Deconstructing Authority in Dario Fos Accidental Death of

Deconstructing Authority in Dario Fo’s Accidental Death of an Anarchist Srirupa Chatterjee, IIT University, India.

Introduction �The play is a sharp and hilarious satire on police corruption in Italy �It illustrates the atrocities of an authoritarian regime �It calls for an egalitarian rearrangement of society ◦ Though it not a blind advocacy for the cause of the left (socialism/communism) either.

Background Information �Written in 1970 �Based around the true incident of a murder of a Milanese railway worker under the tyrannical regime of the Christian democratic government in Italy. �The play can be described as an “agit-prop” play ◦ Political propaganda - chiefly in literature, drama, music, or art (Agitation-Propaganda) �Fo produced a number of plays expressing his dissent against the Italian government in the 1960 s and 1970 s

Background Information �Fo and his wife, Franca Rame, started performing their plays for working class audiences �Fo’s theatre is politically vocal, fighting for an egalitarian social setup �His ideal democratic state was one free from the corruptions of extremist politics on both sides – be it fascism or communism �The play is the practical application of the politics of subversion

Background Information �The destabilising effects of deconstructing authority acts as a leitmotif throughout the play ◦ (a dominant, recurring theme) �Fo not only debunks fascist ideology – but also undoes the counter -narrative by voicing it through a madman

Historical Context �In Italy in the 1950 s and 60 s, there was a revival in fascism as well as vocal opposition from the left � 1959 – Christian Democrat government, led by Fernando Tambroni, was installed with the support of the neo-fascists with links to the rule of Mussolini �Protests and violence escalated on both sides – and there were instances of police firing on ant-fascist protestors.

Historical Context �On December 12, 1969, a bomb exploded at the Bank of Agriculture in Milan � 16 people were killed and 100 were injured �Giuseppe Pinelli, a 41 year old railway worker, was arrested �He later “fell” from the fourth floor of the Milan police station �Left-wing magazines like Lotta Continua were vocal in blaming the police inspector, Calabresi

Fo and the Play �Fo said, “the job of theatre is not to document filth but transform it into fertiliser. ” �Irony is the main device used to deconstruct the police’s version of Pinelli’s death ◦ Conflicting layers of meaning ◦ The layers are interconnected and also undo each other

The “Jongeleur” �Fo incorporates the “jongeleur” a figure from Italian history �A street performer, similar to a Shakespearean “fool” �The madman becomes the voice of subversion that contests the “official” version of events from the police �The central paradox in the play concerns a maniac who claims to be “certifiable” but manipulates fiction to reveal the truth

The Maniac �A self-proclaimed patient of “histriomania” (compulsive impersonator) �Adopts various roles of authority ◦ Judge ◦ Psychiatrist ◦ Rabbi �He tricks the policemen to acknowledge their crime by trapping them in their own fabrication

Criticism of the Left �Feletti enters in the last scene of the play �Like the maniac, she purports to be a “voice of the people” �However, neither Feletti, nor the maniac, are ideal spokespersons for democracy �This is shown by Feletti’s statement on the media’s “hunger” for scandal ◦ “Scandal, manure, social democracy” �Media, instead of empowering the people, is really an accomplice of the agents of tyranny

Criticism of the Left �Fo criticises the tyrannies of the right �Though he is not sympathetic to the cause of the extreme left either

Final points � The play concludes with a note of openendedness � While the maniac exposes the lies and corruption of the police, there is a paradox that this counter-narrative comes from a lunatic with numerous personas � The play, arguably, then makes no claim on truth-values � The play’s purpose is social critique � Ponders the process of reform instead of tearing down the state. ◦ For Fo, tearing down the state defers democracy.