The Unlikely Futurist

Pushkin and the Invention of Originality in Russian Modernism

James Rann

• Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9780299328108
• eBook ISBN: 9780299328139
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Russian History
• Index: Literature

In the early twentieth century, a group of writers banded together in Moscow to create purely original modes of expression. These avant-garde artists, known as the Futurists, distinguished themselves by mastering the art of the scandal and making shocking denunciations of beloved icons. With publications such as "A Slap in the Face of Public Taste," they suggested that Aleksandr Pushkin, the founder of Russian literature, be tossed off the side of their "steamship of modernity."
Through systematic and detailed readings of Futurist texts, James Rann offers the first book-length study of the tensions between the outspoken literary group and the great national poet. He observes how those in the movement engaged with and invented a new Pushkin, who by turns became a founding father to rebel against, a source of inspiration to draw from, a prophet foreseeing the future, and a monument to revive.
Rann's analysis contributes to the understanding of both the Futurists and Pushkin's complex legacy. The Unlikely Futurist will appeal broadly to scholars of Slavic studies, especially those interested in literature and modernism.

Table of contents

• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Note on Conventions
• Introduction
• 1. A Dance to the Music of Time: The Pushkin Myth and Russian Modernism
• 2. A Stowaway on the Steamship of Modernity: Pushkin in the Futurist Manifestos
• 3. Making a Prophet: Pushkin and Khlebnikov
• 4. The Poet, the Statue, and the State: Pushkin and Maiakovskii
• 5. Saving the Sacred Text: Pushkin and Kruchenykh
• Conclusion
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index