CAMBRIDGE STUDIES IN RUSSIAN LITERATURE Velimir Khlebnikov A critical study CAMBRIDGE STUDIES IN RUSSIAN LITERATURE General editor MALCOLM JONES In the same series Novy Mir EDITH ROGOVIN FRANKEL The enigma of Gogol RICHARD PEACE Three Russian writers and the irrational T R N EDWARDS Word and music in the novels of Andrey Bely ADA STEINBERG The Russian revolutionary novel RICHARD FREEBORN Poets of modern Russia PETER FRANCE Andrey Bely J D ELSWORTH Nikolay Novikov W GARETH JONES Vladimir Nabokov DAVID RAMPTON Portraits of early Russian liberals DEREK OFFORD Marina Tsvetaeva SIMON KARLINSKY Velimir Khlebnikov A critical study RAYMOND COOKE The right of the University of Cambridge to print and sell all manner of books was granted by Henry VIII in 1534 The University has printed and published continuously since 1584 CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS CAMBRIDGE NEW YORK NEW ROCHELLE MELBOURNE SYDNEY Published by the Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 IRP 32 East 57th Street, New York, NY 10022, USA 10 Stamford Road, Oakleigh, Melbourne 3166, Australia © Cambridge University Press 1987 First published 1987 British Library cataloguing in publication data Cooke, Raymond Velimir Khlebnikov: a critical study (Cambridge studies in Russian literature) Khlebnikov, Velimir- Criticism and interpretation I Title 891.71'3 PG3476.K485Z/ Library of Congress cataloguing in publication data Cooke, Raymond Velimir Khlebnikov: a critical study (Cambridge studies in Russian literature) Bibliography: p Includes index Khlebnikov, Velimir, 1885-1922 - Criticism and interpretation I Title II Series PG3476.K485Z54 1987 89i.78'3O9 87-303 ISBN o 521 32670 Transferred to digital printing 2003 Contents Preface Note on transliteration, abbreviations and text Biography, discourse page vi viii i The tower of the crowds 31 The tower of the word 67 From warrior to prophet - the siege of the tower of time 104 The single book 161 Postscript 184 Notes 189 Selected bibliography 227 Index 240 Preface This book began life as a doctoral thesis It has undergone considerable revision and I hope that the text which has emerged does not sit too uneasily between the world of the specialist in Russian literature and that of the interested layman, towards whom it is also directed I have tried to cover a fairly broad spectrum in my approach, though, inevitably, while some of the points made will already be familiar to readers well-versed in Khlebnikov's work, there are also many omissions This study was never intended to be a comprehensive 'life and works' It is, however, hoped that for those who know little of Khlebnikov's work this book will provide something of an overview and an introduction For those who are already initiated in this complex poetic world, it is hoped that they too will find examined here at least some new areas which will complement and supplement the studies which have already been carried out I not dwell on problems of poetics The approach is mainly interpretative I have, moreover, perhaps not always maintained that critical distance which some might feel suited for a study of this nature Over my many years of involvement with Khlebnikov's work, I have come to recognize that despite all his complexities, he is a unique literary phenomenon, deserving of serious attention To come close to this phenomenon, however, one has to enter his poetic world, to look at it from the inside, and to learn to make out some of its chief landmarks This is an interpretation of a poetic world which is still largely uncharted It is an examination of ideas and themes, a search for meaning and coherence in the works of a poet, who, for many, is still a symbol of incomprehensibility There are many debts which I must acknowledge to people and to institutions for help in the preparation of this work Robin MilnerGulland, Reader in Russian Studies at the University of Sussex, vi Preface vii was the first to direct me towards Khlebnikov's works The British Library in London and the Taylor Institution in Oxford provided invaluable materials for my research, as did the Lenin Library in Moscow and the Saltykov-Shchedrin Library in Leningrad I am grateful to all these libraries for their assistance I am indebted to the British Council, which awarded me scholarships on three occasions to pursue my studies in the Soviet Union I owe a particular debt to the facilities and staff of the Central State Archive for Literature and Art (TsGALI) and the manuscript department of the Gorky Institute of World Literature (IMLI) in Moscow, where I was able to examine the manuscripts of Khlebnikov and others Conversations with Soviet scholars such as Aleksandr Parnis, Viktor Grigoryev, Nikolay Khardzhiev and Rudolf Duganov have contributed substantially to my endeavours Amelia Cantelli of the University of Oxford assisted me with linguistic problems which arose (though I am, of course, responsible for errors which occur) I would also like to acknowledge a debt to Henry Gifford, who read the original thesis and gave me the encouragement and guidance to reshape it into a work more fit for publication I am grateful to Ronald Vroon at the University of Pennsylvania for advice and assistance on specific points and for reading the biographical section in manuscript and making pertinent suggestions Julian Graffy at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies at the University of London was kind enough to read the whole of the work in typescript and many of his invaluable suggestions have been incorporated in the final version Finally, this work would never have been completed if it were not for the facilities and financial help provided by St Antony's College, Oxford, which for 1984-85 elected me its 'Max Hayward Fellow in Russian Literature' RAYMOND COOKE Oxford, 1986 Note on transliteration, abbreviations and text I have adopted the 'British' system of transliteration which renders proper names normally ending in -iy, -yy and -y simply as ending in -y (for example, Yury Tynyanov, Vasily Kamensky) I have omitted, moreover, from proper names in the body of the text the soft sign (') to facilitate reading The soft sign has been reinstated in the notes and the bibliography Certain names have been left throughout in their more accustomed variants (for example, Mandelstam, Burliuk, Khardzhiev, Jakobson) To avoid an unwieldy number of notes I have given abbreviated references in the text to several editions of Khlebnikov's works: SP Sobraniye proizvedeniy, vols., ed N Stepanov (Leningrad, 1928-33) IS Izbrannyye stikhotvoreniya, ed N Stepanov (Moscow, 1936) NP Neizdannyye proizvedeniy a, ed N Khardzhiev and T Grits (Moscow, 1940) SS Sobraniye sochineniy, vols., ed V Markov (Munich, Wilhelm Fink Verlag, 1968-72) Vols 1-3 of this edition contain a reprint of the SP followed (vol 3) by some previously uncollected material; vol comprises a reprint of the NP The SP and SS references are followed by volume numbers (Roman small cap numerals) and page numbers (Arabic numerals) The NP and IS references are simply followed by page numbers All references to archive material, unless stated otherwise, are to Khlebnikov's archive at the Central State Archive for Literature and Art (TsentraV nyy gosudarstvennyy arkhiv literatury i iskusstva) (abbreviated to TsGALI), fond 527, opis' 1, yedinitsy khraneniya 1-351 I have abbreviated the term yedinitsa khraneniya (storage unit) to yed khr This is followed by the page (list) and reverse page (list ob.) numbers of the manuscripts cited The few angled brackets which occur in quotations from Khlebnikov indicate tentative readings Dates are given according to the custom of the time There is thus no reference to new style or old style Translations are my own except where stated otherwise I have provided prose translations of transliterated Khlebnikov verse quotations These translations should not be judged as necessarily conveying the 'poetry' of the originals I hope, however, that they convey the meaning vin Biography, discourse Khlebnikov is impossible to read', the poet Vladimir Mayakovsky wrote in his obituary notice shortly after Khlebnikov's death in June 1922 And he also noted: Khlebnikov is not a 'poet for consumers', but a 'poet for producers'.1 This much-quoted pronouncement set the seal on a reputation which Khlebnikov acquired in his lifetime and which was to last for many years to come Khlebnikov might have expected a more sympathetic appraisal from the fellow Futurist who had some years earlier proclaimed him the 'king of Russian poetry' (SP v 333) However, Mayakovsky was doing no more than echoing the opinion of his time For most of his contemporaries Khlebnikov was in particular the author of the renowned neologistic poem 'Incantation by Laughter' ('Zaklyatiye smekhom') and in general the author of 'transrational' (zaumnyy) verse, and the purveyor of gibberish It was generally considered, as Mayakovsky wrote in his obituary, that out of every 100 people who read Khlebnikov only 10 would be able to 'know and love' him and these would be Futurist poets and formalist philologists.2 If Mayakovsky is voicing such opinions, then it is little surprise that a less sympathetic obituary writer could refer to Khlebnikov as an 'eternal failure and half-crazy versifier'.3 There was, however, some justification for the unhappy remarks of Mayakovsky and other writers and critics of his time As another obituary writer, the poet Sergey Gorodetsky, noted, at the time of Khlebnikov's death in 1922 a large part of his work remained unpublished and thus unknown.4 The early literary assessments of Khlebnikov were often unfounded because they were based on insufficient information When, for example, the first volume of Khlebnikov's Collected Works (Sobraniyeproizvedeniy) appeared in 1928, about half of the Velimir Khlebnikov long poems (poemy) it contained were being published for the first time, and these included Khlebnikov's masterpiece of the revolutionary period, 'Night Search' ('Nochnoy obysk') Khlebnikov's flowering as a writer coincided with years which were not conducive to stable publication They were years of world war, of revolution and of civil war When Khlebnikov did succeed in publishing his works they appeared for the most part in small journals and miscellanies which circulated only erratically, if at all These problems were compounded by Khlebnikov's own apparent neglect of his manuscripts and by the cavalier fashion in which his texts were edited by others Small wonder then that he became the subject of ill-informed criticism The publication between 1928 and 1933 of the Collected Works certainly helped to eradicate some of the misconceptions which had prevailed Printed here at last were not only previously unpublished works, but also works which appeared in publications which had subsequently become bibliographical rarities Edited by Nikolay Stepanov, this edition has, however, proved somewhat unreliable and its effect, in any case, was muted by the change for the worse in the Soviet literary climate which was under way at the time of its publication By the time the fifth volume appeared, the Soviet Communist Party had tightened its grip on literature and the arts Khlebnikov's work now became the object of a more ideologically motivated brand of criticism Khlebnikov had, in his own way, supported the Bolshevik revolution, but his works did not conform to the now official Soviet literary standards of socialist realism Although in subsequent years (1936, 1940, i960) individual editions were published, introductions by their editor Stepanov included statutory remarks on Khlebnikov's 'failure' to understand the revolution correctly.5 Less sympathetic critics attacked his 'anti-Soviet sentiments' and branded him a 'poet for aesthetes' and a 'literary pygmy'.6 Remarkably, Nikolay Khardzhiev and T Grits managed to secure the publication in 1940 of some unpublished works by Khlebnikov in an excellent scholarly edition,7 but no collected edition of several volumes has appeared since Stepanov's unsatisfactory Collected Works At present, however, both in the Soviet Union and in the west a reassessment of Khlebnikov's literary achievements is in progress and the early reputation which he acquired as a purveyor of 'transrational' gibberish and the notion that he left nothing that Selected bibliography 233 Nilsson, N A 'Futurism, Primitivism and the Russian Avant-Garde', Russian Literature, 8-5 (1980), pp 469-81 'How to Translate Avant-Garde Poetry Some Attempts with Xlebnikov's "Incantation by Laughter'", in Velimir Chlebnikov: A Stockholm Symposium, ed Nils Ake Nilsson (Stockholm, Almqvist & Wiksell International, 1985), pp 133-50 Olesha, Yu Preface to V V Khlebnikov, Zverinets (Moscow, 1930), PP 3-4 Panov, M V 'O chlenimosti slov na morfemy', in Pamyati akademika V V Vinogradova (Moscow, 1971), pp 170-9 Parnis, A Ye 'K 90-letiyu so dnya rozhdeniya Velimira Khlebnikova: "I voysko pesen povedu '", Literaturnaya gazeta, 12 November 1975 '"Konetsarstvo, ved' ottuda ya ' " , Teyegin gerl (Elista), (1976), PP 135-51 'Neizvestnyy rasskaz V Khlebnikova', Russian Literature Triquarterly, 13 (1975), PP-468-75 '"Ulozhitsya li v strochku slovo?"', Literaturnaya gazeta, 13 November 1985 'Velemir Khlebnikov', Prostor (Alma-Ata), (1966), p 91 'Velimir Khlebnikov', Zvezda, 11 (1975), pp 199-205 'V Khlebnikov - sotrudnik Krasnogo voina\ Literaturnoye obozreniye, (1980), pp 105-12 'V Khlebnikov v Bakrosta', Literaturnyy Azerbaydzhan (Baku), (1976), pp 117-19 'V Khlebnikov v revolyutsionnom Gilyane (novyye materialy)', Narody azii i afriki, (1967), pp 156-64 'Yuzhnoslavyanskaya tema Velimira Khlebnikova: novyye materialy k tvorcheskoy biografii poeta', in Zarubezhnyye slavyane i russkaya kul'tura, ed M P Alekseyev (Leningrad, 1978), pp 223-51 Petrovsky, D 'A Tale about Khlebnikov: Memories of Velimir Khlebnikov', trans Lily Feiler, in V Khlebnikov, Snake Train: Poetry and Prose, ed G Kern (Ann Arbor, Ardis, 1976), pp 273-313 Polukhina, V 'For the Centenary of Velimir Khlebnikov: (A review of some recent publications)', Essays in Poetics, vol 10, (1985), pp 66-80 Postupal'sky, I 'O pervom tome Khlebnikova', Novyy mir, 12 (1929), pp 237-42 'V Khlebnikov i futurizm', Novyy mir, (1930), pp 187-96 Punin, N 'Zangezi', Zhizn' iskusstva (Leningrad), 20 (1923), pp 10-12 Radzishevsky, V ' "Prinadlezhu k mestu vstrechi Volgi i Kaspiya morya ": Tarn, gde zhil Velimir Khlebnikov', Literaturnaya gazeta, 17 August 1983 Rayt, R 'Vse luchshiye vospominaniya (otryvki iz knigi)', in Uchonyye zapiski Tartuskogo universiteta, vypusk 184, (1966), pp 266-70 Ritter, A C 'Velimir Khlebnikov: Poetry and Prose 1917-1922' (unpublished D Phil, thesis, University of Oxford, 1977) 234 Selected bibliography Samorodova, O 'Poet na Kavkaze: vospominaniya', Zvezda, (1972), pp 186-94 Sedakova, O 'Obraz fonemy v "Slove o El"' Velimira Khlebnikova', in Razvitiye fonetiki sovremennogo russkogo yazyka (Moscow, 1971), pp.273-7 'Velimir Khlebnikov - poet skorosti', Russkaya rech!, (1985), PP- 29-35 Slinina, E V Tema prirody v poezii V Khlebnikova i N Zabolotskogo', in Voprosy metodiki istorii literatury, Uchonyye zapiski Leningradskogo gosudarstvennogo pedagogicheskogo instituta, vol 465 (Pskov, 1970), pp 42-57 'V Khlebnikov o Pushkine', in Pushkin iyego sovremenniki, Uchonyye zapiski Leningradskogo gosudarstvennogo pedagogicheskogo instituta, vol 434 (Pskov, 1970), pp 111-24 Spassky, S 'Khlebnikov', Literaturnyy so vremenni k, 12 (1935), pp 190-204 'O Khlebnikove', Literaturnyy Leningrad, 14 November 1935 Stepanov, N 'Naslediye Velemira Khlebnikova', Na literaturnom postu, 22-3 (1927), pp 84-90 'O Velimire Khlebnikove: (k pyatidesyatiletiyu so dnya smerti)', Zvezda, (1972), pp 183-6 'Poet-utopist', Literaturnyy Leningrad, 14 November 1935 Tvorchestvo Velimira Khlebnikova', in Velimir Khlebnikov, Sobraniye proizvedeniy, vols., ed N Stepanov (Leningrad, 1928-33), vol 1, pp 31-64 'Velimir Khlebnikov', in Istituto universitario orientate: Annali: Sezione slava, 10 (Naples, 1967), pp 171-99 'Velimir Khlebnikov', in V V Khlebnikov, Stikhotvoreniya (Leningrad, 1940), pp iii-xl 'Velimir Khlebnikov', in V V Khlebnikov, Stikhotvoreniya i poemy (Leningrad, i960), pp 5-68 Velimir Khlebnikov: zhizn1 i tvorchestvo (Moscow, 1975) 'V V Khlebnikov: biograficheskiy ocherk', in V V Khlebnikov, Izbrannyye stikhotvoreniya (Leningrad, 1936), pp 5-77 Stobbe, P Utopisches Denken bei V Chlebnikov (Munich, Verlag Otto Sagner, 1982) Strunin, V I.' "Chtob v dvukh slovakh byl vodopad " (V Khlebnikov o poezii)', in Sovetskaya poeziya 20-30-kh godov, Chelyabinskiy gosudarstvennyy pedagogicheskiy institute vypusk (Chelyabinsk, 1977), pp 61-77 'Na puti k istorizmu (poemy V Khlebnikova o narodnoy bor'be)', in Stanovleniye sotsialisticheskogo realizma, ed V P Rakov (Moscow, 1981), pp 49-57 'Osmysleniye sobytiy revolyutsii v poemakh Velimira Khlebnikova', in Problemy sovetskoy poezii, (Chelyabinsk, 1974), pp 72-82 Tal'nikov, D 'Poet nesovershennykh vozmozhnostey', in Gul vremeni (Moscow, 1929), pp 290-309 Selected bibliography 235 Tartakovsky, P 'Poet; revolyutsiya; vostok: (tvorchestvo Velimira Khlebnikova i irano-tadzhikskoye khudozhestvennoye naslediye)', Pamir (Dushanbe), (1977), pp 84-96 Tatlin, V 'O Zangezi', Zhizn' iskusstva (Leningrad), 18 (1923), p 15 Thomson, R D B 'Khlebnikov and +3 ', in Russian and Slavic Literature, ed R Freeborn, R R Milner-Gulland and C A Ward (Slavica Publishers Inc., 1976), pp 297-312 Todorov, T 'Number, Letter, Word', in The Poetics of Prose, trans Richard Howard (Oxford, Basil Blackwell, 1977), pp 190-204 Trenin, V and Khardzhiev, N 'Retushirovannyy Khlebnikov', Literaturnyy kritik, (1933), PP-142-50 Tynyanov, Yu 'O Khlebnikove', in Velimir Khlebnikov, Sobraniye proizvedeniy, vols., ed N Stepanov (Leningrad, 1928-1933), vol 1, pp.17-30 Urban, A 'Filosofskaya utopiya: (poeticheskiy mir V Khlebnikova)', Voprosy literatury, (1979), pp 153-83 Uspensky, B A 'K poetike Khlebnikova: problemy kompozitsii', in Sbornik statey po vtorichnym modeliruyushchim sistemam, ed Yu Lotman (Tartu, 1973), pp 122-7 Vanshenkin, K 'K 100-letiyu so dnya rozhdeniya Velimira Khlebnikova', Literaturnaya gazeta, 13 November 1985 Vechorka, T 'Vospominaniya o Khlebnikove', in Zapisnaya knizhka Velimira Khlebnikova, ed A Ye Kruchonykh (Moscow, 1925), pp 21-30 Vinokur, G 'Khlebnikov', Russkiy sovremennik, (1924), pp 222-6 Vol'pe, Ts 'Stikhotvoreniya Velimira Khlebnikova', Literaturnoye obozreniye, 17 (1940), pp 33-7 Vroon, R 'Four Analogues to Xlebnikov's "Language of the Gods'", in The Structure of the Literary Process: Essays in Memory of Felix Vodidka, ed M Cervenka, P Steiner and R Vroon (Amsterdam, John Benjamins, 1982), pp 581-97 '"Sea Shore" ("Morskoi bereg") and the Razin Constellation', Russian Literature Triquarterly, 12 (1975), pp 295-326 'Velimir Chlebnikov's "Chadzi-Tarchan" and the Lomonosovian Tradition', Russian Literature, (1981), pp 107-31 'Velimir Khlebnikov's "I esli v 'Khar'kovskie ptitsy' ": Manuscript Sources and Subtexts', Russian Review, 42 (1983), pp 249-70 'Velimir Khlebnikov's "Razin: Two Trinities": A Reconstruction', Slavic Review, vol 39, (1980), pp 70-84 Velimir Xlebnikov's Shorter Poems: A Key to the Coinages (Ann Arbor, University of Michigan, 1983) Weststeijn, W G Velimir Chlebnikov and the Development of Poetical Language in Russian Symbolism and Futurism (Amsterdam, Rodopi, 1983) Yakovlev, B 'Poet dlya estetov: (zametki o Velimire Khlebnikove i formalizme v poezii)', Novyy mir, (1948), pp 207-31 236 Selected bibliography Zhadova, L ' "Tolpa prozrachno-chistykh sot" ', Nauka i zhizn', (1976), pp 102-7 / / / Other works Abroskina, I I 'Literaturnyye kafe 20-kh godov: (iz vospominaniy I V Gruzinova "Mayakovsky i literaturnaya Moskva")', in Vstrechi s proshlym, Sbornik materialov Tsentral'nogo gosudarstvennogo arkhiva literatury i iskusstva SSSR, vypusk (Moscow, 1978), pp 174-92 Bal'mont, K Poeziya kak volshebstvo (Moscow, 1915) Barooshian, V D Russian Cubo-Futurism igio-igjo: A Study in AvantGardism (The Hague-Paris, Mouton, 1974) Baryutin N M 'Moi vstrechi s Khlebnikovym', 'Vospominaniye o vstrechakh s Khlebnikovym', unpublished memoirs in Tsentral'nyy gosudarstvennyy arkhiv literatury i iskusstva, fond 2283, opis' 1, yed khr Bely, A Glossolaliya: poema o zvuke (Berlin, 1922) 'Magiya slov', in his Simvolizm (Moscow, 1910), pp 429-48 Blok, A Sobraniye sochineniy v 8-i tomakh, ed V N Orlov, A A Surkov, K I Chukovsky (Moscow-Leningrad, 1960-3) Brik, L 'Iz vospominaniy', in Al'manakh: s Mayakovskim (Moscow, 1934), PP- 59-79 Brown, C Mandelstam (Cambridge University Press, 1973) Brown, E J (ed.) Major Soviet Writers: Essays in Criticism (Oxford University Press, 1973) Mayakovsky: A Poet in the Revolution (Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton University Press, 1973) Burliuk, D Archive in Rukopisnyy otdel, Institut mirovoy literatury imeni Gor'kogo, fond 92, opis' 'Ot laboratorii k ulitse: (evolyutsiya futurizma)', Tvorchestvo (Vladivostok), (1920), pp 22-5 Chukovsky, K 'Akhmatova and Mayakovsky', trans J Pearson, in Major Soviet Writers: Essays in Criticism, ed E J Brown (Oxford University Press, 1973), pp 33-53 Litsa i maski (St Petersburg, 1914) Compton, S P The World Backwards: Russian Futurist Books igi2-igi6 (London, British Museum Publications, 1978) Duganov, R V 'Aleksey Kruchonykh 1886-1968: iz vospominaniy', in Den' poezii: ig8j (Moscow, 1983), pp 157-62 Erlich, V T h e Place of Russian Futurism within the Russian Poetic Avantgarde: A Reconsideration', Russian Literature, 13 (1983), pp 1-18 Etkind, Ye Materiya stikha (Paris, Institut d'etudes slaves, 1978) Gorky, M CO futurizme', Zhurnal zhurnalov, (1915), pp 3-4 Gray, C The Russian Experiment in Art: 1863-1 g22 (London, Thames and Hudson, 1971) Selected bibliography 237 Grygar, M 'Kubizm i poeziya russkogo i cheshkogo avangarda', in Structure of Texts and Semiotics of Culture, ed Jan van der Eng and Mojmir Grygar (The Hague-Paris, Mouton, 1973), pp 59-101 Ivask, G 'Russian Modernist Poets and the Mystic Sectarians', in Russian Modernism: Culture and the Av ant-Garde 1900-1930, ed George Gibian and H W Tjalsma (Ithaca and London, Cornell University Press, 1976), pp 85-106 Jakobson, R 'From Alyagrov's Letters', in Russian Formalism: A Retrospective Glance A Festschrift in Honor of Victor Erlich, ed Robert Louis Jackson and Stephen Rudy (Yale Center for International and Area Studies, New Haven, 1985), pp 1-5 'On a Generation that Squandered its Poets', trans E.J Brown, in Major Soviet Writers: Essays in Criticism, ed E J Brown (Oxford University Press, 1973) PP- 7"32 'Subliminal Verbal Patterning in Poetry', in Selected Writings in (The Hague-Paris-New York, Mouton, 1981), pp 136-47 Janecek, G The Look of Russian Literature: Av ant-Garde Visual Experiments, 1900-1930 (Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton^JJnjversjty^ Press, 1984) Jangfeldt, B Majakovskij and Futurism 1917-1921 (Almqvist & Wiksell International, Stockholm, 1977) 'Russian Futurism 1917-1919', in Art, Society, Revolution: Russia 19171921, ed Nils Ake Nilsson (Stockholm, Almqvist & Wiksell International, 1979), pp 106-37 Kamensky, V Zhizn' s Mayakovskim (Moscow, 1940) Kapelyush, B N 'Arkhivy M V Matyushina i Ye G Guro', in Yezhegodnik rukopisnogo otdela Pushkinskogo doma na 1974 god, ed K D Muratova (Leningrad, 1976), pp 3-23 Katanyan, V Mayakovsky: literaturnaya khronika (Moscow, 1961) 'Ne tol'ko vospominaniya', Russian Literature Triquarterly, 13 (1975), pp 477-86 Khardzhiev, N 'Poeziya i zhivopis': (ranniy Mayakovsky)', in K istorii russkogo avangarda (The Russian Avant-Garde) (Stockholm, Almqvist & Wiksell International, 1976), pp 7-84 'Vesyolyy god Mayakovskogo', in Vladimir Majakovskij: Memoirs and Essays, ed Bengt Jangfeldt and Nils Ake Nilsson (Stockholm, Almqvist & Wiksell International, 1975), pp 108-51 Khardzhiev, N and Trenin, V Poeticheskaya kul'tura Mayakovskogo (Moscow, 1970) Kruchonykh, A Ye Archive in Rukopisnyy otdel, Institut mirovoy literatury imeni Gor'kogo, fond 411, opis' Archive in TsentraVnyy gosudarstvenny arkhiv literatury i iskusstva,fond 1334, opis' Zaumniki (Moscow, 1922) Zaumnyy yazyk u Seyfullinoy, Vs Ivanova, Leonova, Babelya, I Sel'vinskogo, A Vesyologo i dr (Moscow, 1925) 238 Selected bibliography Lawton, A Vadim Shershenevich: From Futurism to Imaginism (Ann Arbor, Ardis, 1981) Livshits, B Polutoraglazyy strelets (Leningrad, 1933) Lodder, C Russian Constructivism (New Haven and London, Yale University Press, 1983) McVay, G 'Alexei Kruchenykh: The Bogeyman of Russian Literature', Russian Literature Triquarterly, 13 (1975), pp 571-90 Esenin: A Life (Ann Arbor, Ardis, 1976) Mandelstam, N Hope Abandoned, trans Max Hayward (Penguin, 1976) Hope Against Hope, trans Max Hayward (Penguin, 1975) Mandelstam, O Sobraniye sochineniy, vols., ed G P Struve and B A Filippov (New York, Inter-Language Literary Associates, 1964-71) Mariengof, A Roman bez vran'ya (Leningrad, 1928) Markov, V (ed.) Manifesty i programmy russkikh futuristov (Munich, Wilhelm Fink Verlag, 1967) Russian Futurism: A History (London, Macgibbon and Kee, 1969) Matyushin, M 'Russkiye kubo-futuristy (vospominaniya M V Matyushina)', in K istorii russkogo avangarda (The Russian AvantGarde) (Stockholm, Almqvist & Wiksell International, 1976), pp 129-58 Mayakovsky, V Polnoye sobraniye sochineniy v 13-i tomakh, ed V A Katanyan (Moscow, 1955-61) Mercier, A Les sources esoteriques et occultes de la poesie symboliste (1870-1914), vol 2, Le symbolisme europeen (Editions A.-G Nizet, 1974) Milner, J Vladimir Tatlin and the Russian Av ant-Garde (New Haven and London, Yale University Press, 1984) Milner-Gulland, R 'Zabolotsky: Philosopher-Poet', Soviet Studies, vol 22, (1971), PP 595-6o8 Naumov, Ye I Seminariy po Mayakovskomu (Moscow-Leningrad, 1953) Panchenko, A M and Smirnov, I P 'Metaforicheskiye arkhetipy v russkoy srednevekovoy slovesnosti i v poezii nachala XX v.\ in Drevnerusskaya literatura i russkaya kuVtura XVIH-XX vv., Trudy otdela drevnerusskoy literaturyy Institut russkoy literatury, Akademiya nauk SSSR xxvi (Leningrad, 1971), pp 33-49 Pertsov, V Poety iprozaiki velikikh let (Moscow, 1969) Pertsov, V and Serebryansky, M (ed.) Mayakovsky: materialy i issledovaniya (Moscow, 1940) Pomorska, K Russian Formalist Theory and its Poetic Ambience (The Hague-Paris, Mouton, 1968) Proffer, E and Proffer, C R (ed.) The Ardis Anthology of Russian Futurism (Ann Arbor, Ardis, 1980) Robins, R H A Short History of Linguistics (London, Longmans, 1967) Shklovsky, V Mayakovsky and his Circle, trans, and ed Lily Feiler (Pluto Press, 1974) Selected bibliography 239 'O poezii i zaumnom yazyke', Sbornikipo teorii poeticheskogo yazyka (Petrograd, 1916), pp 1-15 'Predposylki futurizma', Golos zhizni, 18 (1915), pp 6-9 'Voskresheniye slova', in Texte der Russischen Formalisten, vol (Munich, Wilhelm Fink Verlag, 1972), pp 2-17 Zoo or Letters Not About Love, trans Richard Sheldon (Ithaca and London, Cornell University Press, 1971) Slonim, M From Chekhov to the Revolution: Russian Literature igoo-igiy (Oxford University Press, 1962) Soviet Russian Literature: Writers and Problems igij-ig6y (Oxford University Press, 1967) Spassky, S Mayakovsky iyego sputniki (Leningrad, 1940) Stahlberger, L L The Symbolic System of Majakovskij (The Hague-Paris, Mouton, 1964) Stepanov, N Poety i prozaiki (Moscow, 1968) Trenin, V and Khardzhiev, N 'Mayakovsky o kachestve stikha', in AVmanakh s Mayakovskim (Moscow, 1934), pp 257-302 Tsekhnovitser, O Literatura imirovaya voyna igi4~igi8 (Moscow, 1938) Vroon, R 'Puti tvorchestva: The Journal as a Metapoetic Statement', in Russian Literature and American Critics, ed Kenneth Brostrom (Ann Arbor, Michigan Slavic Publications, 1984), pp 219-39 Zelinsky, K 'Na velikom rubezhe', Znamya, 12 (1957), pp 147-89 Zhuravlyov, A P Zvuk ismysl (Moscow, 1981) Zsadova, L [Zhadova, L] Vlagyimir Jevgrafovics Tatlin ([Budapest], Corvina Kiado, [1985]) Author's Note To mark the centenary of Khlebnikov's birth, in late 1985 and 1986 four single-volume editions of his works were produced in the USSR Two of these, Ladomir: poemy and Stikhotvoreniya, poemy, dramy, proza, are included in the bibliography Two others, Stikhotvoreniya i poemy, ed R Duganov (Volgograd, Nizhne-Volzhskoye knizhnoye izdatel'stvo, 1985) and Tvoreniya, ed V P Grigor'yev and A Ye Parnis (Moscow, Sovetskiy pisatel', 1986), appeared while this book was already at proof stage Of the centenary volumes Tvoreniya is a major advance in Khlebnikov studies Although only a single volume, it is a substantial collection, some 700 pages long, which contains authoritative texts of Khlebnikov's works and notes on their provenance Moreover, unlike the other volumes, it contains many of Khlebnikov's theoretical articles and republishes (for the first time in the USSR since 1928) the long poem 'Night Search' It does not, however, contain material from the 'Boards of Fate' Index to works by Khlebnikov discussed or noted in the text Titles in Russian 'Alferovo', 105 'Azosoyuz', 43, 200 n.19, n.22 'Azy iz uzy\ 170, 224 n.37 'Bekh', 121-3 Bitvy 1915-1917: novoye ucheniye o voyne, 15, 116-17, I J , 119, 125, 127, 135 'Bobeobi', 13, 84-5, 153, 209 n.43 'Bogi', 87, 91 'Boyevaya', 40, 107, 109, 115, 127 'Bukva kak takovaya' (with Krucho nykh), 168 'Byla t'ma ' , 39-40, 41, 62 'Byli veshchi slishkom sini', 118-20, 216 n.35 'Chto delat' vam', 220 n.89 'Deklaratsiya tvortsov', 165 'Deti vydry', 41, 42, 105, 123-4, X55, 169, 170, 173, 182, 216 n.35, 219 n.75, 223 n.33 'DetusyaF, 45 'Deviy bog', 13 'Doski sud'by', 19, 29, 103, 104, 114, 138, 149, 150, 152, 155, 156-7, 160, 174, 177, 179, 180, 182, 183, 188, 196 n.71, 222 n.12, 225 n.63 'Izberyom dva slova ' , 96 Izbornik stikhov: 1907-1914, 15 'Ka', 43, 84, 170, 210 n.53 'Ka2', 29, 124, 129, 203 n.53 'Kamennayababa', 143, 177 'Kapayet s vyosel siyayushchiy dozhd", 144-5, 146 'Khudozhniki mira', 80-3, 85 'Kto takiye ugrorossy?, 108, 193 n.42 'Kubok pechenezhskiy', 122-3 'Kuznechik' ('Krylyshkuya'), 94, 100, 153 Ladomir, 76, 91, 92, 98, 138, 139, 145-6, 207 n.28, 210-11 n.64, 219 n.75 'Markiza Dezes', 'Mozhno kupat' sya ' , 135-6 'Mudrost' vsilke', 86 'My i doma', 185, 214 n.12 'My zhelayem zvyozdam tykat", 106-7 'Gde, kak volosy devitsyny', 131-2 'Gde volk voskliknul krov'yu', 130 'Gody, lyudi i narody', 188 'Gospozha Lenin', 220 n.89 'Groza v mesyatse Au', 86 'Nasha osnova', 68, 73, 77, 83, 88, 98, 172, 187 Nastoyashcheye, 139, 170, 223 n.35 'Ne chortikom maslyanichnym', 53-4, 57, 202-3 n Neizdannyye proizvedeniya, 2, 167, 189 n.7 'Nikolay', 13, 105-6 'Nikto ne budet otritsat' ' , 175-6 'Nochnoy obysk', 2, 143, 218 n.66 'Noch' v Galitsii', 88, 127 Igra v adu (with Kruchonykh), 9, 193 n-39 'Ii E', 11, 100 'Indo-russkiy soyuz', 40 'Iranskaya pesnya', 220 n.90 'Iskusheniye greshnika', 21-2, 191 n.21 'Ispaganskiy verblyud', 25 'Odinokiy litsedey', 59-61 'O dostoyevskiymo begushchey tuchi!', 92-3,224n.5i 'Okhotnik Usa-gali', 13, 105-6 'Oktyabr' na Neve', 137, 217 n.52 'O rasshirenii predelov russkoy 240 Index slovesnosti', 33, 106, 193 n.42, 198 n.7 'Otkaz', 46, 143, 202 n.34 'O yedinitsa!', 146-7 'Pamyatnik', 13, 115-16, 117, 118 'Perunu', 120-1 'Pesn' mne', 112, 145, 172 'Pesn' mrakov', 40 'Poet', 178 'Prachka', 31, 37, 139, 170, 223 n.35 'Predlozheniya', 101, 131 'Predsedatel' Cheki', 141-2, 143 'Pust' na mogil'noy plite prochtut ' , 104 'Ra ' , 94 'Rasskaz ob oshibke', 128, 148 'Razgovor', 135, 217 n.47 'Razgovor dvukh osob', 174 'Razin', 93 'Razin: dve troitsy', 145, 177 'Ruchey s kholodnoyu vodoy', 177 'Russkiye desyat' l e t ' , 56-8, 203 n.50 Ryav! Perchatki: igo8-igi4, 15, 124 'Semero', 105 'Serdtsa prozrachney, chem sosud', 171, 177 'Siniye okovy', 172 'Skufyaskifa',30, 182 Slovo kak takovoye (with Kruchonykh), 11, 12, 25, 83, 167, 171 'Smert' v ozere', 125-6, 129, 216 n.34 Sobraniyeproizvedeniy, 1-2, 3, 20, 27, 164, 170 'Svoboda prikhodit nagaya', 138-9 'Tarn, gde zhili sviristeli', 21 Trizna', 125, 126-7, I n.32, n.34 Truba Gul'-mully', 28, 46, 147-8 Truba marsian, 12, 113, 202 n.33 'Tsarapina po nebu', 94-7, 221 n.103 Tverskoy', 124 Tvoreniya: igo6-igo8, n.53, 222 n.21 241 15, 118, 194 UchiteV i uchenik, 8, 32, 73, 74, 78, 109, 148, 172, 174, 179, 180, 198 n.5 'Vchera ya molvil ', 134-5 'Veter- peniye', 136-7, 224 n.36 'Vlom vselennoy', 41, 157, 159 'V more moral', 142-3 'Vnuchka Malushi', 173 'Volya vsem', 40, 41, 139, 155 'Voyna v myshelovke', 41, 42, 46, n o , 134, 136, 137, 144, 170, 224 n.37 'Vozzvaniye predsedateley zemnogo shara', 44-5, 47-8, 137, 174, 200 n.25, 202 n.33 'Vozzvaniye uchashchikhsya slavyan', 7, 109, n o , 124, 191 n.21, 192 n.25 Vremya mera mira, 15, 101, 102, 129 'Vremyshi-kamyshi', 22, 196 n.76 'Vsem', 54-6, 59, 62 'Vsem! Vsem! Vsem!', 25 'Vshi tupo molilisya mne', 46-7 'Ya i Rossiya', 28, 65-6, 220 n.98 'Ya, Khlebnikov, 1885', 43, 46 'Ya vyshel yunoshey odin', 28, 63-5 'Yedinaya kniga', 51-2, 54, 182-3 'Yeshcho raz, yeshcho raz', 59 'Yesli ya obrashchu chelovechestvo v chasy', 158 'Yesir', 34 'Zakalyonnoye serdtse', 72, 106, 193 n.42 'Zaklyatiye smekhom', 1, 7, 33, 70-1, 90, 153, 163, 205 n.8 Zangezi, 19, 28, 29, 41, 45, 50, 61-3, 85, 86, 87, 90, 96, 97, 99, 154, 169-70, 171, 177, 207 n.34, 212 n.73, 223 n.33, n.35 'Zapadnyy drug', 108, 124, 193 n.42 'Zhuravl", 42, 199 n.15 'Zmei poyezda - begstvo', 13, 106 Zverinets, 172, 191 n.19, n 20, 225 n.58, 226 n.9 Index to works by Khlebnikov discussed or noted in the text Titles in English translation 'Gul-mullah's Trumpet', 28, 46, 147-8 'Alferovo', 105 'Artists of the World', 80-3, 85 'A's Unbound', 170, 224 n.37 'Hearts more transparent than a vessel', 171, 177 Battles igi^-igiy: A New Teaching about War, 15, 116-17, 118, 119, 125, 127, 135 'Battlesong', 40, 107, 109, 115, 127 'Bekh', 121-3 'Blue Fetters', 172 'Boards of Fate', 19, 29, 103, 104, 114, 138, 149, 150, 152, 155, 156-7, 160, 174, 177, 179, 180, 182, 183, 188, 196 n.71, 222 n.12, 225 n.63 'Bobeobi', 13, 84-5, 153, 209 n.43 'I and E', 11, 100 'I and Russia', 28, 65-6, 220 n.98 'If I turn mankind into a clock', 158 'I, Khlebnikov, 1885', 43, 46 'Incantation by Laughter', 1, 7, 33, 70-1, 90, 153, 163, 205 n.8 'Indo-Russian Alliance', 40 'In the sea of pestilence!', 142-3 'Iranian Song', 220 n.90 'Isfahan Camel', 25 'I went out a youth alone', 28, 63-5 'Chairman of the Cheka\ 141-2, 143 'Child!', 45 'Children of the Otter', 41, 42, 105, 123-4, 155, 169, 170, 173, 182, 216 n.35,2i9n.75,223n.33 'Cold water stream', 177 Collected Works, 1-2, 3, 20, 27, 164, 170 'Conversation', 135, 217 n.47 'Conversation between Two', 174 'Crane', 42, 199 n 15 Creations: IQ06-1908, 15, 118, 194 n.53, 222 n.21 'Ka',43, 84, 170, 210 n.53 'Ka2', 29, 124, 129, 203 n.53 'Letter as such' (with Kruchonykh), 168 'Let them read on a tombstone ' , 104 'Let us take two words ' , 96 'Liberty for All', 40, 41, 139, 155 'Lice offered up blind prayers to me', 46-7 'Lone Performer', 59-61 'Death in a Lake', 125-6, 129, 216 n.34 'Declaration of Creators', 165 'Madame Lenin', 220 n.89 'Maiden God', 13 'Malusha's Granddaughter', 173 'Marquise Dezes', 'Monument', 13, 115-16, 117, 118 'Freedom comes naked', 138-9 'Funeral', 125, 126-7, I n.32, n.34 Game in Hell (with Kruchonykh), 9, 193 n.39 'Gods', 87, 91 Goodworld, 76, 91, 92, 97, 138, 139, 145-6, 207 n.28, 210-11 n.64, 219 n.75 'Grasshopper', 94, 100, 153 'Night in Galicia', 88, 127 'Night Search', 2, 143, 218 n.66 'Nikolay', 13, 105-6 'No one will deny ' , 175-6 'Not like a Shrovetide devil', 53-4, 57, 202-3 n -4 242 Index 'October on the Neva', 137, 217 n.52 'Oh unit!', 146-7 'Once again, once again', 59 'One could swim ' , 135-6 'On Expanding the Frontiers of Russian Literature', 33, 106, 193 n.42, 198 n.7 'O the racing cloud's Dostoyevskitude!', 92-3, 224 n.51 'Our Foundation', 68, 73, 77, 83, 88, 98, 172, 187 'Poet', 178 'Proclamation of Slav Students', 7, 109, n o , 124, 191 n.21, 192 n.25 'Proclamation of the Chairmen of the Terrestrial Globe', 44-5, 47-8, 137, 174, 200 n.25, 2 n -33 'Proposals', 101, 131 l Ra ' , 94 'Razin', 93 'Razin: Two Trinities', 145, 177 'Rejection', 46, 143, 202 n.34 Roar! Gauntlets: 1908-1914, 15, 124 'Scratch Across the Sky', 94-7, 221 n.103 Selection of Verses: 1907-1914, 15 'Shimmering rain drips from the oars', 144-5, 146 'Single Book', 51-2, 54, 182-3 'Snake Train - Flight', 13, 106 'Song for Me', 112, 145, 172 'Song of the Glooms', 40 'Stone Woman', 143, 177 'Storming of the Universe', 41, 157, 159 'Storm in the Month of Au', 86 'Story of a Mistake', 128, 148 Teacher and Pupil, 8, 32, 73, 74, 78, 109, 148, 172, 174, 179, 180, 198 n.5 'Tempered Heart', 72, 106, 193 n.42 'Temptation of a Sinner', 21-2, 191 n.21 'The Hunter Usa-gali', 13, 105-6 'The Pecheneg Cup', 122-3 The Present Time, 139, 170, 223 n.35 'There was darkness ' , 39-40, 41, 62 243 'There, where lived the waxwings', 21 'The Russians have been stoning me ' , 56-8, 203 n.50 'The Scythian's Skullcap', 30, 182 'The Seven', 105 'Things were too blue', 118-20, 216 n-35 Time a Measure of the World, 15, 101, 102, 129 'Time-reeds', 22, 196 n.76 'To All', 54-6, 59, 62 'To All! To All! To All!', 25 'To Perun', 120-1 Trumpet of the Martians, 12, 113, 202 n.33 'Tverskoy', 124 'Union of Asia', 43, 200 n.19, n.22 Unpublished Works, 2, 167, 189 n.7 'War in a Mousetrap', 41, 42, 46, n o , 134, 136, 137, 144, 170, 224 n.37 'Washerwoman', 31, 37, 139, 170, 223 n-35 'We and Houses', 185, 214 n.12 'Western Friend', 108, 124, 193 n.42 'We want to be familiar with the stars', 106-7 'What are you to do', 220 n.89 'Where, like the hair of a maiden', 131-2 'Where the wolf exclaimed in blood', 130 'Who are the Ugro-Russians?', 108, 193 n.42 'Wind - singing', 136-7, 224 n.36 'Wisdom in a Snare', 86 Word as Such (with Kruchonykh), 11, 12, 25, 83, 167, 171 'Years, people and nations', 188 'Yesir', 34 'Yesterday I uttered ' , 134-5 Zangezi, 19, 28, 29, 41, 45, 50, 61-3, 85, 86, 87, 90, 96, 97, 99, 154, 169-70, 171, 177, 207 n.34, I n-73> 223 n.33, n.35 Zoo, 172, 191 n.19, n.20, 225 n.58, 226 n.9 244 Index General Index Darwin, Charles, 155, 173 Denikin, General, 17 Derzhavin, Gavriil, 226 n.16 determinism, 153-6 Dmitry, Tsarevich, 56, 203 n.49 Dobrynya, 106, 107 Dokhlaya luna, see Croaked Moon Dostoyevsky, 9, 92 Duganov, Rudolf, 27, 197 n.94, n.96, 224 n.51 alphabet, units of the, 73, 76, 78, 79, 82, 83 alphabet of concepts, 76 alphabet of the intellect, 76, 77, 207 n.29 Amenhotep, 43, 84, 210 n.53 anagrams, 93-4, 145, 216 n.34 Andreyev, Leonid, 32, n o , 112 Anfimov, V Ya., 165, 195 n.64 Apollon (Apollo), 6-7, 8, 32, 171, 191 n.20 Archer (Strelets), 15 architecture, 103, 170, 184-6 Artsybashev, M., 32, 33, 112 Aseyev, Nikolay, 16, 156, 162 Asia, 43, 114-15, 140, 199-200 n.19, n22, 213 n.8; pan-Asian dictionary, 101 Atilla, 82, 146-7, 157 Aztecs, 211 n.64 Ego-Futurists, see Futurism Erlich, Victor, 9, 191-2 n.25 Euclid, 43, 80, 206 n.28 Balmont, Konstantin, 89, i n , 205 n.21, 209 n-43 Baran, Henryk, 22, 23, 121, 122, 136-7, 176 Barooshian, Vahan D., 35, 164, 221 n.n Baryutin, N., 219 n.85 Baudelaire, Charles, 85, 209 n.43, 211 n.66 Bebel, F A., 173, 174 Bely, Andrey, 89, 205 n.21, 209 n.43 Bible, the, 180, 181, 225 n.57 Gospels, 182, 183, 225 n.63 bird language, 86-7, 88, 94 Blok, Aleksandr, 3, 15, 89, 194 n.51, 213 n.4 Bogorodsky, Fyodor, 41 Brik, Osip, 16, 53, 164 Bryusov, Valery, 72, 111 Burliuk, David, 7-17passim, 35, 48, i n , 162-3, l66> l67> X72> l9l n2 4> X94 n.53, n-54, 203 n.51, 222 n.21 Burliuk, Nikolay, 8, 15, 162, 163, 194 n.52, 209 n.43, I n I Burliuk, Vladimir, Chetyre ptitsy, see Four Birds Chronicle, 16, 100 coded text, 23-7, 90, 94, 95, 153, 203 n.50, 220 n.90, 225 n.64 consonant, semanticization of, 26-7, 74-82 passim, 94-100 passim, 205-6 n.21, 207 n.29 ( s e e a l s o vowel, semanticization of) consonants, language of, 74 Copernicus, 169 Correggio, Antonio, 92 Croaked Moon, 70 Cubism, 11, 23, 167 Cubo-Futurism, see Futurism Flaubert, Gustave, 175, 176, 183 folklore, 31-3, 89, 109-10, 112, 153, 172, 198 n.3 Four Birds, 15 fragments, see genre Futurism (Russian), 8, 9-13, 14, 15, 25, 35, 38, m-14, 167, 191-2 n.25 (see also Khlebnikov and Futurism) Cubo-Futurism, 9-13 passim, 67, 85 Ego-Futurists, 10 Hylaea, 9-11, 13, 15, 25, i n , 114, 171, 172, 209 n.43 Italian Futurism, 11-12 Genghis Khan, 92, 215 n.27 genre, 27-8, 16&-70, 197 n.94, n.96, 223 n.31, n.32 (see also supertale) fragments, 166-7, 170-1 glossolalia, 90-1 Golden Fleece, see Zolotoye runo Goncharova, Natalya, 10-11 Gorky, Maxim, Gorodetsky, Sergey, 1, 6, 89, 210 n.56 Grigoryev, Viktor, 58, 82, 204 n.5, 206 n.27 Grits, T., 2, 167, 189 n.7 Grunwald, battle of, 106 Gumilyov, Nikolay, Guro, Yelena, 7, Hannibal, 169, 173 Herodotus, 215 n.27 Homer, 117, 217 n.52 Hylaea, see Futurism incantation, 70, 88-93 passim, 159 Indra, 92, 210 n.64 internal declension, 26, 73, 74, 85, 97, 123 244 Index Iran, 18, 28-9, 140, 144, 147-8, 150-1, 204 n.59, 21911.76 Isis, 223 n.34 Isker, 152, 220 n.88 Italian Futurism, see Futurism Ivanov, Vyacheslav, 6, 18, 36, 72, 180, 191 n.19 Ivnyov, Ryurik, 199-200 n.19 Izanagi, 92, 210 n.64 Izanami, 92, 210 n.64 Izvestiya, 218 n.58 Jakobson, Roman, 27, 88, 101, 209 n.52 Japanese literature, 214 n 15 Kaledin, General Aleksey, 98, 99 Kalka (river), battle of the 215 n.27, 221 n.103 Kamensky, Vasily, 7, 8, 14, 17, 19, 35, 49-50, 144, 163, 169, 202 n.33, 203 n.51, 217 n.46 Kant, Immanuel, 174, 176, 183 Kautsky, Karl, 173, 174 Kedrov, Konstantin, 184 Kerensky, Aleksandr, 137-8 Khardzhiev, Nikolay, 2, 32, 48, H I , 124, 137, 161, 167, 189 n.7, 202 n.33 Khlebnikov, Aleksandr Vladimirovich (brother of Velimir), 5,8, 190-1 n.16, 214 n.14 Khlebnikov, Velimir (Viktor Vladimirovich), biography of, 3-20 book, attitude towards, 171-83 comprehensibility of, 20-7 editing of, 2, 15, 161-7 passim, 196 n.76, 202-3 n.48, 203 n.50, 215 n.26, 220 n.89 and Futurism, 7, 9-16, 17, 25, 38, 48-50, 67-8,111-14, 125,135-6,138, 161-8 passim, 185, 192 n.26 late lyrics, discussion of, 52-66 manuscripts, alleged theft, plagiarism of, 19, 53 55-6, 62-3, 163-4, 195-6 n.70 manuscripts, attitude towards, 162-3, 164-8 manuscripts, state of, 161-2 military service, (First World War) 16, 131-3, 138; (Red Army) 18, 139-40 neologistic works, neology, of, 1, 7, 13, 14, 20-1, 31, 67, 70-2, 87-8, 92, 93, 95-7, n o , 193 n.44, 198 n.3, 200 n.21, 211 n.67, 212 n.75 ornithological writings of, 5, 190-1 n.16 pseudonyms of, 48, 202 n.35, 214 n 12 public (crowd), attitude towards, 24-5, 29, 31; (narod) 31-7; (proletariat) 37-9; (reflected in works) 39-47, 52-66 publication, attitude towards, 15, 19, 164-8 245 as publicist (propagandist), 34, 37, no, 139 public performances of, 48-53, 193-4 n -4^ and revolution, (of 1905) 5, 190 n 15; (of 1917) 2, 36-7, 44, 65-6, 137-40, 142 and Symbolism, 6, 36, m-12, 198 n.6 and visual arts, 10-11, 81, 182 and war, 104-5, 109-10, 113, 116, 155, 157-60, 203 n.54, 216 n.39; (RussoJapanese War) 114-21, 127; (First World War) 15-16, 124-37, 138, 152, 215-16 n.29, 216 n.32; (civil war) 17, 46, 98-9, 138, 140-3 western influence, opposition to, 9-10, 11-12, 14-15, 33-6passim, 107-8, 112, 114, 198 n.6 Khlebnikov, Vladimir Alekseyevich (father of Velimir), Khlebnikova, Vera (sister of Velimir), 14, 196 n.72 Kolchak, Admiral Aleksandr, 98, 99 Koran, the, 180-3 passim, 207 n.34, 225 n.57, n.63 Komilov, General Lavr, 98 Kosovo, battle of, 106 Krasnyy voin {Red Serviceman), 17, 139 Kruchonykh, Aleksey, 8-19passim, 25, 34, 67, 72, 83, 84, 90-1, 101, 125, 127, 135, 168, 171, 177, 191 n.24, 193 n.44, 208 n.41, n.42, 209 n.45, 211 n.70, 212 n.75, I n.12, 221-2 n.12, 223 n.26 Krymov, General, 98 Kuchum, 55, 203 n.49, 220 n.88 Kulbin, Nikolay, 7, 14, 15, 16, 132, 133, 194 n.51 Kulikovo, battle of, 64, 106, 213 n.4, 216 n.32 Kuprin, Aleksandr, 32, n o , i n Kuzmin, Mikhail, 6, 15 language of the birds, see bird language language of consonants, see consonants language of the gods, 87-8, 91, 94, 209 n.53, 214 n.15 language of the stars, 76-86 passim, 94-100 passim, 207 n.34, 211 n.72 Larionov, Mikhail, 11 laws of time, 8, 16, 18, 41, 43, 46, 54, 62, 104, 105, 114, 117, 119, 120-1, 123, 127, 148-59 passim, 164, 169, 179, 181, 182, 187-8, 194 n.56, 207 n.34, 212 n.87, 218 n.66 Lay of Igor's Campaign, 104, n o , 213 n.3 Leibniz, 187 Lenin, Vladimir Ilyich, 98, 137, 220 n.89 Lermontov, Mikhail, 100 Leytes, Aleksandr, 51 Livshits, Benedikt, 14, 71, 162, 191 n.24 Lobachevsky, Nikolay, 80, 93, 207 n.28 Lomonosov, Mikhail, 187 246 Index Lonnqvist, Barbara, 23, 24, 25, 119, 123 Lunacharsky, Anatoly, 165 magical language, 25-6, 88-90, 91, 94, 209 n-53 Makovsky, Sergey, 7, 191 n.20 Mallarme Stephane, 85, 206 n.21 Mandelstam, Nadezhda, 14, 50, 186 Mandelstam, Osip, 3, 50, 104, 186, 222 n.21 Mariengof, Anatoly, 18 Marinetti, Filippo Tomaso, 11, 12, 14, 15, 114, 19411.51, n.52, 214 n.13 Markov, Vladimir, 3, 8, 27, 28, 31, 70, 83, 92, 131, 151, 156, 174, 184 Marx, Karl, 155, 173, 181 mathematics, 5, 26, 81, 99, 151, 182 (see also number) Matyushin, Mikhail, 7, 14, 17, 24, 127, 164, 213 n.9, 219 n.77 Mayakovsky, Vladimir, 1, 3, 9-19 passim, 28, 35, 48, 49, 53, 58, 62-3, 124, 138, 161, 162, 168, 178, 186, 191 n.24, 195-6 n.70, 199 n.13, 203 n.51, 211 n.70, 215 n.29, 218 n.58, 226 n.6 Merezhkovsky, Dmitry, 32, n o , i n Miturich, Pyotr, 19, 20, 150, 195 n.70, 196 n.72, 222 n.12, 226 n.5 Mozart, 92, 126, 201 n.30 Mukden, battle of, 150, 152 Murillo, Bartolome, 92 Nekrasov, Nikolay, 31 number, 8, 14, 26, 99-103, 123-4, H , 146, 151, 155, 181, 182, 212 n.87, 213 n.92, 219*1.75 Olesha, Yury, 186 onomatopoeia, 86 Osiris, 170, 223 n.34 palindromes, 93, 94, 145, 147, 211 n.69, n 70 pan-Slavism, 7, 106-10, i n , 112, 114, 124, 127, 140 pan-Slav language, 72-3 Parnis, Aleksandr, 165 Perun, 92, 121, 211 n.64 Petnikov, Grigory, 16, 135, 178, 202 n.33 Petrovsky, Dmitry, 131, 142, 165, 166, 203 n-53 poetic persona (poetic I), 27-9, 39-66 passim, go, 115, 118, 134, 145-8, 175-6, 178, 182 hunter persona, 105-6, 156-7 prophet persona, 28, 29, 125, 129, 135-6, 146-60 passim, 180 (see also prophecy) warrior persona, 60, 104-14 passim, 123, 125, 129, 135-7, 144-8 (Razin), 156-7, 212 n.72 Port Arthur, siege of, 116 Poshchochina obshchestvennomu vkusu, see Slap in the Face of Public Taste Prayerbook of the Three, 196 n 76 primitivism, 10-11 Proletkul't, 18, 38, 144, 195 n.66 Prometheus, 28, 42 proper names, 91-3, 98-9, 106 prophecy, works as, 121, 127-9, 148-53, 158-60, 181, 184-5, 219 n.77, 220 n.89, n.90 Przhevalsky, Nikolay, 106, 213 n.4 Pushkin, Aleksandr, 9, 13, 14, 48, 100, 203 n.49 Pythagoras, 187 Qurrat al-Ain, 151, 219 n.81 Razin, Stepan, 29, 46, 93, 94, 112, 143-7, 157, 169, 207 n.28, 216 n.34, I n -76 Remizov, Aleksey, 15, 32, 89 riddle, 23, 24, 58, 197 n.81, n.82 Rimbaud, Arthur, 85, 209 n.43 Rops, Felicien, 92, 211 n.66 ROSTA, 18, 19, 195 n.66, 199 n.14 Ryurik, 33, 64 Sadok sudey, see Trap for Judges Sakharov, I A., 88, 209 n.52 Sarikara, 43 Scales, see Vesy Scipio, 173 Scriabin, Aleksandr, 102, 212-13 n.88 sculpture, 102-3, 170 self-sufficient word, 9, 67-9, 70, 72, 77, 204 n-5 Severyanin, Igor, 10 Shang Ti, 92, 210 n.64 Shklovsky, Viktor, 4, 16, 90, 187 (A) Slap in the Face of Public Taste (miscellany and manifesto), 9, 10, 13, 67, 84, 115, 191 n.24, 200 n-26 Slavyanin, 13, 34, 124, 193 n.42, 198 n.9 Socrates, 174-5, 179 Sologub, Fyodor, 6, 15, 32, 33, i n , 112 sound-painting (zvukopis'), 11, 13, 45, 84-6, 87, 88, 94 Soyuz molodyozhi, see Union of Youth Spassky, Sergey, 50, 150 Stepanov, Nikolay, 2, 38, 125, 145, 161, 164, 165, 166, 196 n.76, 203 n.48, n.50 Strelets, see Archer Studio of Impressionists, Studiya impressionistov, see Studio of Impressionists supertale (sverkhpovest'), 27, 29, 169-70, 171, 178, 223 n.33, 223 n.35, 225 n.64 (see also genre) Svyatoslav Igorevich, 107, 122-3, 215 n.27 Symbolism, 9, 12-13, 25, 35, 89, 209 n.43 Index synacsthesia, 21, 85, 104, 209 n.43 Tatlin, Vladimir, 16, 163, 185-6, 203 n.53, 226 n.5 Theseus, 28, 60, 203 n.53 The Three, 13, 91 T'ien, 92, 210 n.64 Todorov, Tzvetan, 151, 154, 180 Tolstoy, Alcksey Nikolayevich, 6, 110 Tolstoy, Lev Nikolayevich, Took: the Futurists' Drum, 101, 130-1 transrational language, 1,2, 11, 20, 73, 82-94 passim, 208 n.41, n.42, 209 n.48, n.52, 210 n.53, 212 n.75 Trap for Judges, (I) 7-8, 171; (II) 108, 210 n.56 Trebnik troikh, see Prayerbook of the Three Trenin, V., 161 Troye, see The Three Tsintekuatl, 92, 210-11 n.64 Tsong-Kha-pa, 174-5, *79 Tsushima, battle of, 8, 114-21 passim, 154, 159, 214 n.14 Tynyanov, Yury, 3, 20, 27 Uglich, 55, 56 Union of Youth, 10, 198 n.5 universal language, 73-85 passim, 91, 99, 161, 187, 209 n.45 Unkulunkulu, 92, 211 n.64 Vecher, 7, 109 Vedas, the, 43, 180, 182, 183, 225 n.63 Veresayev, 110 247 Vesna, Vesy, 171 Vladimir Svyatoslavich, 33, 107 Voronikhhi, Andrey, 185 vowel, seinanticization of, 75-6, 82, 85-6 (see also consonant, and internal declension) Voznesensky, Andrey, 189 n.9 Vremennik, see Chronicle Vroon, Ronald, 21, 73, 77, 85, 87, 91, 98, 1^3, 168, 180, 204 n.4, 206 n.27, 212 n-75 Vzyal: baraban futuristov, see Took: the Futurists' Drum Weststeijn, Willem, 13, 20, 29, 67 Wilkins, Bishop John, 187 word, 9, 11, 12, 20-1, 23-4, 29, 35-6, 67-83 passim, 101, 102, 103, 206 n.27 ( s e e a ^ so self-sufficient word) Yakovlev, Boris, 173, 186 Yermak, 55, 107, 152, 203 n.49, 220 n.88 Yesenin, Sergey, 18 Yevtushenko, Yevgeny, 189 n.9 Zabolotsky, Nikolay, 186 Zarathustra, 92, 151 zaum' (zaumnyy yazyk), see transrational language Zelinsky, Kornely, 144 Zheverzheyev, Levky, 162, 163, 221 n.5 Zolotoye runo, 171 ... © Cambridge University Press 1987 First published 1987 British Library cataloguing in publication data Cooke, Raymond Velimir Khlebnikov: a critical study (Cambridge studies in Russian literature) ... ('Vozzvaniye uchashchikhsya slavyan'), an angry outburst of pan-Slavism against the annexation by Austria of Bosnia and Hercegovina.21 At the beginning of 1910, at about the same time as Khlebnikov. .. Nikolay and Vladimir, Yelena Guro and Kamensky There was a deliberately anti-establishment and anti-aesthetic flavour about this publication It was printed on wall-paper and contained a satirical