The Neo-Futurists

Interest in the Russian Futurist poetry of the first two-and-a-half decades of the twentieth century was revived in Soviet literary circles in the mid-1950s. Initially focused on the work of Vladimir Mayakovsky, interest spread to other writers. At the turn of the fifties and sixties, this revival resulted in regular “unsanctioned” poetry readings at the Mayakovsky monument in Moscow, which were eventually banned by the authorities. Against this backdrop, several young poets tried to build on the creative strategies of the Futurists. Gennady Aigi, who debuted as a Chuvash-language poet, was the first of these poets to arrive on the literary scene. Vladimir Kazakov and Vadim Kozovoy, poets who came onto the literary scene in the sixties, consciously established their styles at the intersection of the Russian and international avant-gardes, trying to overcome the isolationism of Soviet poetry. In the seventies, poems by their elder contemporary, Elizaveta Mnatsakanova, claiming to complete the project of a revived Futurism, were published abroad. All four poets borrowed numerous formal features of their work from Russian Futurism and sought to see themselves as its successors, while setting aside the avant-garde’s socio-political agenda and its desire for a radical transformation of culture and society.

Futurismo russo e Cubo-Futurismo

O presente artigo centra-se num estudo comparativo das poéticas da vanguarda russa que incluem variações literárias e artísticas desenvolvidas na primeira metade do século XX. Nele analisa-se o aparecimento do Futurismo e Cubo-futurismo russos e apontam-se as características que os distinguem dos movimentos artísticos europeus que estiveram na sua génese, refletindo-se ainda sobre os primeiros poetas destes movimentos e a sua reconceptualizacão da arte. O case study deste trabalho apoia-se no legado de Vladimir Mayakovsky, mais precisamente no seu contributo como artista e poeta de vanguarda na Rússia, focando-se a nossa análise em questões tais como a expressividade visual da sua poesia, as experiências com o ritmo e rima do verso, a fragmentação e justaposição de palavras e a criação de neologismos. A breve análise semiótica reflete as técnicas artísticas, utilizadas nas suas pinturas e desenhos (Cubo-futurismo). A principal metodologia utilizada é o estudo descritivo e comparativo, baseando-se a fundamentação na teoria de Roman Jakobson, entre outros.

Initiatory nature of the opposition “child – adult” opposition in the mythopoetic paradigm of Vladimir Mayakovsky's works of the early period

This research analyzes Vladimir Mayakovsky’s works of the early period (1912-1916) within the framework of a neo-mythological approach, which allows reconstructing the individual authorial mythopoetic discourse. The article substantiates the inclusion of the literary works of Mayakovsky into the philosophical-culturological context, the importance of their consideration as a poetic and peacebuilding whole with its own patterns of transformation of the archetypal and mythological. The object of this research is the individual mythopoesis of the writer. The described “Dionysianism” of the lyrical hero takes roots in the typological similarities established by the author and noted by other researchers of Mayakovsky’s works, which indicates the consistency of referring to the Nietzschean dialectical opposition of Apollonian and Dionysian. The author notes multifacetedness of the category of the borderline as one of the defining dominants of mythopoetic worldview of the lyrical hero. Therefore, the subject of this research is a particular level of this category: the peculiarity of existence and evolution of a human within the world paradigm in the context of “child – adult” opposition. The novelty of the research consists in establishing the initiatory nature of the category of borderline in the works of V. Mayakovsky. This substantiates the specific, liminal personality traits of the lyrical hero, and proves the furute path of his mythopoetic evolution outlined in the pre-October texts. The author traces the dependence of transformation of mythopoetic constructions on the number of connotational changes in the dialectical opposition “child – adult”. The main result of the conducted research lies in the establishment of causal links between the incompleteness of overcoming the own liminality by the lyrical hero and the fundamental incompleteness of the process of his initiatory “maturing”. The author's special contribution to examination of the mythopoetic structure of the texts of V. Mayakovsky of the early period consists in proving the defining role of the “child – adult” opposition within the paradigm of other mythopoetic characteristics. The author outlines the way for further research of the individual authorial mythological discourse of Mayakovsky's works in the context of subsequent initiatory transformations of human and the world.

Semantic of color in the poetics of Vladimir Mayakovsky

This article analyzes the use of color in the poetic works of Vladimir Mayakovsky as a symbolic actualization of the most important aspects of both the reality surrounding the poet and the world of his inner experienceshe authors note that the poet's choice of a particular color palette in his literary works is often determined by a number of objective and subjective factors: personal sensual love experiences, including complicated and fairly long relationships within the love triangle "Lilya Brik - Osip Brik - Vladimir Mayakovsky"; events of the early twentieth century, rapidly replacing each other, in which not only Russia, but the whole world were immersed (World War I, revolution, civil war in Russia, new economic policy, etc.). And, although the poet constantly mentions in his works about the rich color palette of the surrounding world, including thousands of colors, the authors of the article substantiate the position that in reality Vladimir Mayakovsky uses a rather limited number of colors and shades (the most popular with him are gold, red, black and white).

Vladimir Mayakovsky — the founder of the first social advertising aimed at preserving the health of the population

The purpose of this work is to analyze the creativity of V.V. Mayakovsky and an assessment of his contribution to health education of the population, disease prevention, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle in connection with the celebration of the approaching 100th anniversary of the formation of the state sanitary and epidemiological service of Russia, and the 130th anniversary of the poet’s birth. The article presents the work of Mayakovsky in the «Windows of satire ROSTA» and «Windows» of the Glavpolitprosvet, shows the conditions and organization of work on the production of propaganda posters, ways to increase the effectiveness of propaganda, the introduction of innovative techniques; the contribution of the poet to the campaigning and propaganda of sanitary and hygienic knowledge, the prevention of mass infectious diseases among the population, and the eradication of bad habits was assessed. The huge contribution to V.V. Mayakovsky in the formation of the state system for sanitary and epidemiological education and the formation of a healthy lifestyle for the population. The main hygienic and epidemiological problems of the post-revolutionary period are highlighted. The role of V.V. Mayakovsky as the founder of the first Soviet social advertising aimed at preserving the health of the population.

Images of Soviet Colonization in Archival Cinema: “Jews on the Earth” by Abram Room: The 1920s–30s

At the turn of the 1930s, the Soviet film industry actively released documentary films about life of remote regions of the country, giving its audience an opportunity to make virtual trips across the “sixth part of the Earth.” This phenomenon had a political background: unification of leading creative and scientific forces for creation of the screen image of a multi-structured, multinational, and successfully developing socialist country within the frameworks of state project “Cinema Atlas of the USSR.” The article is to introduce into scientific use an archival documentary “Jews on the Earth” (1927) directed by Abram Room, a film telling about the state program for Jewish settlement of the northern Circum-Pontic region. The socio-political, cultural, and ideological context of its creation is analyzed. The study draws on little-known visual and textual archives, as well as on data of the Soviet periodicals and excerpts from the screenwriter V.B. Shklovsky’s theoretical heritage. Due to specifics of silent cinema, the film “Jews on the Earth” is a kind of cinematic text, consisting of approximately equal number of alternating film frames and text credits written by Vladimir Mayakovsky and Lily Brick. The film story is a sequence of episodes describing agrarization of the Jewish population, its “exodus” from the destroyed miasteczkos to the fertile southern lands. In the course of the research, it becomes obvious that this film is an example of the propaganda films describing the success of early Soviet colonization projects. The method used by Abram Room when working on the “Jews on the Earth” was a creative combination of the documentary and feature film techniques, allowing the film not just to convey dry information, but also to highlight socio-cultural context of the events. The film’s significance was in its contribution to the visual chronicle of the Soviet colonization and to the development of the myth of existence of the Jewish community in the USSR. It is concluded that this film, even overcoming the frameworks of purely propagandistic narration and becoming an outstanding phenomenon of cinematographic art, remains a significant example of the visual anthropology of the Soviet period, as well as a multilayered historical source that has not lost its relevance for modern scientific study.

"Vladimir Mayakovsky" and Other Poems by Vladimir Mayakovsky, translated by James Womack

Vladimir Mayakovsky. “Vladimir Mayakovsky” and Other Poems. Translated by James Womack. Manchester: Fyfield/Carcanet, 2016. 239 pages.

Choral Works by Rodion Shchedrin. 21 Century

Статья представляет собой обзор сочинений для хора a cappeLLa, созданных Родионом Щедриным в XXI веке. Произведения рассматриваются в хронологическом порядке, многие из них вдохновлены творческими контактами с Камерным хором Московской консерватории и с его руководителями - основателем коллектива Борисом Тевлиным и его преемником Александром Соловьёвым. Среди хоровых сочинений композитора есть и произведения на стихи российских поэтов - Андрея Вознесенского, Владимира Маяковского, Велимира Хлебникова, и опусы, написанные на библейские тексты, - «Эпиграф графа Толстого к роману “Анна Каренина”», «Месса поминовения»; последние можно отнести к области духовной музыки. Ряд сочинений отмечен гражданским пафосом (Диптих, «Два последних хора»). В партитурах 2020 года, созданных в период пандемии, в самоизоляции, автор размышляет о смысле бытия (Триптих). Щедрин постоянно экспериментирует с жанрами хоровой музыки. Ярким примером его изобретательности в творчестве последних лет являются Русские народные пословицы. В более ранней Серенаде (2003) традиционный жанр трактован новаторски: текст произведения целиком основан на междометиях. The article is a review of compositions for a cappella choir, written by Rodion Shchedrin in the 21 century. The works are viewed in chronological order, many of them are inspired by creative reLationships with the Chamber Choir of Moscow Conservatory and with its Leaders-the founder of the collective Boris TevLin and his successor Aleksandr Solovyov. Among the composer's choral works, there are music on verses by Russian poets-Andrei Voznesensky, Vladimir Mayakovsky, VeLimir Khlebnikov, and opuses written on bibLicaL texts-“Count ToLstoy's Epigraph to the NoveL ‘Anna Karenina'”, Mass of Commemoration; the Latters can be attributed to the fieLd of sacred music. A number of works are marked by civic pathos (Diptych, “The Last Two Choirs”). In the 2020 scores, created during the pandemic, in self-isolation, the author reflects on the meaning of being (Triptych). Shchedrin constantLy experiments with genres of choraL music. A striking exampLe of his ingenuity in the current oeuvre is the “Russian FoLk Proverbs”. In the earLier Serenade (2003), the traditionaL genre is interpreted in an innovative way: the text of the work is entireLy based on interjections.

Idiomatics of V. Khlebnikov and V. Mayakovsky in translation: decoding vs. encoding idioms (lexicographic aspect)

В статье исследуется проблема перевода авангардной литературы, ориентированной на создание нового художественного языка и языковой эксперимент. Отмеченные черты обусловливают особую сложность перевода авангардных текстов и необходимость поиска оригинальных стратегий при их переводе. Один из подходов к поставленной проблеме предлагается в словаре нового типа «Идиоматика русского авангарда (кубофутуризм)». Микроструктура словаря включает зону форм идиомы на разных языках и зону межъязыкового перевода, где русскоязычные авангардные идиомы сопровождаются переводами. В статье проводится сопоставительный анализ авангардных идиом в творчестве Велимира Хлебникова и Владимира Маяковского как двух ключевых представителей кубофутуризма. Такое сопоставление с учетом степени экспериментальности и языкового творчества позволило сделать вывод о том, что идиоматика Хлебникова в меньшей степени характеризуется семантической композициональностью и в большей степени креативностью и экспериментальностью, в то время как идиоматика Маяковского характеризуется большей семантической композициональностью и меньшей креативностью. В соответствии с классификацией идиом Ч. Филлмора идиоматика Хлебникова относится к классу “decoding idioms”, а Маяковского — к “encoding idioms”. Выявленные отличия в большей или меньшей степени экспериментальности и креативности идиом двух авторов характеризуют переводы их текстов. Анализ переводов авангардных идиом позволил выявить, что при переводе текстов Хлебникова переводчики регулярно ищут способы формирования окказиональных лексических единиц и идиом. Это сближает выбранный подход со стратегией «остранения» У. Эко, в то же время при переводе идиом Маяковского чаще используется поиск эквивалентов на других языках, что соответствует, по У. Эко, стратегии «одомашнивания». The paper deals with the problem of translating avant-garde literature focused on creating a new language and conducting a linguistic experiment. These features make the translation of avant-garde texts particularly difficult and the need to find original strategies for translating them. The dictionary of a new type “Idiomatics of Russian Avant-garde (Cubo-Futurism)” offers one of the approaches to this problem. The microstructure of the dictionary includes a zone of idiom forms in different languages and a zone of interlanguage translation, where Russian avant-garde idioms are accompanied by translations. The article provides a comparative analysis of avant-garde idioms in the works of Velimir Khlebnikov and Vladimir Mayakovsky as two key representatives of Cubo-Futurism. Taking into account the degree of linguistic creativity, the paper concludes that Khlebnikov’s idiomatics is less semantically compositional and more creative, and Mayakovsky’s idiomatics is more semantically compositional and less creative. Following Charles J. Fillmore’s idiomatic classification, Khlebnikov’s idiomatics belongs to the “decoding idioms”, and Mayakovsky's idiomatics refers to the “encoding idioms”. Revealed differences characterize the translations of their texts. Analysis of avant-garde idioms translations indicates that translators of Khlebnikov’s texts regularly look for ways to create nonce words and idioms. This translation approach is close to the “foreignization” (“ostranenije”, “estraniante”) strategy of Umberto Eco. Translators of Mayakovsky's idioms often use the equivalents in other languages, which corresponds to the strategy of “domestication”, according to Umberto Eco.