Fascist Spectacle: The Aesthetics of Power in Mussolini's Italy

Studies on the History of Society and Culture

by Simonetta Falasca-Zamponi

This richly textured cultural history of Italian fascism traces the narrative path that accompanied the making of the regime and the construction of Mussolini's power. Simonetta Falasca-Zamponi reads fascist myths, rituals, images, and speeches as texts that tell the story of fascism. Linking Mussolini's elaboration of a new ruling style to the shaping of the regime's identity, she finds that in searching for symbolic means and forms that would represent its political novelty, fascism in fact brought itself into being, creating its own power and history.

Falasca-Zamponi argues that an aesthetically founded notion of politics guided fascist power's historical unfolding and determined the fascist regime's violent understanding of social relations, its desensitized and dehumanized claims to creation, its privileging of form over ethical norms, and ultimately its truly totalitarian nature.

Genres: History, Politics, Italy, Nonfiction, Art

314 pages, Paperback

First published July 2, 1997

Reviews

[Jason Jeffries · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've always been a student of history when I read and fascinated by fascism, nationalism, racism, and the like so this year in honor of Donald J. Trump I wanted to learn more about Benito Mussolini. I hear the "Trump is Hitler" chant but maybe I'm in the 'Trump is more Mussolini than Hitler' crowd, so this year I made time to read up on Mussolini and Italian Fascism. In the past, I've primarily read about the more dominant Hitler along with conflations of Hitler's Nazism and Mussolini's Fascism. As I read more, there's a chance my previous reading has been heavily spiced with um Marxist historian takes on all this which maybe clouds my understanding, something I tried to be aware in my reading selections.

I started with The Doctrine of Fascism by Benito Mussolini himself, describing his take on fascism in his own words. I learned that Trump does not in fact have the best words, in fact he's got nothing on 100-year-old Mussolini. Sad!

Next this year I read Fascism: A Very Short Introduction.I'm a big fan of the 'very short introduction' series. The books are very focused, cover the necessary ground, and lay a foundation for further reading.

"To the old liberal system, Mussolini presented the alternative of a new, "very strong," and "virile" fascist state"

Next I dove into Mussolini's Intellectuals: Fascist Social and Political Thought. A. James Gregor is no Marxist and makes that clear. The book was a refreshing take and interesting to read right now, watching the struggle in the Republican party over 'Trumpism'. A premise of the book is that intellectuals and intellectual backing are required for any movement. While Fascism is often represented as an impulsive, physical, unthinking force it does and did not lack persuasive arguments of philosophers and writers.

"By beautifying politics, fascism reaffirmed the value of tradition-a tradition founded on hierarchy and respect for authority and drawing its aura from faith."

I think last in my #Trump2016 Mussolini reading tour will be this book, Fascist Spectacle: The Aesthetics of Power in Mussolini's Italy. This is most immersive and sweeping history. It was a great read, and considering the content it didn't take too long, although some of it was a chore because thinking why do I care about all of this? But the book is meant to explore the forces present in Italy at the time, Mussolini and his influences, and the outward manifestations of the party. Eventually I felt I had to care, after getting so far along. The book is heavily footnoted (100+ per chapter) so the material is well-sourced (40% of the book is attributions to sources). The chapters explore art, film, optics, doctrine, and other expressions of fascism in Italy.

"in the wake of the French revolution, the traditional embodiment of the sacred and its institutions (church and monarchy) were defeated, the myth of Christendom was shattered, and the hierarchical model of social relations had been liquidated."

It was interesting to see how Mussolini's own ideas and powerful personality shaped a time of rising nationalism, and disruptive social and political changes. Owners and workers in league with the powerful leader would remove the need for weak legislative bodies. Democracy was weak, a strong authoritarian state would restore the masculinity, the movement, the change. Even in the United States, oligarchs and other powerful elites were watching for elements to emulate. National arguments would be resolved by appeal to charismatic authority. The Caesarism, celebrity, and showmanship was fascinating and continues to work today. Being "above party" or outside the traditional party system, obeying hierarchy and unquestioningly performing rituals are all similar elements to movements today. It's fascinating to learn about the Fascist critique of consumption-oriented, lazy democracy and liberalism 100 years of history later, and in these times.

"Sternhell argues that the revolutionary syndicalists' Marxist revolt against materialism, in combination with the influence of "tribal" nationalism, prepared the soil for the birth of fascist ideology."

Taken together my reading this year was an enlightening experience for me about Benito Mussolini and Italian - some might say the original - Fascism, more free of the explicit racial politics of Adolf Hitler. In light of the "rise" of Trump, I feel this has been a useful endeavor. I stand by my assertion that Trump is a third-rate knock-off American Mussolini, of course complete with a fake tan and a limited vocabulary, woefully shallow and ignorant and incomprehensibly proud of it. To call Trump Mussolini is to shame Mussolini. This entire election experience has led me again to doubt my faith in mass democracy.

[Mya McKeown · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book was done well in many ways, but it missed a huge aspect of the regime. Even in the parts about the fascist attitude towards Ethiopians, she didn’t use the word “racism” once. She also failed to include this in the several sections referring to embodiment and symbolism.

[Oliver Go · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of the three Axis powers, fascist Italy has never been taken particularly seriously, nor has Benito Mussolini. In all the pop culture I’ve seen him portrayed in, he always appears as a moronic idiot who doesn’t know what he’s doing, and the fascist Italian forces being laughably unremarkable. It’s not particularly unsurprising then that fascist Italy has never been portrayed as frequently (or as evil) as the imperial Japanese or the Nazis have been. But what makes Mussolini important is simply that he was the first to do it. He invented the word fascism and forged the archetype for the modern dictator. In this book, Falasca-Zamponi analyzes fascism’s relationship with aesthetics, propaganda, and sensual perception.
Fascist Italy could best be described as having all flash and no substance. Even the (supposedly) most commendable thing about Mussolini’s regime; that he made the trains run on time; is arguably nothing more than an aesthetically pleasing benefit in daily life, as compared to trains being late to their destinations. Falasca-Zamponi deconstructs fascism to the point where it is very easy to see all the blatant contradictions in Italian fascism’s ideology: a mythicization of war but an appearance as the defender of peace, a close relation to God and the Catholic church but at the same time a critique of the church’s ideology, and attacking the bourgeoisie yet taking the side of industrialists in many labor disputes. The contradictions that punch serious holes in fascism’s ideological stance come to appear in the fascist government’s practice. Mussolini’s regime spends its time banning foreign pronouns and ensuring everyone dresses correctly at rallies rather than solving most of the real issues that Italy had been left in the aftermath of the First World War. Much of Mussolini’s desire to create an aesthetic and spiritualized Italian society would be some of the direct factors that caused Italy’s incompetence in the Second World War.
Overall though, this book is important because it provides a fascinating insight into the regime of the first ever fascist. Alongside being an important contemplative work on the dangers of combining aesthetics with politics, the book also tackles the cult of personality around Benito Mussolini, one that is very strong and has continued to this day, where some people claim that fascist Italy only turned evil once it allied with Hitler. The establishment of Mussolini’s cult of personality seems almost like a formula, one to look out for in political leaders today.

[Aimee · Rating 4 out of 5]

In fascist regimes, the concept of “masses” is an integral part of the political movement, for its relationship to the leader is a symbol of power. In Mussolini’s address to the Fascist Party on January 28th, 1924, he defined fascism as a “doctrine of force, of beauty” (16). Fascist ideology exploited the reverence and pride in Italy’s long traditions of the fine arts. Enlightenment philosophers and intellectuals created concepts that helped them make sense of the world, and in this process, they institutionalized heteropatriarchal domination.

Mussolini used the fascist spectacle as a creative way to excite the public by evoking strong emotions, while manipulating them through their dreams, fears, insecurities, and vulnerability. By aestheticizing politics, Mussolini can create an image or idea of a future that appeals to Italians, however vague and unclear the image. Under the influence of Le Bon’s philosophy of the femininity of the “masses,” Mussolini believed in the power of words to influence the masses and mold or create them to his liking. “The art of impressing the imagination of crowds,” and leaders were “to play on the power of representation and to adapt theatrical modes” (20).

Mussolini mastered the “art” of speech and gained a following of Italians who were unhappy with the economic hardships, lack of employment opportunities, and disenchantment of other failing political parties. By reaffirming the values of tradition and patriarchy, Mussolini played on his dominant male role, and the “masses” represented the subordinate female. In this dynamic hierarchal status, the superior role of the dictator is symbolic of the creator and protector, and the Italian crowds were the resulting mastery of artistic creation objectified.

Mussolini’s speeches are filled with virtually empty platitudes, his declarations of love for the people while promising to create a “new generation of Italians,” and a need for “reshaping the Italians” to make their character (26).

The Italian fascist movement exploited Italians shortly after the Unification of Italy. The working class in Italy was powerless and overlooked for centuries, and the young country was ripe for Nationalist ideology. As in any subjugated society, the idealization of violence as a form of total power and the anti-party ideology affirmed the Italian identity characterized by generations of struggle. Mussolini’s rhetoric that violence was beautiful, saintly, and moral exalted the martyr mentality and the death toll affirmed the movement as worthy (35).

[lucy]

"Mussolini ... had again escaped death, and the near miss ... contributed symbolically to the legend of his survival. Pictures of the Duce wearing a bandage on his nose testified to [...] Referring to the failed attempt on his life, Mussolini told the crowd ... 'Bullets pass and Mussolini stays.'"

does quoting this count as fearmongering?

[Bobby Petricini · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great look at the rise of fascism in Italy using culture as the mode to explore it.

[Evan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Making an aesthetic kind of not doing well

[Matthias · Rating 4 out of 5]

The section "The Mussolini Myth" is especially important and useful; it collects all the (seemingly) bizarre mediatic tactics Mussolini used to project youth, masculinity, strength, power, and, ultimately, immortality - in a gradual transformation from cult of personality to deification.
In the meantime, a nation of people identified the leader's projections as the qualities of the nation itself, even if the nation was actually lacking them. A form of mass hypnosis and escapism, leaving such a deep cultural influence that I believe Italy has never managed to fully wake up from it.
It can be easily recognized how some contemporary leaders, like Putin, are employing the same tactics to project a carefully crafted powerful image to their people and, perhaps even more meticulously, to other countries' citizens.

The chapter "The Politician as Artist" shows us how perfectly Mussolini understood the weaponizing power of media and the nature of politics as entertainment in a modern sense, before any other leader.
And the next chapter, "From Art to Violence", leads us to the natural consequences of that realization.

Almost all the western world has gradually shifted towards an infotainment-dominated form of public politics since the end of WWII, so these topics are extremely current. And worrisome.

[Jared Adams]

Falasca-Zamponi does an excellent job of taking the reader inside Fascist Italy in order to understand the base of Mussolini's power and how he was able to make himself the 'man' or the one true leader of Italy. It goes into great detail how the Fascist regime attempted to make the Fascist rise to power and the regime itself a grand myth. With the myth of the March on Rome, of the Roman Empire, of Italian greatness, it shows how hard Mussolini tried to get Italians to become supporters of something bigger than just fascism, but of Italy itself.

[Jonathan Hedgpeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book. It is translated from Italian, so the wording can be awkward at times, but for the most part it was a very rewarding read.

It is a history of the intellectual origins of European Fascist/Nationalism. Perhaps what I found most remarkable was how French and Italian intellectuals drew the conclusions that they did.....Conclusions which invariably lead to the rise of the 'corporate state' of european fascism.

[Vicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Complex argument that tries to logically reconcile contradictions in Italian fascism by analyzing the aesthetics of politics. Great book!