American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages

K istorii russkogo avangardaReview by: Anna M. LawtonThe Slavic and East European Journal, Vol. 22, No. 1 (Spring, 1978), pp. 90-92Published by: American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European LanguagesStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/305685 .

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90 Slavic and East European Journal

Another cause for regret is the fact that the compilers, in preparing the brief biographical table, neglected to consult the extracts from Aldanov's correspondence with Ivan Bunin and his wife, assembled by Milica Grin from letters stored in the library at the University of Edinburgh and published in Novyj iurnal in 1965. According to the letters, Aldanov did not leave Berlin for Paris until early 1924, yet the biographical table has him studying at the Ecole des Sciences politiques et 6conomiques in 1923. The letters indicate that he edited the Sunday literary sup- plement of Dni from March 1923 until January 1924, and then again with Xodasevi' from Sep- tember 1925 until January 1928, not just from October through December 1927, as the biographical table indicates.

This bibliography takes Aldanov scholarship a giant step forward, thanks to its thorough cataloguing of extensive materials accessible only in periodicals. The chronological listing of books and pamphlets is followed by a section including Aldanov's prefaces to other books, his contributions to anthologies, and the collection of his short stories. The last and longest part is devoted to stories, articles, essays, and reviews in the periodical press, broken down chronologically by periodical and by genre for a given periodical. This material is cross- referenced with an index of titles, another of proper names, and a third giving an alphabetized list of periodicals and anthologies. Each listing is set up so that it can easily be used in any desired combination with others.

A few minor quibbles are in order. Anyone searching for writing by Aldanov available only in the periodical press will discover, in a dozen or so cases, that titles which look like in- dependent pieces of journalism are simply fragments from works published separately as books. Occasional inconsistencies in cataloguing are puzzling. The index of titles includes not only books, but chapters from nonliterary monographs and essay collections, in the original French or Russian and translations into German and English, but not Polish. Articles published serially in the same periodical are usually separated by numbers, with the exception of the first fifteen biographical essays to appear in Poslednie novosti, all grouped together under the number one. Finally, the fiendishly difficult task of proofreading a bibliography like this has taken its toll, and some typographical errors have slipped through.

It is particularly fitting for a French institute of Slavic studies to compile a bibliography of literary works by a Russian who spent nearly all his productive years as an 6migr6 in France, the country he loved better than any besides his own. Despite its small defects, this is a labor of love with which its subject would surely be pleased.

C. Nicholas Lee, University of Colorado

((K HCTOpIH pyccKoro aBaHrapa)). -IocnecnoBHe POMaH AIKO6COH. Stockholm: Hylaea Prints, 1976. 187 pp., SwKr 165. [Contains articles by Xard'iev, Malevi' and MatjutSin. 45 illustrations. Dist. Almqvist and Wiksell.]

Scholars who have undertaken a study of the Russian avant-garde have usually faced a scarcity of information about its history, and the impossibility of direct acquaintance with numerous literary works and paintings. In the West, Vladimir Markov's extremely valuable scholarship in this area (Russian Futurism: A History [Berkeley: Univ. of California Press, 1968]) sheds much light on a very obscure period of Russian literature. Among the Soviets, Nikolaj Xard'iev has been for years the most productive historian/critic of the avant-garde. His critical insight is always accompanied by accurate information: the notes to his works are treasures for the rigor and wealth of their documentation. Besides, having been personally acquainted with several main avant-garde figures, he often complements his scholarly research with his private collec- tion of original manuscripts and memories of discussions.

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Reviews 91

This book includes Xard'iev's analysis of the relationship between poetry and painting ("Po zija i zivopis'"), Malevic's autobiography ("Detstvo i junost 'Kazimira Malevi'a"), and Matju'in's memoirs of his years among the Cubo-Futurists ("Russkie kubo-futuristy"). In the appendix one finds a rare article by Matju'in ("Opyt xudoinika novoj mery"), and Roman Jakobson's postscript ("Vmesto posleslovija"). Malevic's and Matju'in's texts have been carefully prepared and annotated by Xardiiev, and are preceded by introductions. While "Poezija i zivopis"' will appeal mainly to the specialist, MaleviE's autobiography and Mat- ju'in's memoirs can be appreciated by any sensitive reader.

Xard'iev points out that Malevic's published works are only a minimal part of his substan- tial literary and theoretical production. Especially fruitful in this regard were the years that he spent in Vitebsk (1919-22), where "literary work periodically forced him to interrupt his painting" (99). A complete collection of Malevic's works, according to Xard'iev, would fill "three or four bulky volumes" (99). The brief autobiography included in this book is the result of a series of conversations between author and editor, in the early 1930s. Xard'iev reveals that it was he who suggested that MaleviE write his memoirs about the prerevolutionary artistic avant-garde, and that MaleviE "did not deny that his memoirs might have meaning as a most important primary source" (100). The autobiography, which was never completed, covers the artist's childhood, youth, and first years of apprenticeship in Moscow. Unfortunately, it stops with the year 1905, when the cultural phenomenon of the avant-garde had not yet materialized. The value of the text, therefore, does not lie in its historical account (although Xard'iev's notes and introduction provide valuable information and clarify previous, mystifying statements about Malevic's life and work), but in the insight it gives into Malevic's personality as an artist and as a writer. Jakobson, in the "Postscript" to the book, writes that Malevic's prose is "akin to the painter's canvases in both style and spirit" (189). Both media convey, in fact, the expres- sion of Malevic's profound sense of communion with the world of the Russian peasant, and of his fascination with its primitive art forms. Malevic's development toward a new conception of art, away from realism, has its roots in the lubok as well as in the icons of the medieval masters. As he says: "An acquaintance with icon painting convinced me that the study of anatomy and perspective is not the main thing. . . . I saw that reality or the theme is that which must be recast in the ideal form of an aesthetics which comes from the depths" (123).

Matju'in's memoirs, like Malevic's, were solicited, edited, and annotated by Xard'iev. They differ in focus and in the period covered. The author, in a less poetic and more in- formative language, presents the Russian cultural scene in the most important decade for the avant-garde (1905-15). He remains in the background and focuses on the individuals and associations that played an important role. Among them we find his favorite poets (Krucenyx and Xlebnikov), organizers and supporters of the arts (Kul 'bin and te Burljuks), artistic and literary groups ("Sojuz molode'i" and "Gileja"). A special place, as expected, is occupied by his wife, the poetess Elena Guro.

As the publisher of many Futurist books and almanacs, Matju'in devotes some attention to the publishing ventures of those pioneers years, which resulted in the realization, among others, of Sadok sudej I and II, Troe, and Rykajulbij Parnas. On one occasion the author steps forward, but only to act as the interpreter for the new concept of poetry represented by Krudenyx's zaumn '. He reports an episode in which he gave a rather detailed explanation to stu- dents performing in the opera "Pobeda nad solncem" (for which he wrote the music and Malevi' designed the sets), who could not understand the meaning of what they were supposed to say.

Matju'in's memoirs help to enrich our knowledge of Russian Futurism. As Xard'iev assures us, they are "completely free of factual errors" (133); furthermore, they possess the emotional quality of an eyewitness report, which adds a deeper dimension to the historical ac- count. All in all, however, they do not contain new revelations, and from a strictly factual point of view, they do not go beyond the information provided by Markov.

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92 Slavic and East European Journal

Matju'in's only completed theoretical article is offered in the appendix. "Opyt xudoinika novoj mery" went through several redactions over the years 1920-25, and was read during several public appearances by the author, but it was published only in an Ukrainian transla- tion. Matju'in discusses the connection between modern scientific theories and art forms, both resulting in a new perception of the universe. The "new dimension" for Matjuin is "movement and the object within it" (159).

Xard'iev's essay is by far the most scholarly. Basically, it consists of the first chapter of his well known study of Majakovskij (N. Xardiev, V. Trenin, Pobticeskaja kul 'tura Majakovskogo [M.: Iskusstvo, 1970]), with the addition of the section, "Majakovskij v bor be novatorskix gruppirovok." Meticulously annotated (with 162 notes), it not only establishes factual connec- tions between avant-garde painting and literature, but also pursues the question of their relationship on a deeper level. There are numerous references to the contacts between the Cubo-Futurist poets and the "cubist" painters: Xard'iev reports the battles they fought in com- mon against cultural conservatism, and their artistic collaboration that resulted in numerous Futurist publications. These publications were distinguished by their combination of poetry and painting; the poetic texts were illustrated, and sometimes handwritten, by artists such as Goncarova, Larionov, Maleviw, Rozanova, and others.

All the protagonists of the Russian avant-garde are given a fair amount of attention, ac- cording to their importance, with the possible exception of Majakovskij, who plays the star role (after all, the original book chapter was entitled, "Majakovskij i fivopis "'). The author, however, does not limit his essay to a superficial enumeration of facts. He argues that avant- garde poetry and painting are based on the same principles and describes their structural analogies. In so doing he extends his discussion to include Western European, and especially French, art and literature. Commenting on Majakovskij's poem, "My," Xard'iev writes: "Deconstruction of words into their syllabic units (analogous to the development of spatial ele- ments and their intersection by planes in the cubists' pictures) and the constant repetitions (the device of color repetitions in painting) create totally distinctive effects of shift of the semantic planes" (68).

In this book the high quality of the texts is matched by the fine typographical work. The book includes forty excellent reproductions of paintings, drawings, printed and handwritten pages, and a few photographs of the three authors.

Anna M. Lawton, Purdue University

M. (o6yWHHCKHAi. ((BOCnOMHHaHRHA)). T. I. New York: Put'Zizni, 1976. 408 pp. (paper).

Mstislav ValerianoviE Dobu'inskij (1875-1957) was one of the most prominent members of the group of artists who collaborated on Sergej Djagilev's journal, Mir iskusstva. In addition to his association with the miriskusniki, he was close to many of the Symbolist writers, particularly Sologub and Remizov. (Dobuiinskij often met others, including Blok and Kuzmin, at Vjadeslav Ivanov's "Tower.")

Working in oils, watercolors, and other media, Dobu'inskij was praised for his "intimate" realism which dealt with various aspects of pre-Revolutionary Russian life. He was especially well known for his representations of the traditional way of life in the provinces, in Ki'inev, Odessa, and the Tambov area. A master of set design as well, his work for the Moscow Art Theater's production of Turgenev's A Month in the Country impressed the audience as much as did the actual performance. As an illustrator, he provided an excellent set of drawings of Dostoevskij's "White Nights."

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