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

"An excellent and timely book. The idea of studying Italiam fascism as a 'society of the spectacle' that used symbols, rituals, and a cult of the leader to create itself as it unfolded is a brilliant stroke."—Walter L. Adamson, author of Avant-Garde Florence: From Modernism to Fascism

List of contents

List of Illustrations 
Acknowledgments 
INTRODUCTION 
Narrative and Representation 
Aesthetics and Politics 
1. MUSSOLINI' S AESTHETIC POLITICS 
The Politician as Artist 
From Art to Violence 
2. MUSSOLINI THE MYTH 
Mussolini in the Culture of Personality 
Mussolini and the Party 
The Deification of Mussolini 
3· THE POLITICS OF SYMBOLS: FROM CONTENT TO FORM 
The Myth of Rome 
The Discourse on Style 
4· BODILY ECONOMY: CORPORATIVISM AND CONSUMPTION 
Disembodying the Body 
Material! Consumption 
Mimetic Economy 
Spectacle and Desire 
5· WAR AND MELODRAMA
The Politics of Land 
The Politics of War 
CONCLUSIONS 
Notes 
Bibliography 
Photograph Credits 
Index 

About the author

Simonetta Falasca-Zamponi is Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of California, Santa Barbara.

Summary

A cultural history of Italian fascism, this work traces the narrative path that accompanied the making of a regime and the construction of Mussolini's power. The author reads fascist myths, rituals, images, and speeches as texts that tell the story of fascism.

Additional text

"An excellent contribution to the growing number of studies of Fascist political culture and public rituals."

Product details

• Authors: Simonetta Falasca-Zamponi, Falasca-Zamponi Simonetta
• Publisher: University Of California Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 31.08.2000
• EAN: 9780520226777
• ISBN: 978-0-520-22677-7
• No. of pages: 314
• Series: Studies on the History of Soci; Studies on the History of Society and Culture
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History; Non-fiction book > Politics, society, business > Politics; Social sciences, law, business > Political science > Political theories and the history of ideas; History, Europe, European History, HISTORY / Military / General, HISTORY / Europe / General, HISTORY / Social History, HISTORY / Europe / Italy, POLITICAL SCIENCE / World / European, Italy, 20th century, c 1900 to c 1999, Warfare & defence, Social and cultural history, Warfare and defence, Far-right political ideologies and movements