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Dario Fo And His Interpretation Of History

"Fo makes much of his historical "research." Take one of the Fo-Rame theatre pieces and explore the way Fo uses history to his own ends."

Dario Fo uses his historical "research" in order to promote his own viewpoint rather than present a seemingly objective representation. The notion that an understanding of the past was necessary to change society in the future was his most serious consideration and this essay shall argue that this was the primary reason for his historically based pieces. "Boniface VIII" is an interesting example as he uses a relatively small body of evidence to add substance to his piece, but his main idea is to criticise the church and emphasise his conception of the institution as fundamentally corrupt. This provides understanding as to why he utilised such an example that, if viewed with more historical evidence, was more likely to be a power struggle within the upper echelons of society with little concern for the proletariat. However, his use is justified from a different viewpoint. He considers the traditional approach toward history an imposition of the ruling classes and aims to subvert the assumed knowledge to shed a critical light upon he subject creating a people's culture and interpretation of history. This is created by means of a dichotomy between his giullare-style scenes with the narration; the former being based on the entertainer of the people in the past and the latter presenting a means of presenting his own evidence. The result is an analogous depiction of historical events that corresponds with a vicarious criticism of the contemporary power structure.

Fo's view of society is explicitly Marxist, his ideas had been heavily influenced by the writings of Gramsci; an individual who argued that historical knowledge is essential in order to understand the progress that can be achieved . Fo argues that without this: "the very meaning of culture is undermined." Fo's narration serves to present his...

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