A Spectrum of Philosophies: The Rhetorical Framing of Avant-Garde Art Manifestos of the Early Twentieth Century

Abstract

Studies of the manifesto genre are often based on an understanding of early political manifestos as exemplifying extreme left-wing political philosophies and argument typologies and utilizing the confrontational form. Many avant-garde artistic movements of the early twentieth century wrote manifestos to advocate for new approaches to art, design, and aesthetic education and production. Because there is a gap in present scholarship, these avant-garde art manifestos were incorrectly categorized under the preceded format of early political manifestos. This essay offers the argument that these early twentieth century avant-garde art manifestos actually lie across a spectrum (Rossiter's Political Spectrum) and can exemplify either left-wing or right-wing political philosophies or argument typologies and can employ either the confrontational or managerial form. F. T. Marinetti's 1909 "The Founding and Manifesto of Futurism" and Walter Gropius' 1919 Bauhaus Manifesto are explicitly analyzed in this essay and represent the two extremes of Rossiter's Political Spectrum. This essay will add to both rhetorical studies and art historical studies scholarship with its new approach to the rhetorical understanding and framing of these avant-garde art manifestos.