Journal of Italian Translation - Brooklyn College - Academic Home ...

Futurist Poets
Translated by Gianluca Rizzo and Dominic Siracusa
Gianluca Rizzo received a Laurea in Scienze della Comunicazione
from the University of Bologna, with a tesi in Semiology of
Cinema and Multimedia. He, then, received a Ph.D. in Italian from
UCLA, with a dissertation on Teofilo Folengo’s macaronic Latin.
His present research focuses on the history of macaronic Latin and
its legacy in twentieth century Italian poetry. He also works as a
translator of American contemporary poetry, and Italian Renaissance
and contemporary poetry. He is currently a Visiting Assistant
Professor of Italian at Franklin and Marshall College.
Dominic Siracusa completed his Bachelor’s Degree in Italian
Studies at The American University of Rome. He holds a Masters
in Italian Literature from Middlebury College, where he wrote
his thesis on Italo Calvino. Currently, he is a Doctoral candidate
in the Department of Italian at UCLA and studies medieval and
contemporary poetry. He has translated works by many writers,
including F.T. Marinetti, Enif Robert, and Rosa Rosà. He received
the 2011 Raiziss/ de Palchi Fellowship for the translation of Emilio
Villa’s collected works.
Well-Oiled Words (and Numbers)
In 1914 Marinetti published yet another manifesto: “Geometric
and Mechanical Splendor and Numeric Sensibility.” We are particularly
fond of its first paragraph:
“We already disposed of the grotesque funeral of passéist
Beauty [...]. Today, from the chaos of new contradictory sensibilities,
a new beauty is born, one we Futurists will substitute for the
old, one I call geometric and mechanic splendor. These are its essential
components: hygienic oblivion, hope, desire, channeled power,
speed, light, will, order, discipline, method; a big city atmosphere;
the aggressive optimism found in the cult of muscles and sports;