Zaum
Zaum (
Usage
Aleksei Kruchenykh created Zaum in order to show that language was indefinite and indeterminate.[2]
Kruchenykh stated that when creating Zaum, he decided to forgo grammar and syntax rules. He wanted to convey the disorder of life by introducing disorder into the language. Kruchenykh considered Zaum to be the manifestation of a spontaneous non-codified language.[1]
Khelinbov believed that the purpose of Zaum was to find the essential meaning of word roots in consonantal sounds. He believed such knowledge could help create a new universal language based on reason.[1]
Examples of zaum include Kruchenykh's poem "
Kruchenykh would author many poems and mimeographed pamphlets written in Zaum. These pamphlets combine poetry, illustrations, and theory.[1]
In modern times, since 1962 Serge Segay was creating zaum poetry.[7] Rea Nikonova started creating zaum verses probably a bit later, around 1964.[8] Their zaum poetry can be seen e.g. in issues of the famous "Transponans" samizdat magazine.[9] In 1990, contemporary avant-garde poet Sergei Biriukov has founded an association of poets called the "Academy of Zaum" in Tambov.
The use of Zaum peaked from 1916 to 1920 during
Etymology and meaning
Coined by Kruchenykh in 1913,[12] the word zaum is made up of the Russian prefix за "beyond, behind" and noun ум "the mind, nous" and has been translated as "transreason", "transration" or "beyonsense."[13] According to scholar Gerald Janecek, zaum can be defined as experimental poetic language characterized by indeterminacy in meaning.[13]
Kruchenykh, in "Declaration of the Word as Such (1913)", declares zaum "a language which does not have any definite meaning, a transrational language" that "allows for fuller expression" whereas, he maintains, the common language of everyday speech "binds".[14] He further maintained, in "Declaration of Transrational Language (1921)", that zaum "can provide a universal poetic language, born organically, and not artificially, like Esperanto."[15]
Major zaumniks
- Velimir Khlebnikov[2]
- Aleksei Kruchenykh[2]
- Ilia Zdanevich[2]
- Igor Terentev[2]
- Aleksandr Tufanov[2]
- Kazimir Malevich[2]
- Olga Razanova[2]
- Varvara Stepanova[2]
Notes
- ^ ISBN 978-030-004-868-1.
- ^ ISBN 978-113-680-619-3.
- ^ Janecek 1996, p. 49.
- ^ Janecek 1996, p. 111.
- ^ Janecek 1996, pp. 137–138.
- ^ Janecek 1996, p. 79.
- ^ Кузьминский К., Ковалёв Г. Антология новейшей русской поэзии у Голубой Лагуны. — Т. 5Б.
- ^ Жумати, Т. П. (1999). ""Уктусская школа" (1965-1974) : К истории уральского андеграунда". Известия Уральского государственного университета. 13: 125–127.
- ^ "Журнал теории и практики "Транспонанс": Комментированное электронное издание / Под ред. И. Кукуя. - A Work in Progress | Project for the Study of Dissidence and Samizdat". samizdatcollections.library.utoronto.ca.
- ^ Janecek 1984, pp. 149–206.
- ^ Knowlson 1996, p. 217.
- ^ Janecek 1996, p. 2.
- ^ a b Janecek 1996, p. 1.
- ^ Janecek 1996, p. 78.
- ^ Kruchenykh 2005, p. 183.
References
- Janecek, Gerald (1984), The Look of Russian Literature: Avant-Garde Visual Experiments 1900-1930, Princeton: Princeton University Press, ISBN 978-0691014579
- Janecek, Gerald (1996), Zaum: The Transrational Poetry of Russian Futurism, San Diego: San Diego State University Press, ISBN 978-1879691414
- Kruchenykh, Aleksei (2005), Anna Lawton; Herbert Eagle (eds.), "Declaration of Transrational Language", Words in Revolution: Russian Futurist Manifestoes 1912-1928, Washington: New Academia Publishing, ISBN 978-0974493473
- Knowlson, J. (1996), The Continuing Influence of Zaum, London: Bloomsbury
External links
- Chapter Nine of G. Janecek, Zaum: The Transrational Poetry of Russian Futurism
- Janecek's Zaum, published by San Diego State University Press
- Lecture by Z. Laskewicz: "Zaum: Words Without Meaning or Meaning Without Words? Towards a Musical Understanding of Language"
- 'Locating Zaum: Mnatsakanova on Khlebnikov' an essay by Brian Reed
- Article by A. Purin: "Meaning and Zaum" (in Russian)
- Tambov Academy of Zaum, Cyrillic KOI8-R encoding (in Russian)
- Samizdat books and artist' books by Serge Segay, some with zaum and visual poetry
- Samizdat books and artist' books by Ry Nikonova, some with zaum and visual poetry