Italian Futurism in the Polish Press
Italian Futurism in the Polish Press

Summary/Abstract: The topic of this article is the role of the Polish press in disseminating knowledge about Italian Futurism in the years 1909–1939. It is the press, both daily and more or less specialized periodicals on culture, that is the most important and unrivalled source of information on the Italian avant-garde in Poland. The collected bibliography, on which the present text is based, contains one hundred sixty-five references. The published materials can be divided into several groups: critical sketches, articles and all kinds of informative notes by Polish authors on Futurism, translations of Futurist theoretical texts, poetry and theatre, as well as reproductions of works of art, photographs and drawings portraying Futurists. From the beginning, the press commentators devoted most of their attention to the figure and activities of Marinetti. In the ’30s, the interest in Futurism was effectively fuelled by his visit to Poland in relation to the staging of his drama Prisoners in the theatre in Lviv. Painting and theatrical experiments (mainly by Prampolini) also compose a large bibliography. Besides, Futurist literary manifestos influenced the new Polish poetry, creating hot press polemics, and the language of media itself. In addition to aesthetic issues, attention was drawn to Futurist proposals to rebuild social relations and to the link between Futurism and Fascism. Among the most important promoters of the Italian movement we list two poets, Peiper and Kurek, as well as writers and translators Kołtoński and Boyé, while the most well-deserved press titles are “Wiadomości Literackie” (Literary News) and “Zwrotnica” (Switches).

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