Abstract
The chapter describes the activist enactment of dark, and the way it took shape from the Milanese anarcho-punk. It starts reporting the rising tensions within the squat Virus between those subjects who started to “play with the codes of dark” and the activist “punx” (how anarcho-punks called themselves). The former, in fact, found the line of frontal contraposition adopted by the squat too narrow, and found their concerns about identity politics, sexuality and artistic expression resonating better with the new post-punk music and culture coming in those years from the UK. Punx, on the other hand, found these subjects politically ambiguous, for the relevance they attributed to issues and practices (like going to theatre, art exhibitions or even to dancing) deemed as not relevant for the political struggle of the squat. In order to highlight the main differences in terms of subcultural canon and enactment between Milanese anarcho-punk and what would become the activist enactment of dark, the chapter discusses the case study of the contestation of the band CCCP at the Virus in 1984, since it played an important role in exacerbating the tensions. As a consequence of these events, in fact, a new post-punk collective, Creature Simili, would be established and they would leave the squat. They would give life to the Helter Skelter, a self-managed space within the autonomist squat Leoncavallo, which soon became a point of reference for the dark scene in northern Italy. The chapter ends giving an account of the particular kind of political activism promoted by activist darks, and the role it played within the enactment, in particular for identity construction and subcultural authentication—where an “authentic” subcultural identity had to be validated through active involvement in the political struggle.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
- 2.
Re Nudo was the most relevant Italian countercultural magazine of the 1970s. Founded in Milan in 1970, it was published until 1980 and relaunched several times in the following decades. Its editorial line included topics as diverse as music, drugs, sexual liberation and comics. About Re Nudo Umberto Fiori writes, “the first step towards the political hegemonisation of rock by the Left was made not by a marxist organisation but by the hippie movement which started in the early seventies around the underground magazine Re Nudo in Milan” (Fiori 1984: 265).
- 3.
The squat of the radical Marxist left was occupied in 1975 in Baggio, on the western outskirts of Milan.
- 4.
On this topic, see Worley (2017).
- 5.
Philopat (1997).
- 6.
For an overview on proletarian youth clubs, see Piazza (2011), and in particular par. 3.
- 7.
See The Free Association (2016).
- 8.
Philopat (2002).
- 9.
See Chap. 2.
- 10.
The Magliocco airport in Comiso, Sicily (today named after the unionist Pio La Torre, assassinated by the mafia), in 1981 was designated as a NATO base by the Italian government. In 1983 it was equipped with 112 American cruise missiles to counter Soviet missiles: it was one of the main installations of NATO in Southern Europe during the cold war. In the summer of 1983, there was a protest against this decision: about 300 people arrived from all over Italy to demonstrate, including the punx from the Virus squat. As Marco Philopat writes in his book Costretti a sanguinare (1997), the occupation of the base was supposed to start on Friday, 22 July, and to end on Sunday, 24 July, with a concert of three German and two English musical bands, including the Crass, in Sicily for the occasion. But on Saturday, 23 July, police forces stifled the protest, after an actual battle with arrested, missing, fugitive and wanted people. See https://www.linkiesta.it/it/article/2012/03/04/trentanni-fa-quando-comiso-era-la-val-di-susa/6684/ and https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/2008/08/29/missili-comiso-arrivano-punk.html. Last accessed 2 December 2019.
- 11.
In 1984, punks and skinheads from all over Europe went to Hannover for the annual ‘Chaos Days’ punk fest on 4 August. In 1982, after several punk meetings in Wuppertal, the first Chaostage occurred in Hanover, to protest the police plan to create a registry of photographs of punks. Official Chaostage festivals were held in 1983, 1984, 1985 and then revived in the mid-1990s.
- 12.
On the experience of the Turinese band, see Negazione (2012).
- 13.
Indigesti, founded in Vercelli in 1982, was one of the main Italian hardcore punk bands.
- 14.
- 15.
Metal Box, also known by the title Second Edition, is the second studio album by the British post-punk band Public Image Ltd., released in 1979 by Virgin Records. In 2003, the American music magazine Rolling Stone placed it 461st on its list of the 500 best albums of all time.
- 16.
Lindsay Kemp (1938–2018) was a British choreographer, actor, dancer, mimer and director. Considered a schoolmaster of contemporary dance theatre, he also had a decisive influence on the history of rock, as is evident in the styles of artists such as Kate Bush, Peter Gabriel and especially David Bowie. In fact, Kemp became well known in the mainstream audience thanks to his collaboration with the White Duke in the Ziggy Stardust version, for whom he performed during the famous concerts at the Rainbow Theatre in London in August 1972. The most iconic image of Kemp is probably his personal rendition of Pierrot. He particularly loved Italy, so much so that in his last ten years he lived in Livorno. In Milan he held various shows, including two in 1979: Flowers by Jean Genet and Salomé by Oscar Wilde, at the Manzoni Theatre and at the National Theatre.
- 17.
The Plastic is a well-known alternative night club in Milan, open since 1980. The first flyer, dated 23 December 1980, recommended “a dark suit, heavy makeup, pomp—especially pomp.” It was frequented by internationally renowned artists such as Madonna, Elton John, Andy Warhol and Keith Haring, before becoming a reference point especially for the fashion crowd. In 2012, from its historic headquarters in Viale Umbria 120, it moved to another area of the city. See https://zero.eu/it/luoghi/3677-discoteca-plastic,milano/. Last accessed 2 December 2019.
- 18.
Cox 18 is a socially oriented squat in Milan in the Navigli area that has been self-managed since 1976, and evacuated many times by the municipality. Its website describes the squat with these words: “The various collectives which take part refuse to recognise dominant ideologies or ideologies which would dominate. It does not accept any form of delegation and chooses meetings and self-confrontations as a means to decision-making and existence. It is interested in non-manipulative interpersonal relations and follows generalized self-management, creating and promoting social aggregation and solidarity networks.” Since 1992, Cox18 has hosted Primo Moroni’s Calusca City Lights bookshop and it has been the seat of the Primo Moroni Archive since 2002. See https://cox18.noblogs.org/. Last accessed 2 December 2019.
- 19.
Stati di agitazione is a song by CCCP. It appears in their second album Socialismo e barbarie, released in 1987 for Virgin Records.
- 20.
De Sario (2012).
- 21.
See Sect. 4.3.
- 22.
The text of the leaflet is available online in different music and punk blogs, for example http://stabiliturbolenze.blogspot.com/2008/11/fedeli-alla-linea-che-non-c.html. Last accessed 2 December 2019.
- 23.
Negri (2007).
- 24.
The Festa dell’Unità was an annual summer festival originally organized by the Italian Communist Party to finance and distribute its official newspaper, l’Unità.
- 25.
Valcavi (2017).
- 26.
For an in-depth discussion of Amen, see Sect. 6.4.
- 27.
The Scapigliatura was an artistic and literary movement born in Northern Italy in the second half of the nineteenth century. It had its epicentre in Milan and was later established throughout the country. The name—created by the writer Cletto Arrighi—is a free translation of the French word bohème (Gypsy life), in reference to the disordered and nonconformist lifestyles of artists. The Scapigliati opposed Italian romanticism, preferring the international one, along with the nascent French naturalism and the poètes maudits like Baudelaire. According to Italian literary criticism, the Scapigliatura anticipated later well-known movements such as Verismo and Decadentism. See Del Principe (1996).
- 28.
See Chap. 1.
- 29.
The Sinigaglia Fair is the oldest flea market in Milano, established in the nineteenth century in the Ticinese neighbourhood. Over the years it has changed location a few times, but always within the same district, along the canals. During the 1980s it was the main gathering place for many alternative subcultures of the city, mainly punk and dark. Another important meeting point was by the Columns of San Lorenzo, between Via Torino and Corso di Porta Ticinese: an ancient building of the late Roman era, located in front of the church with the same name, near the medieval Ticinese gate.
- 30.
See Sect. 1.1.
- 31.
In the centre of Milan, next to the Duomo, the elegant Vittorio Emanuele Gallery offers many expensive shops and restaurants, and it is still the symbol of the wealth of the city. At the intersection of its arcades, there is a space surmounted by a dome called “the octagon” for its characteristic shape.
- 32.
At this link, the flyer of the festival was dedicated to the American underground filmmaker Richard Kern: http://www.gomma.tv/photoz/photogallery-da-pellicole-di-richard-kern/index.html. Last accessed 2 December 2019.
- 33.
Punkaminazione was a bulletin of connection and coordination assembled by groups, labels and collectives of the Italian punk scene. It started in 1982 in order to share ideas and aims such as anti-militarism, squatting, anarchism and punk music as a political message. Contributions came from all over Italy, Milan included. The bulletin Punkaminazione was officially established on 1 August 1982 during a music festival in Feltre. A similar experience was experimented in the early 1990s with the name La Lega dei Furiosi. See http://www.gomma.tv/testi-e-materiali-vari/fanze/punkaminazione/index.html. Last accessed 2 December 2019.
- 34.
Decoder (1984) is a cult movie by German director and producer Klaus Maeck. The soundtrack is by Soft Cell, Einstürzende Neubauten and The The, and has a cast of actors including William S. Burroughs, G.P. Orridge from Psychic TV, F.M. Einheit from Einstürzende Neubauten and the real Christiana F. (from the Berlin Zoo). The film talks about the transgressive innovation that punk brought to communication and predicts the cyberpunk revolution. Later, Klaus Maeck became the manager for Einstürzende Neubauten and he released the book Hör mit Schmerzen: Listen With Pain and the documentary Liebeslieder: Einstürzende Neubauten (1993) about the band. Decoder was screened at the Helter Skelter in May 1985: http://decoder.cultd.net/stations.htm#stations. Last accessed 2 December 2019.
- 35.
The Walter Alasia Column of the Italian Red Brigades was a terrorist organisation active between 1977 and 1983, especially in the area of Milan. The name came from the terrorist Walter Alasia, who died on 15 December 1976 in a shootout after killing two police officers. The trial took place in the bunker-courthouse opposite the Milanese prison of San Vittore. It lasted over nine months and ended in December 1984, when the Criminal Court of Milan inflicted 19 life sentences and 840 years in prison to 112 defendants. See https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/1984/12/07/per-la-alasia-19-ergastoli-pene-per.html. Last accessed 2 December 2019.
- 36.
See Chap. 5.
- 37.
Koyaanisqatsi (1982) is an experimental movie by American director Godfrey Reggio. The first of his Qatsi trilogy, the film has no dialogue or actors, but only a combination of images punctuated by sounds and music by Philipp Glass—a minimalist style that exerted great influence both in cinema and in television advertising. In 2000, Koyaanisqatsi was chosen for conservation in the National Film Registry of the United States Library of Congress.
References
Campo, A. (Ed.). (2005). Fedeli alla linea. Dai CCCP ai CSI. Firenze: Giunti Editore.
Contiero, T. (Ed.). (2015). Fellegara. Dove sono nati i CCCP Fedeli alla linea. Ediz. illustrata. Rimini: NFC Edizioni.
De Sario, B. (2009). Resistenze innaturali: attivismo radicale nell’Italia degli anni ’80. Milano: Agenzia X.
De Sario, B. (2012). Cambiamento sociale e attivismo giovanile nell’Italia degli anni Ottanta: il caso dei centri sociali occupati e autogestiti. Cahiers D’études Italiennes, (14), 117–138.
Del Principe, D. (1996). Rebellion, Death, and Aesthetics in Italy: The Demons of Scapigliatura. Cranbury, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press.
Dines, M., & Worley, M. (Eds.). (2016). The Aesthetic of Our Anger: Anarcho-Punk, Politics and Music. New York: Autonomedia.
Dunn, K. (2012). Anarcho-Punk and Resistance in Everyday Life. Punk & Post Punk, 1(2), 201–218.
Fiori, U. (1984). Rock Music and Politics in Italy. Popular Music, 4, 261.
Giudici, A., Ferretti, G. L., & Tagliati, R. (2014). Annarella benemerita soubrette. CCCP fedeli alla linea. Macerata: Quodlibet.
Hannerz, E. (2015). Performing Punk. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Nacci, I. (2016). Tra ribellione e tecnologia: la storia editoriale di «decoder» e del cyberpunk a Milano (1986–1998). Storia Lombarda, 2, 58–92.
Nacci, I. (2018). Cyberpunk e “Decoder”. In Moicana (Ed.), Università della strada. Mezzo secolo di controculture a Milano (pp. 137–150). Milano: Agenzia X.
Negazione. (2012). Negazione. Il giorno del sole. Con CD Audio. Milano: ShaKe.
Negri, U. (2007). Io e i CCCP. Da Carpi a Berlino. Una storia fotografica e orale. Ediz. illustrata. (E. Guarneri, Ed.). Milano: ShaKe.
Philopat, M. (1997). Costretti a sanguinare: romanzo sul punk 1977–84. Milano: ShaKe (Torino: Einaudi, 2006; Milano: Agenzia X, 2016).
Philopat, M. (2002). La banda Bellini: romanzo sugli anni Settanta. Milano: ShaKe (Torino: Einaudi, 2007; Milano: Agenzia X, 2015).
Piazza, G. (2011). Which Models of Democracy? Internal and External Decision-Making Processes of Italian Social Centres in a Comparative Study. Center of Studies on Politics and Sociaety – Wp Series, 1(1), 3–54. Retrieved September 1, 2019, from http://siba-ese.unisalento.it/index.php/CSPS/issue/view/1043.
Romania, V. (2016). Fedeli alla linea: CCCP and the Italian Way to Punk. Revista Crítica de Ciências Sociais, (109), 63–82.
The Free Association. (2016). The Kids Was Just Crass. In M. Worley & M. Dines (Eds.), The Aesthetic of Our Anger: Anarcho-Punk, Politics and Music (pp. 299–310). New York: Autonomedia.
Valcavi, A. (2017). Fame: il romanzo di una fanzine. Milano: Agenzia X.
Worley, M. (2017). No Future: Punk, Politics and British Youth Culture, 1976–1984. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Tosoni, S., Zuccalà, E. (2020). Another No Future: From Anarcho-Punk to the Activist Enactment of Dark. In: Italian Goth Subculture . Palgrave Studies in the History of Subcultures and Popular Music. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-39811-8_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-39811-8_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-39810-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-39811-8
eBook Packages: HistoryHistory (R0)