Fractured Order — Summary

Abstract

This chapter has focused on central tropes of the fascist mythical order as they developed in the First World War — in particular, the contexts within which they arose and acquired their meaning; the media channels that fostered their diffusion in society; and the metamorphoses they underwent in the postwar period. The Brescia air show, where entertainers, acrobats and sportsmen of the machine age were given an enthusiastic reception, made clear the fascination that aviation held for large numbers of people and its tailor-made capacity to convey messages such as D’Annunzio’s vision of the flying Superman. The aviation discourse was able to spread within the network or “dispositif” that had evolved by the time of Brescia.⁶⁰⁴ Initially the chief components of this network were a curious and captivated public, popular icons and prominent figures, media in the course of becoming a consumerist “culture industry,” major events and their organizers, representatives of economic and national interests, the aviation industry, the military and the government.