Zaum
Template:Short description Template:About Template:Distinguish {{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}}Template:Template otherTemplate:Main other
Template:Transliteration (Template:Langx) are the linguistic experiments in sound symbolism and language creation of Russian Cubo-Futurist poets such as Velimir Khlebnikov and Aleksei Kruchenykh. Zaum is a non-referential phonetic entity with its own ontology. The language consists of neologisms that mean nothing. Zaum is a language organized through phonetic analogy and rhythm.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref> Zaum literature cannot contain any onomatopoeia or psychopathological states.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite book</ref>
UsageEdit
Aleksei Kruchenykh created Zaum in order to show that language was indefinite and indeterminate.<ref name=":1" />
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.<ref name=":0" />
Khlebnikov 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.<ref name=":0" />
Examples of zaum include Kruchenykh's poem Template:Transliteration,Template:Sfn Kruchenykh's libretto for the Futurist opera Victory over the Sun with music by Mikhail Matyushin and stage design by Kazimir Malevich,Template:Sfn and Khlebnikov's so-called "language of the birds", "language of the gods" and "language of the stars".Template:Sfn The poetic output is perhaps comparable to that of the contemporary Dadaism but the linguistic theory or metaphysics behind zaum was entirely devoid of the gentle reflexive irony of that movement and in all seriousness intended to recover the sound symbolism of a lost aboriginal tongue.Template:Sfn Exhibiting traits of a Slavic national mysticism, Kruchenykh aimed at recovering the primeval Slavic mother-tongue in particular.
Kruchenykh would author many poems and mimeographed pamphlets written in Zaum. These pamphlets combine poetry, illustrations, and theory.<ref name=":0" />
In modern times, since 1962 Serge Segay was creating zaum poetry.<ref name="У Голубой Лагуны">Кузьминский К., Ковалёв Г. Антология новейшей русской поэзии у Голубой Лагуны. — Т. 5Б.</ref> Rea Nikonova started creating zaum verses probably a bit later, around 1964.<ref name="Zhumati">Template:Cite journal</ref> Their zaum poetry can be seen e.g. in issues of the famous "Transponans" samizdat magazine.<ref name="Transponans">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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 World War I. At this time, Zaumism took root as a movement primarily involved in visual arts, literature, poetry, art manifestoes, art theory, theatre, and graphic design,Template:Sfn and concentrated its anti war politic through a rejection of the prevailing standards in art through anti-art cultural works. Zaum activities included public gatherings, demonstrations, and publications. The movement influenced later styles, Avant-garde and downtown music movements, and groups including surrealism, nouveau réalisme, Pop Art and Fluxus.Template:Sfn
Etymology and meaningEdit
Coined by Kruchenykh in 1913,Template:Sfn the word Template:Transliteration or Template:Transliteration is made up of the Russian prefix {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} "beyond, behind" and noun {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} "the mind, Template:Transliteration" and has been translated as "transreason", "transration" or "beyonsense."Template:Sfn According to scholar Gerald Janecek, Template:Transliteration can be defined as experimental poetic language characterized by indeterminacy in meaning.Template:Sfn
Kruchenykh, in "Declaration of the Word as Such (1913)", declares Template:Transliteration "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".Template:Sfn He further maintained, in "Declaration of Transrational Language (1921)", that Template:Transliteration "can provide a universal poetic language, born organically, and not artificially, like Esperanto."Template:Sfn
Major zaumniksEdit
- Linguist and anthropologist Roman Jakobson
- Velimir Khlebnikov<ref name=":1" />
- Aleksei Kruchenykh<ref name=":1" />
- Ilia Zdanevich<ref name=":1" />
- Igor Terentev<ref name=":1" />
- Aleksandr Tufanov<ref name=":1" />
- Kazimir Malevich<ref name=":1" />
- Olga Rozanova<ref name=":1" />
- Varvara Stepanova<ref name=":1" />
NotesEdit
ReferencesEdit
External linksEdit
- 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" Template:In lang
- Tambov Academy of Zaum, Cyrillic KOI8-R encoding Template:In lang
- 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