Fascist Spectacle.pdf

Fascist Spectacle http://content.cdlib.org/xtf/view?docId=ft18700444&chunk.id=0&doc.v...
Figure 14.
A sobbing bourgeois in a stovepipe hat tries to reanimate the defunct lei (caricature
drawing, "The Inconsolable," by Angelo Burattini, for the Anti-Bourgeois Exhibit
planned by Starace in 1938).
the 'lei' neatly. . . . Besides any other consideration, all this reveals the absence of that fascist
temperament which must be able to carry out in every circumstance the style of Mussolini's time."
And, Starace continued: "The federal secretaries must call upon the gerarchi and talk clearly to them
without omitting to indicate that when the injunctions I have ordered regarding this matter are not
followed, it may mean either little sense of discipline or even little fascist faith. This is one of those
cases in which form, by definitively affecting customs, expresses its deep content with exactitude." [98]
Starace assigned rituals an important role in the new society organized by fascism. He worked
diligently to fulfill Mussolini's aesthetic-political vision through means that corresponded to the
regime's own identification of style with character and spirit. Within this frame, the observance of
myths, rituals, and symbols signified the people's acknowledgment of their fascist identity, and
adoption of new rituals was intended to signify a truly radical change in style. This interpretation is
exemplified by the case of the Roman salute, one of the main ritualistic gestures that fascism
introduced in daily life.
The Roman Salute
― 110 ―
The Roman salute, in which the right arm was raised in a straight and perpendicular manner, had been
adopted by D'Annunzio during his regency in Fiume. Like other rituals utilized by D'Annunzio, the
salute became part of the rising fascist movement's symbolic patrimony and was inherited by
Mussolini's government. On January 31, 1923, the Ministry of Education instituted a ritual honoring the
flag in schools. During the ceremony, students paid homage to the flag with fascist songs and a
Roman salute (Figure 15). [99] In 1925, when Mussolini began his work of fascistizzazione of the state,
the salute officially became part of the regime. Mussolini ordered all state civil administrations at the
center and the periphery, including schools, to adopt it as of December 1, 1925. [100] The salute was
supposed to reflect a sense of discipline, as it addressed a superior as a sign of respect from an
inferior in the ranks. But there were also rules concerning the salute between gerarchi of equal
importance. Mussolini sent telegrams to the several ministers communicating his orders. Amidst
requests for clarifications on the modalities and circumstances concerning the salute, the Roman
gesture became part of people's everyday existence and experience.
In 1932 the Roman salute was adopted as the substitute for the bourgeois handshake. In his
disposizioni , Starace wished that "the year XI signs the twilight of shaking hands." [101] The salute
was considered "more hygienic, more aesthetic and shorter," in the words of Mussolini, [102] and the
regime defined itself as antibourgeois through the Roman salute. Unlike ugly, slow bourgeois culture,
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