14 Sign of Ur-Fascism by Umberto Eco
1/14 – The cult of tradition
In 1995, Umberto Eco wrote an essay on the distinguishing features of Ur-fascism. Eco, who grew up in Fascist Italy, distilled 14 signs of primitive fascism in his essay. Not all points apply to all varieties of fascism, but all authoritarian regimes are based on a fascist doctrine that is always similar at its core. Because of the current times, I thought I would prepare this for social media.
I wanted to have a “non-design” which of course is impossible. The typography should not interfere with the message, so I chose the most non design font, lol. I also tried to hide the text in between flashy shoe adverts on social media.
I was playing around with the composition and started to like the Idea of a text in two layers so that “reading between the lines” is really on the nose.
2/14 – Rejection of modernism
3/14 – Action for action’s sake
4/14 – Disagreement is treason
5/14 – Fear of difference
6/14 – Appeal to the frustrated middle class
7/14 – Obsession with a plot
8/14 – The Enemy is at the same time too strong and too weak
9/14 – Life is forever war
10/14 – Contempt for the weak
11/14 – Machismo
12/14 – Selective populism
13/14 – Everybody is a hero
14/14 – New Speak
