DE-HISTORICISING THE AVANT-GARDE: AN “OUTOF- TIME” READING OF THE ANTI-LOVE POLEMIC IN THE WRITINGS OF TOMMASO MARINETTI AND VALENTINE DE SAINT-POINT

The present paper discusses Tommaso Marinetti’s and Valentine de Saint-Point’s treatment of the theme of love in relation to the ongoing theoretical debate on the death of the avant-garde. It examines some of the most controversial texts against love written by the two futurist authors and explores the possibility of a non-historicist approach to these writings. In particular, using the Derridean notion of textual “transplantability”, the paper re-situates the Futurist polemic against love in contemporary culture and suggests an “un-timely” connection between the cultural context of the old avant-garde and the present time. In the light of this connection, the paper argues for a broader understanding of the relationship between the “dead” and the “living” in avant-garde studies.