My Modest Musings

On the first day of class, we explored the topic of modernism and what it means to be modern. As our definitions were only briefly developed, these two writings, "Horizons," and "Manifesto of Futurism," allowed us to experience two knowledgeable and well developed theses to the elusive definition of "modern." Both takes on the topic stressed a certain element of the past, "horizons" focusing on a fusion of the past, and "manifesto" a complete break from the past. This poses the question, to be truly avant-garde and groundbreaking, how much influence from the past is necessary?
Marinetti's take on modernism, while insightful, came off as elitist and radical. Charged with vivid figurative narration and intense action verbs, his opinions seemed to be bolstered more with wit and fervor than an unbiased logical approach. His opinion on past influence is made clear with his arduous checklist of demands that he sees needs to be met in order for something to be modern. Rule number 8 states, "...Why should we look back over our shoulders, when we intend to breach the mysterious doors of the impossible? Time and space died yesterday." Clearly, he thinks that doing away with the past will leave us unhindered in our quest for modernism. Rule 10 states "We intend to destroy museums, libraries, academies of every sort." Again we see him stressing an undoing of the past, but we can't know for sure to what extent he means; he might, instead of eradicating all past infuence, wish to do away with such specificities as museums and libraries. It may be that his intended controversy is interfering with his clarity of ideas.
"Horizons" was, in my opinion, a much more optimistic and unbiased take on modernism. How the author sees the past is less of an eradication and more of a "fusion," as he calls it. In the section called "The Erotica of Fusion," he compares past influence to the easy-to-understand example of our own lives. Our liminal experiences can be compared to avant-garde works of the past which have "...refreshed us and can become a souce of energy and meaning for us." Fromm this, I think he was trying to make the point that old ideas can still pertain to our lives, and if we do away with specificity, we can incorporate these ideas in to something fresh and modern.
As my ideas of modernism are forming, I seem to be leaning toward the thought process of "horizons"