Article

Name: “Automatic poems” by Boris Poplavsky: theme and variations

Authors: Gleb M. Mamatov, Elena V. Tyryshkina

Novosibirsk State Technical University, Novosibirsk, Russian Federation; Novosibirsk State Pedagogical University, Novosibirsk, Russian Federation

In the section Study of literature

Abstract:

The paper delves into the concept of music as portrayed in Boris Poplavsky’s “Automatic poems.” It thoroughly analyzes the musical code of the book, which can be seen as a fusion of symbols, mythological poetics, and musical imagery. Additionally, the paper explores how the musical essence of the verses is expressed through the architectural structure of the text. One of the central images in the book is sound, which holds great ontological significance. Within “Automatic poems,” the symbols representing the internal sounds of the persona are consistently associated with water motifs, creating a profound and specific spatial connection. This aquatic and subterranean imagery alludes to the music that resides within the persona’s soul. The book disrupts the Boethian dichotomy, with Musica Mundana overpowering Musica Humana. Furthermore, some verses depict a celestial world devoid of sound, capable of petrifying the entire world, thereby establishing an opposition between the persona, Orpheus, and the outer world, represented by Medusa. The sounds from the lower worlds are fragments of “eclectic” music, intertwined with eschatological ideas. The architectonics of “Automatic poems” resemble the methods used in constructing the genre of theme and variations, where the descending theme introduced in the first verse reappears in various manifestations throughout the series of verses. Overall, the structure of the book adheres to a monothematic principle. “Automatic poems” is an experimental work by Boris Poplavsky that was created using the techniques close to those employed by composers.

Keywords: B. Poplavsky, “Automatic verses”, surrealism, music, monothematic, theme and variations, architectonic

Bibliography:

Brown C. S. The Relations between Music and Literature as Field of Study. Comparative Literature, 1970, no. 2, pp. 98–105.

Etkind E. G. Razgovor o stikhakh [Conversation about verses]. Moscow, Det. lit., 1970, 242 p.

Gerver L. L. Muzyka i muzykal’naya mifologiya v tvorchestve russkikh poetov (pervye desyatiletiya 20 veka) [Music and music mythology in the oeuvre of Russian poets (first decades of 20th centuries)]. Moscow, Indrik, 2001, 248 p.

Ichin C. Il’ya Zdanevich – adresat stikhov B. Poplavskogo [Ilya Zdanevich – addressee of poems by Boris Poplavsky]. In: DADA po-russki [DADA in Russian]. Belgrade, Belgrad Univ. Publ., 2013, pp. 155–170.

Kirvel’ Ch. S. Filosofiya [Philosophy]. Moscow, Vyssh. shk., 2015, 741 p.

Kochetkova O. S. Mif ob Orfee v tvorchestve Borisa Poplavskogo [Orpheus myth in creativity of Boris Poplavsky]. RUDN Journal of Studies in Literature and Journalism. 2010, no. 1, pp. 11–18.

Komparelli R. Lirika B. Yu. Poplavskogo: motivy, syuzhety, obrazy [Lyric by Boris Poplavsky: motives, plots, images]. Cand. philol. sci. diss. Tomsk, 2015, 194 p.

Lapaeva N. B. Boris Poplavskij i syurrealizm: opyt avtomaticheskogo pis’ma [Boris Poplavsky and surrealism: experience of automatic writing]. In: Russkaya literatura: natsional’noe razvitie i regional’nye osobennosti: materialy Vseross. konf. [Russian literature: national development and regional properties. Materials of All-Russ. Conf.]. Ekaterinburg, UrSU, 2004, pp. 284–290.

Livak L. The Poetics of French Surrealism in Boris Poplavskii’s Poetry 1924–1927. The Slavic and East European Journal. 2000, vol. 44, no. 2, pp. 177–194.

Makarova S. A. Muzykal’nost’ liriki kak teoretiko-literaturnaya problema [Musicality of lyric like theoretical and literature problem]. Abstract of Cand. philol. sci. diss. Moscow, 2018, 52 p.

Manskov A. A. Poetika “Muzykal’nykh novell” S. D. Krzhizhanovskogo: intertekstual’nyy aspekt [Poetic of “Music novells” by S. D. Krzhizhanovsky: intertextual aspect]. Abstract of Cand. philol. sci. diss. Barnaul, 2007, 19 p.

Mil’kovich N. S. Tri razgovora o Poplavskom [Three conversations about Poplavsky]. Belgrad, Belgrad Univ. Publ., 2023, 233 p.

Nazyvat’ veshchi svoimi imenami: programmnye vystupleniya masterov zapadnoevropeyskoy literatury 20 veka [To call a spade a spade: program performances of masters of West European literature of 20th century]. Moscow, Progress, 1986, 638 p.

Poplavskiy B. Yu. Sobranie sochineniy v 3 t. [Complete works in 3 vols.]. Moscow, Knizhnitsa. Russkiy put’. Soglasie, 2009, vol. 1, 560 p.

Pradivlyannaya L. N. Smysloobrazuyushchaya funktciya evfonicheskikh elementov v syurrealisticheskoy poezii [Meaning-forming function of euphonic elements in surrealistic poetry]. Scientific works of BSPU. Series: Pedagogics. 2019, no. 18, pp. 102–110.

Rabinovich V. L. Alkhimiya kak fenomen srednevekovoy kul’tury [Alchemy as the phenomenon of medieval culture]. Moscow, Nauka, 1979, 427 p.

Solov’eva E. E. “Muzykal’nyy kod” i “muzykal’nyy ekfrasis” [“Music code” and “music ekphrasis”]. Stephanos. 2016, no. 2, pp. 119–128.

Spasskaya E. L. Semantika i struktura obraza v poeticheskikh tekstakh franczuzskikh syurrealistov [Semantic and structure of image in poetry of French surrealists]. Abstract of Cand. philol. sci. diss. Moscow, 1993, 24 p.

Syrovatko L. V. Russkiy syurrealizm Borisa Poplavskogo [Russian surrealism by Boris Poplavsky]. In: Syrovatko L. V. Kul’turnyy sloy. Gumanitarnye issledovaniya: o stikhakh i stikhotvortsakh [Culture layer. Humanitarian researches: about poems and poets]. Kaliningrad, Izd. NET, 2007, pp. 51–85.

Tokarev D. V. “Gegel’ truden, no luchshe, to est’ blizhe, ne napishesh’”: romany Borisa Poplavskogo kak “gegelevskiy tekst” russkoy literatury [“Hegel is difficult, but you can’t write better, or even closer”: novels by Boris Poplavsky like “Hegel’s” text of Russian literature]. NLO, 2019, no. 156, pp. 41–59.

Tokarev D. V. “Mezhdu Indiey i Gegelem”. Tvorchestvo Borisa Poplavskogo v komparativnoy perspective [“Between India and Hegel”. The oeuvre of Boris Poplavsky in comparative perspective]. Moscow, NLO, 2011, 352 p.

Vasina-Grossman V. A. Muzyka i poeticheskoe slovo: V 2 t. [Music and poetical word: In 2 vols.]. Moscow, Muzyka, 1972, vol. 1, 151 p.

Yampol’skiy M. Podzemnyy patefon (ob odnom motive v poezii Marii Stepanovoy). [Underground gramophone. (About one motif in the poetry of Maria Stepanova)]. New Literary Observer. 2014, no. 6 (130). URL: http://www.intelros.ru/readroom/nlo/130-2014/26191-podzemnyypatefon-ob-odnom-motive-v-poezii-marii-stepanovoy.html (ac-cessed 10.01.2024).