Dystopian Elements and Basic Characteristics Essay Example for Free

Dystopian Elements and Basic Characteristics Essay A dystopia is an imaginary place where people lead dehumanized and often fearful lives. Dystopian literature shows us a nightmarish image of what might happen to the world in the future. Usually, the main themes of dystopian works are rebellion, oppression, revolutions, wars, overpopulation, and disasters. George Orwell depicts a dystopian world its citizens are constantly brainwashed and live in constant fear. In 1984, propaganda and lies are used to brainwash the citizens and control them. There are many elements of criticisms in this book, but I will be focusing on the Marxist, feminist, and psychoanalytic criticisms. Marxism was developed by Karl Marx in 1848 during the Red Revolution. Marxism is about having social and economic power. In 1984, there are three social classes. The Inner Party, The Outer Party, and the Proles. The Inner Party is the upper class, they have a lot more freedom than the Outer Party and the Proles. They make up 2% of the population and are the elite class. They get better things such as food, coffee, and cigarettes. The Outer Party is the middle class; they live in bad neighborhoods, and barely get any food. They make up 13% of the population. They are constantly watched by telescreens and can’t turn theirs off like the Inner Party can. The Proles are the lower class they do all the manual labor work they aren’t as watched by the Party as the Outer Party because the government doesn’t see them as a threat and they make up 85% of the population. However, everyone in Oceania lives in fear because The Party terrorizes them. The Party has three principles that they follow and everyone in Oceania have been brainwashed into believing: WAR IS PEACE, IGNORANCE IS SLAVERY, and IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH. This is a form of ideology. In Marxism, ideology is a belief system and belief systems are products of cultural conditioning. In this case, The Party conditioned the people of Oceania into thinking that those three principles are true. The people of Oceania have been programmed into believing those Principles and believing in whatever Big Brother tells them to believe. They are not allowed to think for themselves or have their own opinions, and if they do they will end up getting killed. Oceania is a capitalist, totalitarian society because depending on what party you are in, that’s how you get treated. This is an example of classism. Classism is an ideology where youre prejudiced or in favor of someone depending on what social cl ass you are in. If you are a prole, you’re not looked at in the same way as a person in the Inner Party would be looked at. You would be deemed untrustworthy and you wouldn’t be able to have items like Inner Party people would. One of the core principles of Marxism is, society shapes our consciousness and that’s true. Society tells us what’s hot in fashion, what’s beautiful and what’s not and that shapes how people view themselves and others. In 1984, the government shapes the people’s consciousness by coming up with new words. Words such as, â€Å"doublethink†, â€Å"newspeak†, â€Å"stop crime†, etc. The Thought Police, Youth League, and Big Brother are some of the ways used to keep the people of Oceania in constant fear and keep them in line. Because of this, the people of Oceania suffer from â€Å"groupthink† which is a psychological condition that’s fueled by the Inner Party’s social and economic conditions. â€Å"Groupthink† shapes the lower classes beliefs that the Inner Party is always right. Big Brother is used as a tactic to put fear and paranoia in the people of Oceania’s heads that Big Brother is always watching them. That’s how the government control the people and shape their consciousness. The government does this, so the people will never want to speak out and voice their opinion on Big Brother, because if they do they’ll be considered a criminal, and they will always have complete control and dominance over the people of Oceania. Feminist criticism is a literary form of criticism that gives the perspective of writing from a feminist perspective. It’s a political form of literature that analyzes the questions of how male and females relate to each other and the world and how women are portrayed in literature. History shows that men consider women as â€Å"inferior† and because of that, the stereotype that women are weaker than men was created. Society taught itself that masculinity is related to the weakness of females. (Csaszar, 40). In 1984, Orwell reversed this way of thinking. He made the main character a weak man whose main purpose in life was to obey Big Brother. Orwell also uses compelling, stereotypical, female characters which drives the man to act. Even though the women in the book have a lack of power, they’re the only characters that have a strong influence over Winston which makes the female characters an important part of this book. In the begin and end of 1984, fear controls the main character. Winston is shown as weak and passive-aggressive. He goes to work and rewrites history and he obeys Big Brother. His only purpose is to serve society until he denies conformity later in the book. Winston would’ve continued to obey the government without question as well as lack masculinity if it weren’t for the women in his life. Winston’s mom, ex-wife, and Julia each played a role in Winston’s search for freedom. Winston feels guilty for what happened to his mother, and this is where we first see how women influence Winston (Whitney). Him wishing he could’ve helped his mom causes him to have rebellious thoughts. His ex-wife, Katherine, believed everything that The Party said, and this influenced Winston’s choices he makes throughout the book. Julia is the one character that influenced Winston the most. Julia’s influence on him made him rebel against Big Brother. She also m ade him realize how unhappy he was under Big Brother’s watch and that is the reason he starts to rebel. These women are also described in different ways to show how different their personalities are and show the influence they had on Winston. His mom was the first person to have an impact on Winston. She couldn’t stand up for herself and this showcases the â€Å"women are weak† stereotype and she died because of it. Winston feels guilty and believes he’s responsible for her death and he lets this guilt take over his thoughts. His ex-wife, Katherine, conforms to the servant stereotype. She was a beautiful woman, however, Winston hated her because of her obedience. She was considered the model citizen of The Party. Her talk of their â€Å"duty to the party† encouraged Winston’s rebellious thoughts and his thought crimes increased. All of these women had a huge impact on Winston, but the woman who influenced Winston the most was Julia. She is the ultimate influence that led to Winston’s fall. Julia is the opposite of Winston. She’s fearless, rebellious, and free-spirited, traits Winston wished he had and eventually he gains the courage he lacks. Julia becomes the stereotypical temptress who turns Winston into this brave new person. Whenever he’s around Julia, he’s able to share his hatred for the party and he thinks for himself. Orwell ends the book with, â€Å"He loved Big Brother† (Orwell, 370). By doing that, Orwell shows defeat that ultimately destroyed Winston. When Winston is with Julia, he had a sense of freedom and he was brave, but without her, he goes back to being an obedient citizen because, in the end, Winston doesn’t have anybody else but Big Brother. Orwell’s portrayal of women who fit into these stereotypical roles causes Winston to find himself. His purpose of serving society and obeying Big Brother was greatly influenced by the women in his life. Society destroyed him while women helped shape him into the man he is. Through the guilt he felt when he mom died, Katherine’s lack of emotion, and Julia’s love for rebellion, Winston learned the nature of masculinity for himself. In psychoanalytic criticism, we look at a book from a psychological perspective. Sigmund Freud created the principles of psychoanalysis in 1896. He believes that people are motivated by powerful, unconscious drives and conflicts. When reading through a psychoanalytic lens, the citizens of Oceania are the victims psychological manipulation. The party believes that as long as a person’s perception of the truth can be externally verified, then even a lie can become the truth. For example, one of The Party’s methods of control is Newspeak. The party invented Newspeak to control the way people think. If anyone should think for themselves, then that person has committed thoughtcrime. Thoughtcrime is a thought that doesn’t fit into Big Brother’s ideologies. This controls the people directly through the citizen’s actual thoughts and it also dictates them physically through how Big Brother determines if a citizen is committing a thought crime. Big Brother determines a thought crime by using telescreens that are placed throughout Oceania and they examine the reactions on the face of the people and what they say to find out how they feel about what Big Brother is doing. This controls the people because it makes them not display any opposition to the government. By doing this, fear is instilled in the people and this takes a psychological toll on them. Citizens are constantly reminded that Big Brother is watching them, and that also takes a toll on the people psychologically because they live in fear and paranoia. Another example of Big Brother controlling the people was by the way that he had children brought up. The government brought the children into the organization called the â€Å"Junior Spies†. Once the children were in this organization, they were trained and taught to betray their parents by being additional eyes and ears for Big Brother. This form of control psychologically manipulates families not to talk a bout anything that would display individuality. Big Brother controls the citizens by taking away the passion and the enjoyment out of sex as well. In Oceania, Big Brother establishes sex as something that should only be used for the reproduction to help populate Oceania. Sex isn’t supposed to be enjoyed and can only be done by specified members of the dinner party. Sex expresses individualism and free thought, so by manipulating the people do not like sex, they’re taking away the citizens individualism. Big Brother takes the problems in the society and uses them to say that other parties and cultures are the reasons for their faults. This creates hatred in the people and stirs up emotional responses against the other parties and cultures. The government does this in a way that’s similar to the propaganda tactics used by Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany and Joseph Stalin in Communist Russia. The most obvious way Big Brother psychologically manipulates the citizens is observed through the posters that the government hangs up. Throughout Oceania, there are posters that say, â€Å"Big Brother Is Watching You† This is a scare tactic that the government uses to put fear in the citizens of Oceania. Big Brother uses fear by creating a place in which the citizens are constantly reminded that they are being watched for disloyalty and other crimes. By using psychological manipulation, the citizens of Oceania are trapped in a place where they can’t think for themselves nor can they question the government, because if they do, they will die.

Price Elasticity of Demand Essay Example for Free

Price Elasticity of Demand Essay Supply and demand plays a vital role in the economy. Price is the central determinant of both the demand and supply, for example the higher the price of a good or a service the less the product is demanded. In circumstance where the price goes down, demand increases. The response of price and quantity demanded create an inverse relationship between the two. Whereas demand portrays the consumer decision making in purchases, supply is drawn on producer’s willingness to make profit (Parkin, 2002). The overriding factor in determining price elasticity of demand is the willingness and ability of consumers to easily switch from one good to another (substitute goods) in case of any price change. If the demand for corn increases due to its use as an alternative energy source, its supply will also increase making the soybean (substitute) supply and demand to go down. This will force farmers to shift their soybeans farms to produce more corn because of the increasing demand at the market. The total revenue of the suppliers of corn oil will increase because of the increasing demand at the market. This is also because of other determinants of supply like price of the product; a producer (farmer) is always aimed at maximizing his/her profits and minimizing his/her cost thus a rise in price will increase the producer willingness to supply and vice versa. Other factors that are likely to affect the supply of products include tax and technology, a producer aim at maximizes his profit but an increase will raise his expenses. Technology helps a producer in minimizing his cost of production-provided that mass production is possible with technology. Parkin (2002) hints that in a market setting, the law of supply and demand predicts that the price level tends to move toward the point that equalizes the quantity supplied and demanded. Therefore, equilibrium point is created; a point where quantity supplied at the market and quantity demanded at the same market is in balance, where the supply curve crosses the demand curve. At equilibrium, when demand exceeds supply there is excess demand and prices will increase. On the other hand, when supply exceeds demand there is excess supply and prices will decrease. Such instances where supply or demand exceeds one another are very common in the market and will cause shifts in price. But when supply and demand balances, there will be no change in price. The price which makes the supply and demand to balance is referred as market price or equilibrium price. Reference Parkin, M. , Melanie, P. Kent, M. (2002). Economics. Harlow: Addison-Wesley Publisher.

Timbre In The First Movement Of La Mer

Timbre In The First Movement Of La Mer Timbre is the quality of a musical note or sound or tone that distinguishes different types of sound production, such as voices or musical instruments. Sometimes timbre is also known as tone quality or tone colour. La Mer is an orchestral composition by Claude Debussy. The composition began its life in 1903 in France and was finished in Eastbourne in 1905. Its first performance had mixed reviews possibly due to the strained relationship he had with his wife and also some critics said it did not create any sensations of the sea. The orchestra that premiered the piece was also poorly rehearsed. In this essay I am going to identify the basic categories of timbre employed by Debussy in the first movement, De laube à   midi sur la mer from La Mer. I am going to show how timbre is employed structurally through the course of the work, with clear identification of structural points and relationships between the sections. I will also show how timbre in this first movement is fundamental compared to other parameters. As we know Debussy was heavily related to impressionism which was dominated by atmosphere and the use of suggestion. Debussy uses timbre to suggest colour, mood and atmosphere, as would Monet or Renoir in their own paintings. In particular, one of Debussys greatest influences when composing La Mer was the Japanese artist Hokusai. In his painting The Great Wave of Kanogawa he shows a vivid but suggestive, powerful wave breaking with foam and spray crashing, creating a scene of terror. This painting is very similar to Debussys first movement, which is vague but also has moments of terror in it. This can be seen at bar 84 here the new section starts. Today, La Mer is highly regarded because of its powerful creation of colours and Debussys replication of the sea. Debussys unique employment of these creations have more than certainly gone on to influence many later scores, such as you might find within the film industry because of its suggestive atmosphere. For example, John Williams Jaws. Generally speaking, La Mer has been influential on many contemporary soundtrack composers because of its highly suggestive and moody atmosphere. The structure of this piece was quite different from other pieces composed around the same time. Debussy fits his structure around the moods, journey and life of the sea without any human element, just purely about nature. We can see through many books and online articles how important timbre was to Debussy. Caroline Potter in Debussy and Nature describes that Debussys representation of the sea avoids monotony by using a multitude of water figurations that could be classified as musical onomatopoeia: they evoke the sensation of swaying, movement of waves and suggest the pitter-patter of falling droplets of spray. We know that musical onomatopoeia is closely associated with specific musical instruments, so Debussy probably chose the instruments with a timbre he felt related to the sea, such as the flute solo at the beginning of the movement at bar 44 which might give the impression of a bird soaring above the sea: It has a lonely character, possibly a sea bird. Debussy also went a stage further when creating sounds related to the sea. Simon Trezise states in the Cambridge Companion to Debussy that for much of La Mer, Debussy spurns the more obvious devices associated with the sea, wind, and concomitant storm in favor of his own, highly individual vocabulary Debussy gives a pictoral title for his fist movement from Dawn to Noon on the Sea. Whether this was intentional to give a literal name for his first movement is unknown but the work certainly does create pictures of the ocean. Through the first movement we can hear the gentle swells and glistening surfaces of the sea to the breaking of the waves on the shoreline. Perhaps through the quieter parts of the movement it suggests that under the sea it is calm and unchanging yet on the surface is an ever-changing picture. La Mer is split into three different movements the first being From Dawn to Noon on the Sea with quick timbral changes to suggest the seas different, ever changing natures. From Dawn to Noon on the Sea is built upon short episodes, which use different instruments to suggest the various timbres of the sea. Debussy develops this to a wonderful suggestion of the swelling of waves, as a theme for divided cellos swells and subsides this is similarly copied by the timpani and ho rns. These episodes can also be heard in the final stages of the final movement. In the first movement of La Mer, Debussy remarkable use of timbre can be seen. As Paul Henry Lang notes, its a vibrating, oscillating, glimmering sound complex, caressing the senses in which Debussy rarely uses the full mass of the orchestra, but approaches it with delicacy and resourcefulness to shimmer in a thousand colours. As a result, Debussy splits his strings up into separate lines, combines the sounds of contrasting instruments, uses provocative harmonies with parallel chordal movement and unresolved progressions, and plays about with thematic fragments that never join together into full-blown melodies, all to achieve unprecedented, yet wholly natural, sounds and timbres. Pierre Boulez calls the result an infinitely flexible conception of acoustical instrumental relationships that avoided symmetry, a development conceived in feelings and irreducible to a formal classical plan. As noted in the introduction, La Mer was unlike any other piece composed at the time. He uses timbre as a relative to the structure of La Mer. The opening marked at pp starts with strings and harps. This timbre creates a still and calm opening, possibly representing the first light at dawn. Instruments are then gradually added, such as the rolling of timpani, with the deep, dark sound of the double bass, perhaps giving a sense of whats to come as well as contrasting with the harps and strings. Also at the opening our sense of pulse is ambiguous. The harps reflect this by playing in octaves in their lower register, together with the cellos also in octaves; producing a dark and resonant sound, which blends with the background. The beginning of this movement provides a pure harmonized and mystical effect to imitate the calm of the sea at dawn. As the sun slowly rises, at bars 1-5 the violas, doubled at the octave, add their ascending pentatonic melody, which gives sense of a fresh and c lean start to the day. At bar 31 the first principal section follows. This part of the movement grows and develops its own material, being mostly independent. However, we can see it is still based upon the opening, with a few different elements omitted. For instance at bar 33, we can see that the flutes pentatonic motif is doubled by the clarinets at the octave below. The use of the pentatonic melody might suggest an oriental flavour. The use of the flutes that dominate the hollow consecutive fifth have a similar timbre to that of the Chinese flute. As Debussy was closely related to the art movement of the time, this perhaps can be related to Debussys preference to The Great Wave off Kanagawa. In the background to this, the second violins and violas wave- like ostinato figure suggests the shimmering, repetitive surface of the sea, while the cellos wider range and more active motion might begin to imply more movement of the sea below the surface. In this section, the harps also play rolling chords that add resonance and suggest the relentless rays of the sun. The second principal section of the movement starts at bar 84. So far, the cellos have played only an accompanying role by suggesting the depths of the ocean. We can now see a new motif that Debussy uses at bar 86. Debussy employs the four part divided cellos to dominate the sonority. This is something that is a very unusual arrangement in Debussys orchestration. At the structural changing point, Debussy again uses the cellos to create a full, strongly articulated and intense sonority, combined with the swelling of the rolling timpani and the horns, to proclaim and bring us into a new section. This drastic change could suggest rumbling thunder or a slow but huge surge of the sea during a storm, gathering its power to strike out on a large rock. This is then followed by a short interlude from bars 122-133. This ten bar section consists of two strong points of four bars with only minor variation in the last four bars. A two bar extension is then added. At this point in the piece we can hear that the momentum is slack and the sea has become uneventful. This can be seen in the timbre employed in this particular section. If we look at the string section they are directed to play Sur la Touch. This creates a soft, colourless tone quality, which reflects the uneventful sea below. We then move into the final section (coda) of the piece. We can see that the harps light ringing timbre, as they play arpeggios in a high register, is used to employ an effect of light. This is contrasting to the low full and dark sound in the beginning. This effect produces a bright tone colour and adds a clear articulation to the ensemble. This suggests the midday image of the ocean filled with the strength of the sun at its highest point. The Trombones also make their first entry in La Mer, creating a tremendous sense of the alarming power of the sea. As the music advances towards a splendid tutti ending, the chorale symbolizes the midday sun bursting through the sea mist after the uneventful stillness of the interlude. The shining atmosphere of the midday suggested in the title is vividly presented. Debussys use of timbre is fundamental throughout La Mer and perhaps is more crucial than other parameters that other composers might usually rely on, such as tonality and structure. However for Debussy, the use of timbre is very important when reproducing and replicating the sounds of the great ocean. The timbres he has used throughout reflect the title of the first movement and do suggest characteristic features one might associate with the sea. One of Debussys greatest attributes is the way he creates musical colour. Susan Key, a writer for the LA philharmonic program books describes how Debussy achieves his sonorities by augmenting the standard orchestra with some glitter: two harps and a large percussion section. But other musical elements also become agents of colour. Harmonic changes serve as colour washes; chords dissolve rather than resolve. Short melodic motives rather than fully developed themes sparkle in brief solos, substituting timbre and movement for narrative coherence. Debussys sophisticated use of timbre is shown in his orchestral scoring of the first movement of La Mer. The use of timbre and effect it has in Debussys orchestration not only becomes an important part of his formal structure, but they also provide energetic pictorial images and emotional atmospheres demonstrating his close relationship of music with visual impressionism. In La Mer, a vivid landscape is suggested from the various wave figurations, shimmering light and onomatopoeic sound effects. The vagueness, ambiguity and effects of light he uses reflects the visual arts, and are vividly implied from his usage of instrumental echoing effects, tremolo strings, harp, and the special timbre of percussion instruments. Although Debussys usage of instruments and most of his instrumentations are not as aggressive as his fellow composers such as Mahler, Strauss and Stravinsky, his delicate way of exploiting timbre is one of his most important contributions. I have identified how Debussy has used timbre to suggest colour, atmosphere and emotion in the first movement of La Mer. I have also shown how timbre is employed structurally through the course of the work and how for Debussy, timbre is just as, if not more important than any other parameters in La Mer.

The Awakening :: essays research papers

The Awakening In the book The Awakening, by Kate Chopin, Edna Pontellier is an unhappy, married, mother who finds an outlet from her life through a welcoming ocean. "A certain ungovernable dread hung about her when in water, unless there was a hand nearby that might reach out and reassure her."(p.27) Edna is frightened by the ocean and very overwhelmed by its massive strength. Then she learns to swim and becomes fascinated by what was once an intimidator. "How easy it is!" It is nothing."(p.27) Edna is very pleased with this new found joy; Edna is estatic over conquering her fear. "She could have shouted for joy, she did shout for joy."(p.27) Edna feels happy with herself for the first time in many years. "She felt like some new-born creature, opening its eyes in a familiar world it had never known."(p.115) Edna begins swimming regularly and thoroughly enjoys it. "Edna plunged and swam about with an abandon thrilled and invigorated her."(p.49) "She remained a long time in the water."(p.49) Swimming, for Edna, provides a much needed recess from her home life and the typical role of a woman and a wife in the 19th century. "I have a notion to go down to the beach and take a good wash and even a little swim," "before dinner? The water is too cold. Don't think of it." "Well I might go down and try-dip my toes in."(p.114) Edna is growing very fond of the ocean and so adorns her swims. No one will keep her from this new pleasure that brings such satisfaction to her life. Edna feels free for the first time since her childhood. She loves so much this mysterious new being that is so wonderful to her. The ocean proves to be a place where she can transcend her life into the life of who she wants to be. "The touch of the sea is sensuous unfolding the body in its soft, close embrace."(p.115) Edna feels closer to the sea than anyone she has ever known. "She thought of Leonce and the children. They were a part of her life, but they need not have thought they could posses her."(p.116) Edna is slowly beginning to awaken from the marriage and life that has held her comatose for so long. She realizes why she is unhappy and looks to the sea for commiseration and answers, but finds none. Edna can only continue her love affair with the ocean and appreciate her newly-discovered soulmate.

Drug Abuse in Nigeria Essays -- Nigerian Society Illegal Narcotics

Drug Abuse in Nigeria Today, you only have to switch on your television, radio or open a newspaper or magazine to be aware that the structure of our society is being contaminated by the growing evil plague of drug abuse. Drug abuse, is one of the major problems in the Nigerian society. Actually, almost every country faces such problem today. A lot of measures are taken to struggle against drug abuse, and, definitely, some changes for the better are evident. However, this problem is not eliminated and perhaps, will never be completely stopped. The repetitive death of drug users today has become an everyday event, that most of us had used it. The numbers of the victims is more and more increasing rapidly in such a degree that makes us have fear on what our society will turn into. Prospectively, there was an alarming increase in drug abuse at our country. Many students take cocaine, heroine, hash, crack, and other drugs. Problem of drug abuse has made a way through the society. Overprotection some times makes a gateway for the beginning of drug abuse. The imitation of musicians and actors can lead many young people to drugs, as they are trying to look alike them. However, as we know, today this entire teenage is all about being ‘cool’. This affects most young people and it is more obvious in places where there are many people, like in college. The society today has become a place where drugs are gotten easily in the college, whenever and whatever drug you want. Finally, a disappointment from a relationship or school, for example a fail in the finals, can be a good reason for those young people to turn into drugs. For this bad situation that exists in Nigeria today, many teachers and counselors have tried to let pe... ... the past 10 months.†(p.19) In the 80s Nigerian citizens are caught on daily bases due to drug trafficking. At a moment like this what the country should do is to apply a policy that would reduce drug trafficking. Another way to control this issue is to put roadblocks and checkpoints where violence is common and also in airports and seaports. The N.D.L.E.A should also make sure that all pharmacies issue people drugs on prescription only. The problem of drug abuse is not something that can be controlled while sitting down, the country has to work together to prevent this harmful act. If the whole country will seek and use the knowledge they have to fight drug abuse then the society would be a better place to live .Now that we know the effects of drug abuse, it is time to put our hands together as a family to fight drug abuse in Nigeria and all over the world.

Inner and Outer Beauty :: Sociology, Power, Attractiveness

Beautiful is a praising and admiring description which most people would love to hear about themselves. Although some people believe inner beauty is more important than outer beauty, the truth is that most people love outer beauty. As stated by Emerson, â€Å"if eyes were made for seeing, then beauty is its own excuse for being† (â€Å"Ralph Waldo Emerson,† par. 28). People not only want to be beautiful, but they also tend to seek physical attractiveness. In fact, this is a culture consumed by beauty and attractiveness (Bennett, par.3). From mass fairy-tale stories and Hollywood movies, most people have learnt the stereotype of being beautiful is good and being ugly is bad. The stories and movies always show attractive actors and actresses defeating wicked, ugly villains. This strong stereotype, which powerfully influences each person’s concept of beauty, causes people to believe a beautiful person is more successful and superior. Dr. Herron states that â€Å" the ‘Beauty = Power’ formula is deeply entrenched in our psyches† (Herron 109). To be sure, beauty is a capital power which can determine and improve one’s life (Bennett, par. 1) since it can influence the clubs they join, the friendships they make, the people they marry, the jobs people get, and the salaries they earn (Berry 3). Attractive people are able to have many advantages and positive outcomes, such as having more popularity, greater confidence, more dating opportunities, more promotional chances, and higher salaries (Patel, Utpal, and Rebecca, par.4). Being attractive is important nowadays because it affects people’s interpersonal relationships and workplace experiences. First of all, attractive people are more likely to have better relationships in societies. The author of the article â€Å"Women’s Beauty: Put Down or Power Source?† mentions that â€Å"beauty is a form of power (Sontag 94),† which is true, especially in building relationships. To have good social and interpersonal interactions, the essential factor is physical attractiveness (Patel, Utpal, and Rebecca, par.1). Of course, inner beauty is necessary, but most people would not want to understand and know others deeply who are unattractive or give an unpleasant first impression. For example, I am one of those people who choose their friends by their good looks, and I would say even though some of my friends are plain, none of them would be categorized as homely. In fact, attractive people can have more benefits and positive outcomes than plain or unattractive people in interpersonal relationships.

Fascism in Venice

Ryan Johnson December 13, 2012 HIST 3400 Soper Venetian Fascism in the Shadow of Wars The qualities that compose fascism are debatable and endless. What is really important about fascism is how it attempted to succeed by influencing not only Venetian, but also Italian culture and society from the beginning of World War I until the end of World War II. Benito Mussolini when speaking on fascism stated that, â€Å"†¦For Fascism, the growth of empire, that is to say the expansion of the nation, is essential manifestation of vitality, and its opposite a sign of decadence†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Enciclopedia Italiana, Handout).The success with which fascism had in expanding the nation is an argument for another time, but the ways they attempted to maintain the â€Å"essential manifestation of vitality† and challenged the boundaries of cultural society in hopes of success are well worth mentioning. Fascism did not have many cultural victories and this could be one aspect of an argument as to why it was a failure. However, one of fascisms greatest â€Å"cultural victories† in Italy can be viewed when studying the floating city of Venice and events that accompanied it.Fascism, as a whole, attempted to conquer in more ways than just obtaining land by means of military victory or tangible items as tokens of their success. As stated above by Mussolini himself, if fascism was indeed to succeed, it needed to support the growth of the Italian nation. The Fascist Party needed to not only influence the Italian people through propaganda, but also gain the support of the Italian nation while challenging the cultural and societal boundaries.In the years between World War I and World War II, fascism made attempting strides to try and create an aesthetic visual for the party, mainly by intervening in society and culture. All moves made by the fascists with regards to culture appeared to be solely instrumental and functional to gaining one hundred percent support of the po pulation in favor of the dictatorship. The effects of World War I, World War II, and fascism can still be seen today in Venetian and Italian culture. World War I was a horrendous time for Italian soldiers fighting in the trenches.Venice was very close to the battle lines on the border with Austria-Hungary, just North of where they lie. Venetians could not only feel the constant threat from the Austrians, but also had a daily reminder when they stepped outside. Venice closed their port, for fear of attack, but they also had to deal with the fact that, â€Å"†¦barrage balloons could be seen†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . Barrage balloons had long steel cables attached to them and were mainly used to deter low-flying enemy aircraft from reaching or bombing an area.These defense balloons were used during World War I and II. For the short distance that Venice was from the battlefront they were fairly lucky in how little devastation took place during the war. During World War I Venice was always ex tremely nervous about their next-door neighbors, the Austrians, of attacking the maritime port, but the city never fell to enemy attack. There were very few bombing that occurred in Venice, and the deaths that did take place mainly happened during the â€Å"black-out† hours.These â€Å"black-out† hours would occur in hopes of minimizing the amount of light escaping outside. By doing this, the Venetians were making it very difficult for any sort of aerial attack to bomb their city, port, or boats off of visibility alone. These were the only significant negative effects even worth mentioning that occurred for the city of Venice during World War I. World War II was similar to World War I with regards to the significantly negative effects it had on the city of Venice, there were just about none.As opposed to the devastation that occurred throughout much of Italy, Venice got away pretty nicely. Yet again, the â€Å"blackout† hours when people would fall into the cana l or injure themselves in other ways in the dark were one of the primary contributors to the death toll. It has been stated that Venice remained essentially untouched throughout the duration of the Second World War. However the minute losses that did occur, with exception of Germans capturing Jews, can be summed up in a few sentences. One or two windows were broken; a stray shell hit the tower of San Nicolo del Mendicoli as the Germans were retrateing; and the Tiepolo friezes in the Palazzo Labia were damaged when an ammunition ship exploded in the harbour. † Although the people of Venice saw little to none of the intense fighting, they were not as lucky to maintain an unconquered status during World War II as they had in World War I. For Germany, September 1943 was the beginning of a fairly short control over northern and central Italy that included Venice.Although Germany occupied Venice until April 28, 1945, very few deaths occurred to the Venetian citizens while in the cit y. â€Å"In the city itself a campaign of sabotage was followed by reprisals in which five men were shot in Cannaregio on July 8, 1944; some thirty partisans were executed later that month, followed on August 3 by seven hostages in Riva dell’Impero, called subsequently, in their memory, Riva dei Sette Martiri. † The most extensive part of the death toll came to the Jewish population in Venice with the presence of the Germans in 1943.The Venetians had historically tolerated the Jewish population up until about 1938 with the enactment of new racial laws. After the racial laws, persecution got so bad for the Jewish population, that they were laid off from their job, and grotesque signs were placed on businesses stating â€Å"Dogs and Jews Prohibited†. It only got worse from there after the Germans arrived in 1943, and the open persecution, capture, and killing of Jews from 1943 to 1945 took place.It has been estimated that approximately two hundred Jews were hunted down and sent to concentration camps in the mainland, with some even being deported to Auschwitz. The Germans were so thorough in their cause to vaporize the Jewish population from the earth, they would even go to hospitals to retrieve mentally ill Jewish patients and send them to an early grave. It has been recorded that only eight of the two hundred Venetian Jews captured by the Germans were ever returned home again.The German’s vicious attempts to eliminate the Jewish population and the atrocities that ensued will never be forgotten. With that being said, Venice got out of not only World War I, but also World War II with an extremely minimal death count compared to the millions of lives that were lost as a consequence of the two wars. World War I and II both impacted Venice, but in a fairly nominal way when viewing the status of many other parts of Italy and the world. However, there were two very influential fascist characters that emerge as a product of World War I and are present throughout World War II.These two men are noteworthy fascist figures with one that called Venice a home for a period of his life and another that was a true Venetian. The first man, Gabriele D’Annunzio, assumed a position, as a fascist political figure in Venice, and he was well known even before fascism was created. D’Annunzio was not a native-born Venetian, but was fairly well known in Italy as a â€Å"poet, novelist, playwright, politician (right- and left-wing in rapid succession), and daring First World War pilot who led sorties against Vienna itself†.It was during World War I when D’Annunzio decided to establish his residence in Venice. When he was not contributing to the fighting he could be found at his home, that was located off of the Grand Canal, called Casetta delle Rose. D’Annunzio continues to have a presence in the fascist politics all the way until its eventual demise, but was most famous for his irredentist taking of Fi ume, which is now present-day Rijeka in Croatia. He was angry that Fiume was not ceded to Italy by the Austrians at the end of World War I with the signing of the peace Treaty of Saint-Germain.D’Annunzio ruled over Fiume as a dictator until December of 1921, and it has been said that Benito Mussolini even â€Å"viewed D’Annunzio with a mixture of admiration and envy†¦Ã¢â‚¬  D’Annunzio was a fascist political figure that did not necessarily contribute much to the city of Venice as much as he was solely a constant reminder of the fascist presence. The second man that emerged from the outcome of World War I was an entrepreneurial man by the name of Giuseppe Volpi. Unlike D’Annunzio, Volpi was a native-born Venetian.He was born in Venice in 1877, and before he was thirty years old he had established the Societa Adriatica di Elettricita in the Palazzo Balbi on the Grand Canal, â€Å"which soon had a monopoly on the supply of electricity in the Veneto a nd Emilia-Romagna. † Along with his northeastern electricity monopoly, Volpi was constantly finding new ways to improve and advance Venetian industry. He would dabble in other industries that included petro-chemicals, iron, and shipping that significantly contributed to advancing Venetian industry, more specifically in Porto Marghera.Volpi’s success on top of his founding of Societa Adriatica di Elettricita was substantial; it has been recorded that he was a, â€Å"president or vice-president of twenty other companies, as a member of the boards of forty-six more, and as a major shareholder in over fifty. † During World War I Volpi was the head of a Committee for Industrial Mobilization where his project of turning the old Venetian fortress of Marghera into an industrial port and factory capable area. Volpi was quite successful in his project in Marghera.The area, prior to Volpi’s presence, only contained a thousand inhabitants in 1921. The growth of Marghe ra after Volpi’s intervening was exponential. â€Å"†¦Marghera had grown by 1940 to a town containing fifteen thousand workers in a hundred industries, and by 1967 to one of thirty-five thousand workers in 211 industries. † Volpi’s tremendous success as an entrepreneur and financial guru in northeast Italy, without fail, caught the attention of the Italian government. Volpi was awarded for his successes with the title and position as Governor of Tripoli.Soon after being deemed Governor, and already a standing member of the Fascist party, Volpi was put into office as Mussolini’s Minister of Finance in 1925. It has been stated that Volpi, â€Å"became one of the most successful administrators of the regime. † Three years after Volpi was positioned as Minister of Finance he resigned after disagreeing heavily with Mussolini on the â€Å"artificially high level at which the leader insisted on fixing the exchange rates, and never having become one of his close circle, he concentrated again on Venice and industry. Volpi was always a very influential fascist figure in Venice, but his greatest contribution to the success of the influence of the Fascist party and its cultural production came when he assumed the position as, â€Å"President of the reconstituted Esposizione Biennale Internazionale d’Arte in 1932. † This Exhibition, more commonly known as the Biennale, originated as nothing more than an Exhibition with strange occurrences such as a man’s face that was stuck in rigor mortis known as Supremo Convegno.In 1934, the Fascist government declared the once bi-annual event was to start taking place annually. The success of the Biennale was consistently growing after it was introduced as an annual event. In 1934, there were 41,000 people that showed up, in 1935, 38,500 people, in 1936, 50,000 attended, and in 1937, there was a staggering 60,000 participants. The Biennale by the year 1948 was considered to be one of the most important events in the entire world of art, and the Exhibition got to that point with the help of Giuseppe Volpi as he active President for twelve years. The international respect and publicity the Biennale gained each year was consistently growing. Countries would set up pavilions at the Biennale and present among them even during the Biennale’s early stages were Belgium, Britain, Germany, Hungary, France, Russia, Sweden, Spain, Czechoslovakia, and the United States. Even though the Biennale is an Exhibition where artwork is displayed, it has a sense of friendly competition between countries for who can produce some of the best artwork.During one Biennale exhibition there were not only paintings by nearly all of the best Italian artists under Italy’s pavilion, but also works â€Å"by Picasso and Klee, by Chagall and Kokoschka. The French staged exhibitions by Braque, Rouault, and Maillol, the Belgians by Delvaux and Ensor, the British by Henry Moo re. † The participation of artists as prestigious as these helped in securing the validity and existence of the Biennale as a true appreciation for art. There was even an exhibition for Impressionist artist and that same year there were ninety-eight Impressionist pieces of art.The Biennale was an exhibition that appears to be more of a friendly competition and get together between major countries of the world. All of the countries that have previously been at one another’s throats in prior wars all come together to participate in the Biennale that takes places in Venice, Italy. The Biennale brings together a magnitude of countries, despite their differences, and allows them to partake in a mutually pleasing and intellectually stimulating event. The importance of the Biennale is much greater than the sole criticizing of artistic works and abilities.The event brings together a variety of countries with extremely varying viewpoints and opinions to meet communally and peace fully. The Biennale during the presence of fascism and in attempting to be a useful tool of fascism held a much more substantial meaning than multiple countries coming together peacefully. It allowed for Italy to feel unified even if it was on the smallest cultural level of coming together for an art festival, and it also gave the Fascist party yet another opportunity to use propaganda towards the masses to their advantage.In 1932, Giuseppe Volpi was deemed the President of the Biennale and Mussolini was in his tenth year of his regime when, â€Å"a good number of prizes went to pictures of marching Blackshirts, dynamic cranes and planes, idealized Italian landscapes, and women and children saluting Il Duce. † Just prior to this particular Biennale of 1932, Volpi was an active member of the Fascist party, and was most recently the Minister of Finance for Mussolini and the Fascist party. Then again, in 1935 during the film festival aspect of the Biennale, prizes were awarded t o Nazi, Soviet, and Palestinian-Zionist films.Volpi’s ability and willingness to give awards to fascist based artwork, regardless of actual artistic value, was no coincidence. Marla Stone describes Fascist Italy as presenting a paradox with regards to the cultural politics of the authoritarian and totalitarian regimes that reigned in Europe in the time period between World War I and World War II. She states that since, â€Å"No one style, school, or monument summarizes the patronage practices of the Fascist state. Rather, the official culture of Italian Fascism is best defined by its diversities, contradictions, and ambiguities. The culture that was present during fascism closely mirrors the culture of the United States, but with different ingredients. The United States is considered a melting pot with all of the diversities that are represented in the country. Fascist Italy creates its own form of a melting pot, but not with an abundance of ethnic diversity. The â€Å"offi cial culture†, if there was a true â€Å"official culture†, of Fascist Italy was composed of the differences between the Italian people geographically, politically, hierarchically, socially, and of course culturally.Therefore terms that have become popular when speaking of Fascist culture such as â€Å"Fascist realism† and â€Å"Mussolini modern† are irrelevant and inconceivable. Since the beginning of Mussolini’s regime he had always strived to obtain and maintain a mutually beneficial relationship with those who encompass the art world. Under Mussolini’s dictatorship artist were free from censorship as long as they were not openly and actively anti-Fascist, and in return, as a sign of their gratitude, many artists and architects would accept the Fascist regime’s patronage.Certain artists who defied Mussolini’s regime would end up with repercussions. Such is the case with a Venetian abstract painter, Armando Pizzinato, who was an avid member of the Italian Communist Party, and from September 1943 until the end of the war he fought with the partisans and did jail time for certain anti-Fascist activities. However, Pizzinato represents a small portion of the artistic community that was anti-Fascist. The majority of artists cooperated with the Fascist regime, and â€Å"the association between aret and the state was one of mutual recognition and legitimation. Mussolini and his mutually beneficial policies with the art world began to create a more central form of cultural production. Marla Stone refers to the outcome of the newly centralized form of cultural production as a cultural policy of â€Å"aesthetic pluralism – the Mussolini dictatorship’s practice of accepting and supporting a range of aesthetics†. This now meant that there was a magnitude of â€Å"imageries and aesthetic formulations† that represented Fascism and â€Å"were a part of its cultural system, it imaginary and its aesthetic universe. The Fascist party was in a constant search to uncover a single Fascist rhetorical-aesthetic vision while at the same time combining â€Å"modern and avant-garde aesthetics, emerging mass cultural forms, and a discourse of natural culture to produce, during the 1930s, many dynamic and vibrant products. † The products such as exhibitions, fairs, and expositions, that the government produced and were heavily supported by the Fascist party, generated a considerable audience from the Italian population. More specifically speaking, the Biennale was a direct product of the cultural productivity that was being pursued by the Fascist party.Victoria De Grazia argues that the Fascist party was never able to obtain a singular aesthetic vision and identity due to its incapability to mobilize the masses, limits due to the party’s interests, and â€Å"†¦its appropriation of preexisting cultural forms and institutions, which precluded the formation of â €Å"total† Fascist identities†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å" The introduction of Exhibitions such as the Biennale were a key component in Fascism’s political aesthetic vision considering the primary goal was to encompass the cultural sphere of Fascist Italy. In doing so, the Fascist party was hoping to unify Italy under a national culture.Exhibitions had multiple purposes to them while aiming to obtain a unified national culture: â€Å"(1) they were primary sites of state patronage; (2) they opened the social boundaries of culture to the mobilized masses; (3) they offered a location for the appropriation of the cultural identities and cultural capital of preexisting elites; and (4) they courted the participation of cultural producers. † The Venetian Biennale and other similar Exhibitions were, for the most part, good for everyone that attended regardless of party affiliation, social status, or job title.World War I, World War II, and the fascism that accompanies them individuall y had a lasting impact on the country of Italy. Venice, in particular, was not prone to mass amounts of devastation as a consequence of the World Wars. The Fascist presence in Venice was very strong even though the actions of the majority of its supporters were minimal. This problem of mobilizing the masses was not just a problem of Fascism’s in Venice, but throughout Italy. The best attempt Fascism had at completely unifying a Fascist Italian culture was through its support of state patronage in the Exhibitions such as the Biennale in Venice.The political differences, ambiguities, and varying class rank made it virtually impossible to create a single Italian culture under Fascism. However, the ability of the Fascist party to participate in state patronage and allow aesthetic pluralism allowed artists to maintain their careers and not have to alter their stylistic ways. The Fascist party did not succeed in creating their own cultural identity under Fascism, but they did allow for a hybrid-like culture to develop. Fascism did many terrible things for the country of Italy, but allowing the aesthetic pluralism to flourish aided unifying the country under one culture.Lucky for Italians it did not create a unified Fascist culture, but rather a hybrid culture unified due to the intervention of Fascism and the varying differences among the Italian people. Bibliography Ackroyd, Peter. Venice: Pure City. New York: Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, 2009. Print. Garrett, Martin. Venice: A Cultural and Literary Companion. New York: Interlink, 2001. Print. Hibbert, Christopher. Venice: The Biography of a City. New York: W. W. Norton, 1989. Print. Reich, Jacqueline, and Piero Garofalo. Re-viewing Fascism: Italian Cinema, 1922-1943. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 2002. Print. Stone, Marla.The Patron State: Culture & Politics in Fascist Italy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1998. Print. ————————————â₠¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€œ [ 1 ]. Peter Ackroyd, Venice: Pure City (New York: Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, 2009), 324 [ 2 ]. Christopher Hibbert, Venice: The Biography of a City (New York: W. W. Norton, 1989), 320 [ 3 ]. Martin Garrett, Venice: A Cultural and Literary Companion (New York: Interlink, 2001), 48 [ 4 ]. Martin Garrett, Venice: A Cultural and Literary Companion (New York: Interlink, 2001), 48 [ 5 ]. Martin Garrett, Venice: A Cultural and Literary Companion (New York: Interlink, 2001), 144 [ 6 ].Peter Ackroyd, Venice: Pure City (New York: Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, 2009), 324 [ 7 ]. Peter Ackroyd, Venice: Pure City (New York: Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, 2009), 324 [ 8 ]. Peter Ackroyd, Venice: Pure City (New York: Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, 2009), 324 [ 9 ]. Martin Garrett, Venice: A Cultural and Literary Companion (New York: Interlink, 2001), 144 [ 10 ]. Martin Garrett, Venice: A Cultural and Literary Companion (New York: Interlink, 2001), 46 [ 11 ]. Martin Garrett, Venice: A Cultural an d Literary Companion (New York: Interlink, 2001), 46 [ 12 ].Martin Garrett, Venice: A Cultural and Literary Companion (New York: Interlink, 2001), 46 [ 13 ]. Martin Garrett, Venice: A Cultural and Literary Companion (New York: Interlink, 2001), 46 [ 14 ]. Martin Garrett, Venice: A Cultural and Literary Companion (New York: Interlink, 2001), 46 [ 15 ]. Christopher Hibbert, Venice: The Biography of a City (New York: W. W. Norton, 1989), 316 [ 16 ]. Martin Garrett, Venice: A Cultural and Literary Companion (New York: Interlink, 2001), 46 [ 17 ]. Martin Garrett, Venice: A Cultural and Literary Companion (New York: Interlink, 2001), 46 [ 18 ].Christopher Hibbert, Venice: The Biography of a City (New York: W. W. Norton, 1989), 316-317 [ 19 ]. Christopher Hibbert, Venice: The Biography of a City (New York: W. W. Norton, 1989), 317 [ 20 ]. Christopher Hibbert, Venice: The Biography of a City (New York: W. W. Norton, 1989), 317 [ 21 ]. Christopher Hibbert, Venice: The Biography of a City (Ne w York: W. W. Norton, 1989), 317 [ 22 ]. Christopher Hibbert, Venice: The Biography of a City (New York: W. W. Norton, 1989), 317 [ 23 ]. Christopher Hibbert, Venice: The Biography of a City (New York: W. W. Norton, 1989), 317 [ 24 ].Martin Garrett, Venice: A Cultural and Literary Companion (New York: Interlink, 2001), 46 [ 25 ]. Christopher Hibbert, Venice: The Biography of a City (New York: W. W. Norton, 1989), 317 [ 26 ]. Christopher Hibbert, Venice: The Biography of a City (New York: W. W. Norton, 1989), 317 [ 27 ]. Jacqueline Reich and Piero Garofalo, Re-viewing Fascism: Italian Cinema, 1922-1943 (Bloomington: Indiana UP, 2002), 294 [ 28 ]. Jacqueline Reich and Piero Garofalo, Re-viewing Fascism: Italian Cinema, 1922-1943 (Bloomington: Indiana UP, 2002), 294 [ 29 ]. Christopher Hibbert, Venice: The Biography of a City (New York: W. W. Norton, 1989), 318 [ 30 ].Christopher Hibbert, Venice: The Biography of a City (New York: W. W. Norton, 1989), 318 [ 31 ]. Christopher Hibbert, V enice: The Biography of a City (New York: W. W. Norton, 1989), 319 [ 32 ]. Christopher Hibbert, Venice: The Biography of a City (New York: W. W. Norton, 1989), 319 [ 33 ]. Martin Garrett, Venice: A Cultural and Literary Companion (New York: Interlink, 2001), 47 [ 34 ]. Marla Stone, The Patron State: Culture and Politics in Fascist Italy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1998), 5 [ 35 ]. Marla Stone, The Patron State: Culture and Politics in Fascist Italy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1998), 4 [ 36 ].Marla Stone, The Patron State: Culture and Politics in Fascist Italy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1998), 4 [ 37 ]. Marla Stone, The Patron State: Culture and Politics in Fascist Italy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1998), 4 [ 38 ]. Marla Stone, The Patron State: Culture and Politics in Fascist Italy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1998), 4 [ 39 ]. Marla Stone, The Patron State: Culture and Politics in Fascist Italy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1998), 5 [ 40 ]. Marla Stone, The Patron State: C ulture and Politics in Fascist Italy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1998), 4 [ 41 ].Marla Stone, The Patron State: Culture and Politics in Fascist Italy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1998), 5 [ 42 ]. Marla Stone, The Patron State: Culture and Politics in Fascist Italy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1998), 6 [ 43 ]. Marla Stone, The Patron State: Culture and Politics in Fascist Italy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1998), 6 [ 44 ]. Marla Stone, The Patron State: Culture and Politics in Fascist Italy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1998), 14 [ 45 ]. Marla Stone, The Patron State: Culture and Politics in Fascist Italy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1998), 18 Fascism in Venice Ryan Johnson December 13, 2012 HIST 3400 Soper Venetian Fascism in the Shadow of Wars The qualities that compose fascism are debatable and endless. What is really important about fascism is how it attempted to succeed by influencing not only Venetian, but also Italian culture and society from the beginning of World War I until the end of World War II. Benito Mussolini when speaking on fascism stated that, â€Å"†¦For Fascism, the growth of empire, that is to say the expansion of the nation, is essential manifestation of vitality, and its opposite a sign of decadence†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Enciclopedia Italiana, Handout).The success with which fascism had in expanding the nation is an argument for another time, but the ways they attempted to maintain the â€Å"essential manifestation of vitality† and challenged the boundaries of cultural society in hopes of success are well worth mentioning. Fascism did not have many cultural victories and this could be one aspect of an argument as to why it was a failure. However, one of fascisms greatest â€Å"cultural victories† in Italy can be viewed when studying the floating city of Venice and events that accompanied it.Fascism, as a whole, attempted to conquer in more ways than just obtaining land by means of military victory or tangible items as tokens of their success. As stated above by Mussolini himself, if fascism was indeed to succeed, it needed to support the growth of the Italian nation. The Fascist Party needed to not only influence the Italian people through propaganda, but also gain the support of the Italian nation while challenging the cultural and societal boundaries.In the years between World War I and World War II, fascism made attempting strides to try and create an aesthetic visual for the party, mainly by intervening in society and culture. All moves made by the fascists with regards to culture appeared to be solely instrumental and functional to gaining one hundred percent support of the po pulation in favor of the dictatorship. The effects of World War I, World War II, and fascism can still be seen today in Venetian and Italian culture. World War I was a horrendous time for Italian soldiers fighting in the trenches.Venice was very close to the battle lines on the border with Austria-Hungary, just North of where they lie. Venetians could not only feel the constant threat from the Austrians, but also had a daily reminder when they stepped outside. Venice closed their port, for fear of attack, but they also had to deal with the fact that, â€Å"†¦barrage balloons could be seen†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . Barrage balloons had long steel cables attached to them and were mainly used to deter low-flying enemy aircraft from reaching or bombing an area.These defense balloons were used during World War I and II. For the short distance that Venice was from the battlefront they were fairly lucky in how little devastation took place during the war. During World War I Venice was always ex tremely nervous about their next-door neighbors, the Austrians, of attacking the maritime port, but the city never fell to enemy attack. There were very few bombing that occurred in Venice, and the deaths that did take place mainly happened during the â€Å"black-out† hours.These â€Å"black-out† hours would occur in hopes of minimizing the amount of light escaping outside. By doing this, the Venetians were making it very difficult for any sort of aerial attack to bomb their city, port, or boats off of visibility alone. These were the only significant negative effects even worth mentioning that occurred for the city of Venice during World War I. World War II was similar to World War I with regards to the significantly negative effects it had on the city of Venice, there were just about none.As opposed to the devastation that occurred throughout much of Italy, Venice got away pretty nicely. Yet again, the â€Å"blackout† hours when people would fall into the cana l or injure themselves in other ways in the dark were one of the primary contributors to the death toll. It has been stated that Venice remained essentially untouched throughout the duration of the Second World War. However the minute losses that did occur, with exception of Germans capturing Jews, can be summed up in a few sentences. One or two windows were broken; a stray shell hit the tower of San Nicolo del Mendicoli as the Germans were retrateing; and the Tiepolo friezes in the Palazzo Labia were damaged when an ammunition ship exploded in the harbour. † Although the people of Venice saw little to none of the intense fighting, they were not as lucky to maintain an unconquered status during World War II as they had in World War I. For Germany, September 1943 was the beginning of a fairly short control over northern and central Italy that included Venice.Although Germany occupied Venice until April 28, 1945, very few deaths occurred to the Venetian citizens while in the cit y. â€Å"In the city itself a campaign of sabotage was followed by reprisals in which five men were shot in Cannaregio on July 8, 1944; some thirty partisans were executed later that month, followed on August 3 by seven hostages in Riva dell’Impero, called subsequently, in their memory, Riva dei Sette Martiri. † The most extensive part of the death toll came to the Jewish population in Venice with the presence of the Germans in 1943.The Venetians had historically tolerated the Jewish population up until about 1938 with the enactment of new racial laws. After the racial laws, persecution got so bad for the Jewish population, that they were laid off from their job, and grotesque signs were placed on businesses stating â€Å"Dogs and Jews Prohibited†. It only got worse from there after the Germans arrived in 1943, and the open persecution, capture, and killing of Jews from 1943 to 1945 took place.It has been estimated that approximately two hundred Jews were hunted down and sent to concentration camps in the mainland, with some even being deported to Auschwitz. The Germans were so thorough in their cause to vaporize the Jewish population from the earth, they would even go to hospitals to retrieve mentally ill Jewish patients and send them to an early grave. It has been recorded that only eight of the two hundred Venetian Jews captured by the Germans were ever returned home again.The German’s vicious attempts to eliminate the Jewish population and the atrocities that ensued will never be forgotten. With that being said, Venice got out of not only World War I, but also World War II with an extremely minimal death count compared to the millions of lives that were lost as a consequence of the two wars. World War I and II both impacted Venice, but in a fairly nominal way when viewing the status of many other parts of Italy and the world. However, there were two very influential fascist characters that emerge as a product of World War I and are present throughout World War II.These two men are noteworthy fascist figures with one that called Venice a home for a period of his life and another that was a true Venetian. The first man, Gabriele D’Annunzio, assumed a position, as a fascist political figure in Venice, and he was well known even before fascism was created. D’Annunzio was not a native-born Venetian, but was fairly well known in Italy as a â€Å"poet, novelist, playwright, politician (right- and left-wing in rapid succession), and daring First World War pilot who led sorties against Vienna itself†.It was during World War I when D’Annunzio decided to establish his residence in Venice. When he was not contributing to the fighting he could be found at his home, that was located off of the Grand Canal, called Casetta delle Rose. D’Annunzio continues to have a presence in the fascist politics all the way until its eventual demise, but was most famous for his irredentist taking of Fi ume, which is now present-day Rijeka in Croatia. He was angry that Fiume was not ceded to Italy by the Austrians at the end of World War I with the signing of the peace Treaty of Saint-Germain.D’Annunzio ruled over Fiume as a dictator until December of 1921, and it has been said that Benito Mussolini even â€Å"viewed D’Annunzio with a mixture of admiration and envy†¦Ã¢â‚¬  D’Annunzio was a fascist political figure that did not necessarily contribute much to the city of Venice as much as he was solely a constant reminder of the fascist presence. The second man that emerged from the outcome of World War I was an entrepreneurial man by the name of Giuseppe Volpi. Unlike D’Annunzio, Volpi was a native-born Venetian.He was born in Venice in 1877, and before he was thirty years old he had established the Societa Adriatica di Elettricita in the Palazzo Balbi on the Grand Canal, â€Å"which soon had a monopoly on the supply of electricity in the Veneto a nd Emilia-Romagna. † Along with his northeastern electricity monopoly, Volpi was constantly finding new ways to improve and advance Venetian industry. He would dabble in other industries that included petro-chemicals, iron, and shipping that significantly contributed to advancing Venetian industry, more specifically in Porto Marghera.Volpi’s success on top of his founding of Societa Adriatica di Elettricita was substantial; it has been recorded that he was a, â€Å"president or vice-president of twenty other companies, as a member of the boards of forty-six more, and as a major shareholder in over fifty. † During World War I Volpi was the head of a Committee for Industrial Mobilization where his project of turning the old Venetian fortress of Marghera into an industrial port and factory capable area. Volpi was quite successful in his project in Marghera.The area, prior to Volpi’s presence, only contained a thousand inhabitants in 1921. The growth of Marghe ra after Volpi’s intervening was exponential. â€Å"†¦Marghera had grown by 1940 to a town containing fifteen thousand workers in a hundred industries, and by 1967 to one of thirty-five thousand workers in 211 industries. † Volpi’s tremendous success as an entrepreneur and financial guru in northeast Italy, without fail, caught the attention of the Italian government. Volpi was awarded for his successes with the title and position as Governor of Tripoli.Soon after being deemed Governor, and already a standing member of the Fascist party, Volpi was put into office as Mussolini’s Minister of Finance in 1925. It has been stated that Volpi, â€Å"became one of the most successful administrators of the regime. † Three years after Volpi was positioned as Minister of Finance he resigned after disagreeing heavily with Mussolini on the â€Å"artificially high level at which the leader insisted on fixing the exchange rates, and never having become one of his close circle, he concentrated again on Venice and industry. Volpi was always a very influential fascist figure in Venice, but his greatest contribution to the success of the influence of the Fascist party and its cultural production came when he assumed the position as, â€Å"President of the reconstituted Esposizione Biennale Internazionale d’Arte in 1932. † This Exhibition, more commonly known as the Biennale, originated as nothing more than an Exhibition with strange occurrences such as a man’s face that was stuck in rigor mortis known as Supremo Convegno.In 1934, the Fascist government declared the once bi-annual event was to start taking place annually. The success of the Biennale was consistently growing after it was introduced as an annual event. In 1934, there were 41,000 people that showed up, in 1935, 38,500 people, in 1936, 50,000 attended, and in 1937, there was a staggering 60,000 participants. The Biennale by the year 1948 was considered to be one of the most important events in the entire world of art, and the Exhibition got to that point with the help of Giuseppe Volpi as he active President for twelve years. The international respect and publicity the Biennale gained each year was consistently growing. Countries would set up pavilions at the Biennale and present among them even during the Biennale’s early stages were Belgium, Britain, Germany, Hungary, France, Russia, Sweden, Spain, Czechoslovakia, and the United States. Even though the Biennale is an Exhibition where artwork is displayed, it has a sense of friendly competition between countries for who can produce some of the best artwork.During one Biennale exhibition there were not only paintings by nearly all of the best Italian artists under Italy’s pavilion, but also works â€Å"by Picasso and Klee, by Chagall and Kokoschka. The French staged exhibitions by Braque, Rouault, and Maillol, the Belgians by Delvaux and Ensor, the British by Henry Moo re. † The participation of artists as prestigious as these helped in securing the validity and existence of the Biennale as a true appreciation for art. There was even an exhibition for Impressionist artist and that same year there were ninety-eight Impressionist pieces of art.The Biennale was an exhibition that appears to be more of a friendly competition and get together between major countries of the world. All of the countries that have previously been at one another’s throats in prior wars all come together to participate in the Biennale that takes places in Venice, Italy. The Biennale brings together a magnitude of countries, despite their differences, and allows them to partake in a mutually pleasing and intellectually stimulating event. The importance of the Biennale is much greater than the sole criticizing of artistic works and abilities.The event brings together a variety of countries with extremely varying viewpoints and opinions to meet communally and peace fully. The Biennale during the presence of fascism and in attempting to be a useful tool of fascism held a much more substantial meaning than multiple countries coming together peacefully. It allowed for Italy to feel unified even if it was on the smallest cultural level of coming together for an art festival, and it also gave the Fascist party yet another opportunity to use propaganda towards the masses to their advantage.In 1932, Giuseppe Volpi was deemed the President of the Biennale and Mussolini was in his tenth year of his regime when, â€Å"a good number of prizes went to pictures of marching Blackshirts, dynamic cranes and planes, idealized Italian landscapes, and women and children saluting Il Duce. † Just prior to this particular Biennale of 1932, Volpi was an active member of the Fascist party, and was most recently the Minister of Finance for Mussolini and the Fascist party. Then again, in 1935 during the film festival aspect of the Biennale, prizes were awarded t o Nazi, Soviet, and Palestinian-Zionist films.Volpi’s ability and willingness to give awards to fascist based artwork, regardless of actual artistic value, was no coincidence. Marla Stone describes Fascist Italy as presenting a paradox with regards to the cultural politics of the authoritarian and totalitarian regimes that reigned in Europe in the time period between World War I and World War II. She states that since, â€Å"No one style, school, or monument summarizes the patronage practices of the Fascist state. Rather, the official culture of Italian Fascism is best defined by its diversities, contradictions, and ambiguities. The culture that was present during fascism closely mirrors the culture of the United States, but with different ingredients. The United States is considered a melting pot with all of the diversities that are represented in the country. Fascist Italy creates its own form of a melting pot, but not with an abundance of ethnic diversity. The â€Å"offi cial culture†, if there was a true â€Å"official culture†, of Fascist Italy was composed of the differences between the Italian people geographically, politically, hierarchically, socially, and of course culturally.Therefore terms that have become popular when speaking of Fascist culture such as â€Å"Fascist realism† and â€Å"Mussolini modern† are irrelevant and inconceivable. Since the beginning of Mussolini’s regime he had always strived to obtain and maintain a mutually beneficial relationship with those who encompass the art world. Under Mussolini’s dictatorship artist were free from censorship as long as they were not openly and actively anti-Fascist, and in return, as a sign of their gratitude, many artists and architects would accept the Fascist regime’s patronage.Certain artists who defied Mussolini’s regime would end up with repercussions. Such is the case with a Venetian abstract painter, Armando Pizzinato, who was an avid member of the Italian Communist Party, and from September 1943 until the end of the war he fought with the partisans and did jail time for certain anti-Fascist activities. However, Pizzinato represents a small portion of the artistic community that was anti-Fascist. The majority of artists cooperated with the Fascist regime, and â€Å"the association between aret and the state was one of mutual recognition and legitimation. Mussolini and his mutually beneficial policies with the art world began to create a more central form of cultural production. Marla Stone refers to the outcome of the newly centralized form of cultural production as a cultural policy of â€Å"aesthetic pluralism – the Mussolini dictatorship’s practice of accepting and supporting a range of aesthetics†. This now meant that there was a magnitude of â€Å"imageries and aesthetic formulations† that represented Fascism and â€Å"were a part of its cultural system, it imaginary and its aesthetic universe. The Fascist party was in a constant search to uncover a single Fascist rhetorical-aesthetic vision while at the same time combining â€Å"modern and avant-garde aesthetics, emerging mass cultural forms, and a discourse of natural culture to produce, during the 1930s, many dynamic and vibrant products. † The products such as exhibitions, fairs, and expositions, that the government produced and were heavily supported by the Fascist party, generated a considerable audience from the Italian population. More specifically speaking, the Biennale was a direct product of the cultural productivity that was being pursued by the Fascist party.Victoria De Grazia argues that the Fascist party was never able to obtain a singular aesthetic vision and identity due to its incapability to mobilize the masses, limits due to the party’s interests, and â€Å"†¦its appropriation of preexisting cultural forms and institutions, which precluded the formation of â €Å"total† Fascist identities†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å" The introduction of Exhibitions such as the Biennale were a key component in Fascism’s political aesthetic vision considering the primary goal was to encompass the cultural sphere of Fascist Italy. In doing so, the Fascist party was hoping to unify Italy under a national culture.Exhibitions had multiple purposes to them while aiming to obtain a unified national culture: â€Å"(1) they were primary sites of state patronage; (2) they opened the social boundaries of culture to the mobilized masses; (3) they offered a location for the appropriation of the cultural identities and cultural capital of preexisting elites; and (4) they courted the participation of cultural producers. † The Venetian Biennale and other similar Exhibitions were, for the most part, good for everyone that attended regardless of party affiliation, social status, or job title.World War I, World War II, and the fascism that accompanies them individuall y had a lasting impact on the country of Italy. Venice, in particular, was not prone to mass amounts of devastation as a consequence of the World Wars. The Fascist presence in Venice was very strong even though the actions of the majority of its supporters were minimal. This problem of mobilizing the masses was not just a problem of Fascism’s in Venice, but throughout Italy. The best attempt Fascism had at completely unifying a Fascist Italian culture was through its support of state patronage in the Exhibitions such as the Biennale in Venice.The political differences, ambiguities, and varying class rank made it virtually impossible to create a single Italian culture under Fascism. However, the ability of the Fascist party to participate in state patronage and allow aesthetic pluralism allowed artists to maintain their careers and not have to alter their stylistic ways. The Fascist party did not succeed in creating their own cultural identity under Fascism, but they did allow for a hybrid-like culture to develop. Fascism did many terrible things for the country of Italy, but allowing the aesthetic pluralism to flourish aided unifying the country under one culture.Lucky for Italians it did not create a unified Fascist culture, but rather a hybrid culture unified due to the intervention of Fascism and the varying differences among the Italian people. Bibliography Ackroyd, Peter. Venice: Pure City. New York: Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, 2009. Print. Garrett, Martin. Venice: A Cultural and Literary Companion. New York: Interlink, 2001. Print. Hibbert, Christopher. Venice: The Biography of a City. New York: W. W. Norton, 1989. Print. Reich, Jacqueline, and Piero Garofalo. Re-viewing Fascism: Italian Cinema, 1922-1943. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 2002. Print. Stone, Marla.The Patron State: Culture & Politics in Fascist Italy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1998. Print. ————————————â₠¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€œ [ 1 ]. Peter Ackroyd, Venice: Pure City (New York: Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, 2009), 324 [ 2 ]. 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Marla Stone, The Patron State: Culture and Politics in Fascist Italy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1998), 5 [ 40 ]. Marla Stone, The Patron State: C ulture and Politics in Fascist Italy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1998), 4 [ 41 ].Marla Stone, The Patron State: Culture and Politics in Fascist Italy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1998), 5 [ 42 ]. Marla Stone, The Patron State: Culture and Politics in Fascist Italy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1998), 6 [ 43 ]. Marla Stone, The Patron State: Culture and Politics in Fascist Italy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1998), 6 [ 44 ]. Marla Stone, The Patron State: Culture and Politics in Fascist Italy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1998), 14 [ 45 ]. Marla Stone, The Patron State: Culture and Politics in Fascist Italy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1998), 18