Fascism, Aviation and Mythical Modernity

Flying and the pilot were significant metaphors of fascism's mythical modernity. Fernando Esposito traces the changing meanings of these highly charged symbols from the air show in Brescia, to the sky above the trenches of the First World War to the violent ideological clashes of the interwar period.

Fernando Esposito's important and complex study, based on his dissertation, picks up on the theme of machine dreams Peter Fritzsche first presented some two decades ago but seeks to integrate it with Roger Griffin's definition of Fascism as the palingenesis of the nation. not only students of Fascist discourse but those seeking to understand the many cultures of early aeronautics will benefit from it. (Guillaume de Syon, Journal of Modern History, Vol. 89 (3), September, 2017)

Its profundity, sophistication and scholarship draw on and will serve academics in both the humanities and social sciences in politics, philosophy, history, cultural studies, transport history, art and architecture, and European studies of various stripes. For transport historians, it is a signal treatment of the ideological machinations and artistic ailerons of aviation. For Italian studies, Esposito's book is a rich source of evidence and a provocative analysis of a strand of ideas and performances that buoyed fascism. (Gordon Pirie, Journal of Modern Italian Studies, Vol. 22 (3), June, 2017)

Fernando Esposito's book explores the centrality of aviation to inter-war fascist ideology. It is a valuable addition to studies on fascism and aviation, and, more broadly, will also be of interest to readers looking for sophisticated analyses of the interplay between technology and ideology. (W. Zaidi, English Historical Review, Vol. 132 (556), June, 2017)

Autorentext

Fernando Esposito is Lecturer at the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Germany.

Inhalt

1. Aviation, Fascism, And The Longing For Order
   
   2. Theoretical And Methodological Approach
   3. Definition Of The Central Analytical Categories
   4. Structure Of The Work
      PART I: LONGING FOR ORDER
   5. Idea Non Vincit. Warburg And The Crisis Of Liberal Modernity
   6. Icarus Rising. D'Annunzio, The Flying Artificer Of Myth
   7. Longing For Order - Summary
      PART II: FRACTURED ORDER
   8. Don Quixote Of The Air
   9. Flying Swords And Mechanized Warfare
   10. Transitional Heroes And The Order Of The Gemeinschaft
   11. Fractured Order - Summary
       PART III: ETERNAL ORDER
   12. Volare! The Fascist Take-Off Towards Eternal Order
   13. Fascism And Mythical Modernity