinella stabilizzazione
Pier Giorgio Zunino's L'ideolog'adelfascismo:
Il teatrofase rappresentazione:
delregime(Bologna, 1985); PietroCavallo's Immaginario
cistadipropaganda(Rome, 1990); and Klaus Theweleit'spsychoanalyticstudyof FreiMale Fantasies(Minneapolis, 1987-89).
korpsofficers,
These plays, entitledCampodi maggio(1930), Villafranca(1931), and Cesare(1939),
(Florence, 1954).
are reprintedin GiovacchinoForzano,Mussolini,autoredrammatico
De Felice comments:"There can be no doubt that ... the three historicaldramas
resultingfromMussolini'scollaborationwithForzano bear witnessto Mussolini'stendency to projectivelyidentifyhimselfand his actionswithhistory'ssolitaryman who
is conscious not only of his great missionbut also of having to accomplish it amidst
the incomprehensionand moral inadequacy of those who surround him and ought
to have been of assistance; conscious also of having to act by capitalizing on and
exploitingeveryopportunityin a more dramaticrace event even than that against
death: the race against 'cyclicalrecursion"'; Mussoliniil duce,vol.I, Gli anni del consenso,1929-1936 (Turin, 1974), 32.
On at least one occasion, Mussolinieven found the timeto make suggestionsforthe
revisionof a dramatictext:the tragedySimma,by Francesco Pastonchi,to whom he
offeredthe thought (borrowed fromAnatole France): "Caress your sentence: she
willend up smilingback at you"; citedin OperaomniadiBenitoMussolini,eds. Edoardo
Susmel and Duilio Susmel (Rome, 1978), 42:92.
On the Corporazione dello Spettacolo'shistorysee Scarpellini,Organizzazione
teatrale,
131-64. The government'sbias towardregulationof theaterproducers and not the
contentof theirwork has been examined by Mabel Berezin, "The Organization of
PoliticalIdeology: Culture,State,and Theater in FascistItaly,"AmericanSociological
Review56 (October 1991): 639-5 1.
The best source on the historyand teachingsof the Filodrammaticheis Il teatrofilodrammatico
(Rome, 1929), edited bythe "UfficioEducazione Artisticadella Direzione
Centrale dell'OND," but largelyauthored byAntonio Valente.
The philodramaticcelebrationsof politicalanniversarieswere particularlycriticized
by the advocates of a modernistfascisttheater.A case in point is Augusto Consorti:
"These re-evocations(which can hardly be referredto as 'representations')ought
to be harmonized with the same criteriathat have guided the organizers of the
REPRESENTATIONS

17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
Exhibitionof the Revolution";"Rievocazione,"L'Italia vivente3, no. 18 (28 October

1933): 9.
101, 99, 107.
O.N.D., Il teatrofilodrammatico,
249.
teatrale,
All the cited figuresare fromScarpellini,Organizzazione
The repertoryof the Carri di Tespi is furnishedbyScarpellini,ibid., 365-69.
Carlo Lari, "I Carri di Tespi,"Comoedia15, no. 7 (15 July-15August 1933): 36; Paolo
Orano, I Carridi Tespidell'O.N.D.(Rome, 1937), 17.
A complete technicaloverviewof the Thespian cars is found in Carrodi Tespi,a pamphlet published bythe Opera Nazionale Dopolavoro in 1936. Also worthconsulting
are Mario Corsi,Ii teatroall'apertoin Italia (Milan, 1939), 263-88; and Orano, I Carri
di Tespi.
e ii teatro(n.p., 1986), 107.
Giovanni Isgr6,Fortuny
Orano, I Carridi Tespi,19.
On the science of worksee Anson Rabinbach,TheHumanMotor:Energy,Fatigue,and
(New York, 1990).
theOriginsofModernity
Orano, I Carridi Tespi,19-20.
C[orrado] P[uccetti]in "I Carridi Tespi,"Gentenostra9, nos. 47/48(13-26 September
1937): 7; Orano, Carridi Tespi,56.
Ibid.
As noted earlier,open-air spectacleswere hardlyinventedby fascism.Followingthe
lead of theoristssuch as Edward Gordon Craig and Sheldon Cheney,Ettore Romagnoli had, forinstance,revivedthe Greek theaterof Siracusa earlier in the century.
But it was under fascismthatopen-air theaterreceived a fullconsecrationand governmentalsupport (on whichsubjectsee Corsi,Il teatroall'apertoin Italia).
67.
teatrale,
Scarpellini,Organizzazione
Cited in ibid., 149.
SIAE speech, Rome, 28 April 1933; Mussolini,Operaomnia,44:5 1.
Ibid., 44:50.
F. M. Marinetti,"Fondazione e manifestodel Futurismo,"Teoriae invenzionefuturista,
ed. Luciano De Maria (Milan, 1983), 11.
di Sal6
On Pavolini'scareer and biographysee ArrigoPetacco,Pavolini:L'ultimaraffica
(Milan, 1982); and Marco Palla, Firenzenel regimefascista,1929-1934 (Florence,
1978), 171-230.
On the Littorialisee Ugoberto Alfassio and Marina Addis Saba, Culturaa passo
dei Littorialideltaculturae dell'arte(Milan, 1983); Giovanni
romano:Storiae strategie
Lazzari, I Littorialidella culturae dell'arte(Naples, 1979); and Ruggero Zangrandi,Il
(Milan, 1962),
alla storiadi una generazione
Contributo
ilfascismo:
lungoviaggioattraverso
esp. 381-87.
Cited from page 9 of a letteraddressed to Mussolini by Achille Starace, dated 19
March 1935, and writtenin response to a proposal byCesare Maria De Vecchi,Ministerof Public Instruction,thatthe GUF and Littorialibe placed under the supervision of his ministry;Benito Mussolini, personal papers, microfilm815, reel 230
#1222B, Universityof Chicago Library.
Starace to Mussolini,19 March 1935, p. 4; in ibid.
Pavolini,"Fascistigiovanial lavoro,"Il bargello,1 April 1934, 1.
Ibid.
ValentinoBompiani, "Invitoeditorialeal romanzo 'collettivo,"'Gazzettadelpopolo,14
ofFascistCulture,185-229.
March 1934, 3. On fascistrealismsee Ben-Ghiat,Formation
Berta, son of the owner of the Berta foundries,was slain for appearing in a black
shirtbefore the population of San Frediano (Florence's main proletarianneighbor18BL

119
42.
43.
44.
45.
46.
47.
48.
49.
50.
51.
52.
53.
54.
120
hood) rightafterthe fascists'murderof the communistleader Spartaco Lavagnini.

Immortalizedas a "martyrof the revolution"in fascistsong, Berta would stillfigure
in the central episode of act 2 of 18 BL, in which a commemorationof the fascist
dead is accompanied bythe singingof "Hanno ammazzato GiovanniBerta,"a ballad
promisingfaithin Mussoliniand the defeat of Lenin.
The source forthisidea mayhave been "II vecchiocamion"byLeo Bomba, published
in the midstof L'Italia vivente'scampaign fora revolutionaryfascisttheater.Bomba,
a fascist squadrist, had fondly recalled and, indeed, humanized the squadrons'
trucks:"It's impossibleto disentanglethe memoryof days past from that fastand
noisycarcass which we never viewed merelyas a means of transportation";L'Italia
vivente3, no. 18 (28 October 1933): 6-7.
See, forinstance,Mario Sironi'scollages TheYellowTruck(1919) and UrbanLandscape
withTruck(1920-23).
Corrado Sofia describesthe compositionalprocess in "II parere di uno degli autori:
TRADIMENTO!," Quadrivio,6 May 1934, 3. In his tirade against collectiveauthorship, Sofia subsequentlyclaims thathe produced a full screenplayof his own, even
thoughthe scriptpreservedin theBA containsonlyfiveof the nine tableaux referred
to in itstitle18 BL: Misteroin 9 quadri.
Many decades later,Blasettiwould assertthatMussolinihad personallychosen him
to directthe spectacle:"[Mussolini]imagineda showfora crowdof 20,000 spectators
and he wanted me to directit. I made a show called 18 BL, the name of a truck....
It was the biggestfiascoin the historyof internationaltheater.This was ... the only
timeBlasettireceived the congratulationsof Mussolini.... He said: 'This has demonstrateda power of initiative,of force,of resistance,of steadfastness.ExtraordiDuringFascism,
nary"'; cited in Elaine Mancini, Strugglesof theItalian FilmIndustry
1930-35 (Ann Arbor,Mich., 1985), 113. Archivalrecords indicate,on the contrary,
thatit was Pavoliniwho organized 18 BL and made the keypersonnel decisions.
The scriptspreservedin BA are thoseof De Feo, Lisi, Melani, Sofia,and Venturinithe lattertwo servingas Blasetti'smain sources. The degree to whichBlasettitook it
upon himselfto introduceelementsfromhis prior filmsinto the finalscreenplayis
hard to determine.In any event,the keymodificationsof the various scriptsresulted
fromthe practicalitiesof staging18 BL.
sceThe quotation is fromAlbertoBoero's firstscreenplay,cited fromSole: Soggetto,
neggiatura,noteper la realizzazione,ed. Adriano AprA and Riccardo Redi (Rome,
1985), 27.
Two recentEnglish discussionsof 1860 are Angela Dalle Vacche's in TheBodyin the
inItalianCinema(Princeton,N.J., 1992), 96-120; and Marcia
Mirror:ShapesofHistory
Cinema,1931-1943 (Princeton,N.J.,
Landy's Fascismin Film: TheItalian Commercial
1986), 183-87.
As Pavolini describes it, the enterprisewas carried out withcityand militaryhelp;
"Fascistigiovanial lavoro," 1.
18 March 1934, 4.
Giuseppe Isani, "Nascita d'uno spettacolo,"L'Italia letteraria,
Cipriano Giachetti,"II teatroai Littorialidi Firenze,"Comoedia16, no. 6 (June 1934):
8.
Ruggero Orlando, "Che cos'e '18 BL,"' La tribuna,20 April 1934, 3.
Blasetti,"Primeconsiderazionie proposte,"typescript,March 1934, BA.
From an anonymous article,"Per lo spettacolodi masse,"Il bargello,4 March 1934,
3. Much of the post-performancepolemic would hinge on the links to Eisenstein:
"Blasetti wanted all the figuresto be profiledagainst the sky,that is, in his usual
manner,he imposed the cinematographicmannerismof viewingthingsfromdown
REPRESENTATIONS

below a la Eisenstein . .. treatingthe spectatorslike the geese that inspired Eisenstein'spasse cinematicstyle";Sofia,"II parere di uno degli otto autori,"7.
55. Isani, "Nascita d'uno spettacolodi masse,"4.
56. In an unsigned articlepublished before the spectacle,Sofia had already expressed
reservations:
The impactof such an innovationon theatricaland musical practicesis hard

to foresee. Given the exceptionallylarge number of spectators,Corrado
Sofia, one of the creatorsof the 'mysteryplay,'had wished instead to normalize the highlighted voices; several newspaperboys would have commented upon the action as if the chorus in an ancient Greek play; eventsof
capital importancewould have been announced bymeans of a towncrier; in
the most allegorical and stylizedscenes-the parliamentarybanquet, for
example-the banqueters would have employed megaphones to communicate withthe spectators.... The directordecided instead to transmiteven
the choruses over loudspeakers by means of records, hoping to achieve an
emotive forceequivalent to that possessed by live voices and songs: an aim
which,if successfullyattained,willconstitutea notable precedent.
28 April 1932, 3.
"Nel clima dei giovani,"Ii lavorofascista,
57. Blasetti,"Primeconsiderazionie proposte: Parte sonora,"2, BA.
58. Isani, "Nascita d'uno spettacolodi masse,"4.
1 April
59. Sergio Codelupi, "Un teatro per ventimilapersone a Firenze,"Ii telegrafo,
1934, 7.
60. "B. F.," "Esperimentodi teatro per ventimilapersone," Corrieredella sera,20 April
1934, 3.
61. General audience ticketscost 3 lire; reserved seating ticketscost 10, 25, or 50 lire.
No freeticketswere distributed,and the onlydiscountavailable was fordopolavoristi,
who could purchase 10 lireseats foronly8 lire.
62. Records concerningthe makeup of the audience are lacking.Press reportsnote the
presence of Florentinecityleaders as well as Renato Ricci,Giacomo Paulucci di Calboli, and ArturoMarpicati.A note fromPavolinito Blasettihad promised thatEdda
Mussoliniwould accompanyher husband Galeazzo Ciano to the performance.
63. Original plans were fora double boat bridge,as indicatedin Mannucci and Tempestini'sdrawings and in documents contained in the BA; Blasetti to Giovanni Poli,
protocol #39, p. 1. The dearth of boats ensured the adoption of a single bridge
solution.
64. Cipriano Giachetti,"La rappresentazionedel '18 BL' ha luogo stasera,"La nazione,
29-30 April 1934, 5.
6 May 1934, 1.
65. RaffaelloFranchi,"18 BL spettacolodi masse,"L'Italia letteraria,
66. The firstmovementof Squillie danzeperil 18 BL is designated as a solenne,consisting
in a series of trumpetcalls accompanied by tam tams and slow drumming.Massarani's score was published in 1937 byEdizioni G. Ricordiin Milan.
Fascista)and in draftspreserved in the
67. In the original script(published in Gioventit
BA the truckwas named Mamma Gloriaand not Mamma Giberna.Sometime in late
March, Blasettimusthave decided to shiftto the lattername.
68. The original plan was for two air squadrons to overflythe crowd. For reasons that
may have to do withthe one-weekpostponementof the performance(due to rain),
these two squadrons were reduced either to several airplanes or to a single one.
Blasetti'snotesread as follows:"The airplanes,criss-crossedbythe multicolorbeams
of the photoelectricprojectors,will scatterbroadsheets fromthe Popolod'Italia ...
fora given time,afterwhichtheywillrapidlydepart towardthe leftand rightsides
18BL

121
69.
70.
71.
72.
73.
74.
75.
76.
77.
78.
79.
80.
81.
82.
83.
122
of the stadium.When theyare faraway,the stage lightswillbe relitand athleteswill

appear preceded bya livelyorchestralprelude"; "Primeconsiderazioni,"2, BA.
Marcello Gallian, "Una notted'aprile,"Quadrivio,6 May 1934, 4.
It is worthnotingthat 1930s culturein Italy,whetherfascist,apolitical,or antifascist,
was haunted bythe convictionthatthe futureof art would hinge upon a resurgence
of myth.In Bontempelli'swords,"The most urgenttask forour art is to forge new
novecentista
(Florence, 1974), 261. 18 BL's revolutionarymythis
myths";L'avventura
thuspartof a spectrumthatextendsfromBontempellianmagic realismto the metaphysicalcorpus of Giorgio De Chiricoand AlbertoSavinio.
In a pre-performanceinterview,Blasettiwould declare: "Movies have accustomed
spectatorsto seeing thingson a grand scale; theyhave habituatedthemto a sense of
realism,to rapid shiftsbetweenscenes,to a vastnessof spaces and horizonsthatthe
theatercannot provide. Here, precisely,it is a matterof creatinga theaterthatcan
offerthose sensationsto the public"; (C[ipriano] G[iachetti],"I preparatividel teatro
di masse,"La nazione,12 April 1934, 5.
The statementis again Blasetti's,fromibid.
Corrado Sofia, "Verso i Littorialidella cultura: Teatro di masse, 18 BL," La stampa,
21 February 1934, 3. Sofia had made a parallel argumentin "Cultura e sport nella
12, no. 2 (15 January 1934): 21-23.
rivoluzionefascista,"Criticafascista
In a contemporarydebate, the directorAnton Giulio Bragaglia had declared the
paucityof words the definingattributeof the new mass theater: "Blasettiindicated
to me thatthe words required for his spectaclewillbe few.And thatperhaps many
will be transmittedby loudspeaker,which means that even the tenuous residue of
theatricalvalues willbe mechanized.... Given the factthatthe drama of everyera
has averaged twentyto thirtythousand words per play,thisdearth will ensure that
the Spectacle for Masses willbe fundamentallydistinctfromthe theateras we have
knownit"; "La parola nel teatro'per ventimila,"'Il giornaled'Italia,28 April 1934, 3.
Earlier in the essay Sofia writes:"No stage,no stars,no dialogues encased withinthe
usual three-sidedwalls. Not thatthe traditionaltheaterought to vanish . . . but we
hope thatthe new theaterwillpermitpassions to be shared bythe mass of spectators
and the young actorswho willact themout"; "Verso i Littoriali,"3.
Ruggero Orlando, "Prove di 18 BL," La tribuna,26 April 1934, 3.
novecentista,
223-69; 270Bontempelli'swritingswere later collected in L'avventura
94. It goes withoutsaying that historicalprecursorswere also invoked by 18 BL's
creators.Sofia does not hesitateto definethe workas a mysteryplay: "Withmodern
means . . . we are attemptingto compose a sacred representationthatwould place
side by side on stage the passions of a people and its politicalfaith";"Verso i Littoriali," 3. Pavolini would reject all links to Roman and Renaissance pageantry but
affirmthatthe "greattheaterof the ancientGreeks"was a worthyancestor; "Fascisti
giovanial lavoro,"3.
Sofia,"II parere di uno degli ottoautori,"3-4.
See, for example, "Verso i Littoriali,"where Sofia states: "I am coordinatingwith
Sandro De Feo the ideas put forwardbya committeeof squadrists,writers,students,
and setdesigners"(3). The manuscriptscontainedin the BA suggest,to the contrary,
thatthe roles of De Feo and Sofia in the draftingprocess were not unique.
Sofia,"II parere di uno degli ottoautori,"3.
Ibid., 4. Sofia also claimed thatcriticswere guiltyof a cover-up.
"Passaggi a livello: 18 BL," La tribuna,9 May 1934, 3.
"Il corago immaginario,"Quadrivio2, no. 29 (13 May 1934): 1-2.
REPRESENTATIONS

84. Blasetti'sresponse, "Ancora sul 18 BL," appeared in La tribuna(15 May 1934): 3. It

was preceded by Bomba's "Tradimento . . . tradimento!,"which was followed by a
brieffinalblast fromSofia; "Ultimibaglioridel 18 BL," Quadrivio2, no. 30 (20 May
1934): 4; and byan even-handedessayby Gherardo Gherardi,"Difendo Blasetti,"Il
restodi carlino,26 May 1934: 3.
novecentista,
265.
85. Bontempelli,L'avventura
86. The best descriptionof the closingmomentsis thatof Giuseppe Longo:
Blasettisends
Men push together,but theircombinedstrengthis insufficient.
reinforcementsbut to no avail. Then he turnsoffthe lightsin order to conceal a cinematographictrickfromthe public (but it remainsvisible): Mother
Cartridge-Pouchis being pushed by another truck. The trickwas unrehearsed, but littledoes it mattersince nearlythreequartersof the audience
membershave already departed. At last the other trucksappear and cover
the carcass withloads of dirt.
"18 BL a Firenze: Non e nato il teatrodi massa," Gazzettadi Messina,4 May 1934, 3.
87. The anecdote is reportedbySilvio D'Amico in "Teatro di masse: 18 BL," in Cronache
does not seem to have been prevalent,however.
delteatro2 (1964): 285. Such hostility
In a letterto the author dated 14 April 1992, Luigi Preti (who at the time was a
teenager) reports: "The young people were in large measure enthusiasticabout 18
BL because of Blasetti'sexcellentdirectorialskills,even if most didn't understand it
fully."
88. Ugo Ojetti,I taccuini,1914-1943 (Florence, 1954), 435. Cf. Giuseppe Longo: "It is
not withoutdanger thatone places at the centerof a heroic enterprisean inanimate
being.... For reasons of temperamentwe Latins are not predisposed to exalting
machinery";"18 BL a Firenze."
89. Claudio Massenti,"L'esperimentofiorentinodello spettacolo di massa," La tribuna,
15 May 1934, 3. Massentihad in mind workslike Emile Schreiber'sRomeapresMoscou
(Paris, 1932), a studyof fascistItalyfilledwithcomparisonsto SovietRussia.
trans.Giacomo Prampolini(2nd ed.; Milan,
Il voltodelbolscevismo,
90. Rene Fiulop-Miller,
book was
1931), 20-21. Publishedwitha prefacebyCurzio Malaparte,Fuilop-Miller's
reprintedseveraltimesduring the late 1920s and early 1930s.
91. Eisenstein'sfilmsnever underwent general distribution,but their influence was,
nonetheless,considerablejudging by the filmsexhibitedat the fascistLittoriali.As
L'Italialetteraria,
forhis theoreticalwritings,
forinstance,ran a two-partessayentitled
"Della formacinematografica"in its28 May 1934 (p. 5) and 4 June 1934 (p. 5) issues.
92. Press coverage of 18 BL oftenreferredto these experimentsand in "Spettacoli di
masse e 18 BL," Scenario3, no. 5 (May 1934): 251-55, Guido Salvini even proposed
a detailed comparativestudy.On the Sovietrevolutionaryfestivals,see VladimirTolstoy,Irina Bibikova,and Catherine Cooke, eds., StreetArtoftheRevolution:Festivals
and Celebrations
inRussia,1918-1933 (London, 1990); SzymonBojko, "Agit-propArt:
The StreetsWere Their Theater,"in Stephanie Baron and Maurice Tuchman, eds.,
TheAvant-Garde
in Russia, 1910-1930: NewPerspectives
(Los Angeles, 1980), 72-76;
and James Von Geldern, "Festivalsof the Revolution,1917-1920: Art and Theater
in the Formationof SovietCulture" (Ph.D. diss., Brown University,1987).
93. A detailed eyewitnessaccount of the spectaclecan be found in Huntley Carter,The
NewTheatreand CinemaofSovietRussia (New York, 1970), 106-9; but see also Fulop96-97, who notesthat"a writers'and directors'collective
Miller,Il voltodelbolscevismo,
workedon it and developed it" (96).
Il voltodelboiscevismo,
94. Fuilop-Miller,
97.
18 BL

123
95. For a comparativestudyof mass theaterin SovietRussia, the WeimarRepublic, and

auf derBithne?:Das MassenNazi Germany,see Hannelore Wolff,Volksabstimmung
(Frankfurt,1985).
Agitation
theater
als Mittelpolitischer
96. This doubling extends even to the spectacle'ssongs. "Hanno ammazzato Giovanni
Berta,"forinstance,would have been familiarto the audience of 18 BL in both black
and red flavors.In the soundtrackitsfirstverseswere:
They have killedGiovanniBerta
a fascistamong fascists,
revenge,yes,revenge
shall befallthe communists.
In the communistversionitwould have opened:
They have killedGiovanniBerta
son of a war profiteer:
long live the communist
who stomped on his hands.
97.
98.
99.
100.
101.
102.
103.
124
1919-1945, ed. A. V. Savona and M. L. Straniero

Cited fromCantidell'Italiafascista,
(89-90). Such doublings are endemic: "The fascistrepertorydistinguishesitselffar
less than it would have liked fromthe contemporaneousantifascistand democratic
repertory.Indeed, itoftenadopts the same tonalitiesand the same linguisticcliches,
and on occasion even had recourseto thesame songs,whichunderwentonlyminimal
modification"(5).
Yambo, "Fervidapreparazione dei Littoriali,"13 April 1934, 1.
Since Florentinemunicipal records for this period are incomplete,it is difficultto
establishthe precise contributionmade bycityauthorities.The Azienda Autonoma
di Turismodi Firenze contributedat least 100,000 lire to the budget of the Littoriali,
accordingto documentsfound in Florence'sArchiviodi Storia.The Comune of Florence also covered the electricalbill at the ParterreSan Gallo, and allocated 35,000
lire for "the preparation of some segmentsof Argin Grosso, Mortuli,and Isolotto
streets"(quoted froma document,dated 2 March 1934, signed bythe Podesta'Paolo
Pesciolini,Archiviodi Storia, Florence Prefecture,General Affairs,series 2, 1934,
file87, envelope 2202).
Cited from"Primeconsiderazionie proposte: Ufficio,"BA.
Orlando, "Prove di 18 BL," 3.
The metaphor of "metallization,"centralto Marinetti'swritings,is cited in the epilogue to WalterBenjamin's "The Workof Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction": "War is beautifulbecause it initiatesthe dreamt-ofmetallizationof the human
ed. Hannah Arendt,trans.HarryZohn (New York, 1976), 241.
body"; Illuminations,
The metaphor also figuresprominentlyin the writingsexamined by Theweleit in
(aus demTagebuch
Male Fantasiesand in workssuch as ErnstJunger'sIn Stahlgewittern
einesStosstruppfihrers)
(Berlin, 1931).
One contemporarypress account presentsthe 18 BL as the founding ancestor of
Italian mass transportation;C[urio] M[ortari],"Teatro di masse: Lo spettacolo di
staseraa Firenze,"La stampa,29 April 1934, 4.
Salome is identifiedwith the so-called donna crisito be contrastedwith the donna
on whichsubjectsee Victoriade Grazia, How FascismRuled Women:Italy,
madre/truck,
1922-1945 (Berkeley,1992), 212-13. De Grazia notes: "To respond to the aesthetic
mayhem unleashed by commercialculture,the fascistpropaganda machine, with
REPRESENTATIONS

Mussolini'sapprobation,championed itsown standardsof femalebeauty: one ideal,

the 'crisiswoman,' was negative;the other,whom we mightcall 'authenticwoman,'
was positive"(212).
104. In 1860 Blasettihad employedthissame principleto even greatereffect.Garibaldi,
the true protagonistof the film,appears in only a handful of framesand, when he
does, his presence is fleeting.
18BL

125

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18 BL: Fascist Mass Spectacle

Author(s): Jeffrey T. Schnapp

This content downloaded from 149.31.21.88 on Mon, 28 Oct 2013 04:14:26 AM

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torianseithercould or would not: namely,How did Mussolini'sregime maintain

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Shklovsky'searlier-citedremark that the fabric of Russian life was being

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staged 360 open-air performances before an audience of nearly 200,000

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steelarmatures.22Alwayswell attended,thispre-performance"show"was meant

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fascist governmentas a ubiquitous agent of cultural-politicalmodernization

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the culturalwar cryof F. T. Marinetti's1909 Manifestoof Futurism: "We will sing

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2 (above). Site map of the "Theater of the Masses"; La nazione,18 April

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4. Leftside of stage duringact 2, press

mode of narrationalwaysopen to allegoricalintimations.Blasettireworkedthe

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constructionof an outdoor theater: an arena, as per it Duce's orders, "able to

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Under Enemy Reflectors,"

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endar). Beyondthe gatewaylay the cementbookswithbayonetsand, beyond

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onlynoises thatcan be heard are those of knivesclangingon plates. An applause

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7. "Act3, Scene2: Present!,"

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halfwayacross the stage,her motoris blownand soon begins spewingsmoke. All

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masses,on thecontrary,restoresto thebodyitscentralrole and in so doing forges

Such at least was the theoreticalmatrixwithinwhich the creatorsof 18 BL

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audience's abilityto participatein everyaction. Able to hear but unable to see,

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defined,be fullyreconciled withmechanizationand industrialization?Perhaps

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collectives,and both constitutethemselvesin a

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of a futurefully"fascistized"society.Accordingly,the production of 18 BL was

The execution of produc-

tion orders must be absolutely military,which is to say immediate, without

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lectivityis alwaysshadowed bythe menace of dissolutionand loss. Fascismnever

FIGURE 8 (left).Xanti Schawinsky,

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scriptfor18 BL had proposed thatMotherCartridge-Pouchbe resurrectedafter

I wishto acknowledgethe supportof the National HumanitiesCenterand the Simon

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