Sullo sfondo del Futurismo: tempo e “malattia storica” di Friedrich Nietzsche e relativi esiti in Giovanni Papini
- Institution: Uniwersytet Warszawski
- Year of publication: 2016
- Source: Show
- Pages: 69-85
- DOI Address: https://doi.org/10.15804/IW.2016.07.04
- PDF: iw/07/iw704.pdf
In the context of futurism: Friedrich Nietzsche’s time and “Historical Sickness” and their outcome in Giovanni Papini
Within Futurism, a critical concept is formed of the past, of history in general, and of the way in which history is lived in the present, along with its harmful consequences, as it becomes an excuse to avoid progress by constantly looking back at the past. this is an idea that is exemplified well by Giovanni Papini in his Discorso di Roma. Contro Roma e contro Benedetto Croce. However, the past and history as “sickness” had already been analysed by Friedrich Nietzsche in On the Use and Abuse of History for Life. In the early years of the 20th century, the German philosopher established his presence within Italian culture thanks to the authors of the literary journal Leonardo, and Papini in particular. these intellectuals not only wrote about Nietzsche in their magazine, but they also tried to make use of Nietzche’s thought. From a Futurist perspective, the connection between the two authors has to do primarily with the criticism of history and the past. However, the Röcken-born philosopher focuses on both the abuse and use of the historical past, while Papini carries this idea to extremes by stressing only the abuse that comes from it, therefore condemning it tout court. By doing this, the tuscan intellectual, shortly after adhering to Futurism, follows the guidelines imposed by the avant-garde movement and expresses the fiery magnitude of his thought, aimed at the destruction of the past in all its forms to make way for the long-denied future.