BETWEEN GODS AND SELF AS GOD: THE SHIFTING BORDERS OF KHLEBNIKOV'S THEATRICAL WORLD

Khlebnikov's dramaturgical texts - little-known, little-studied, and even less staged - are in a variety of genres and forms (poetry, prose, or a mix of both), and have a variety of themes and settings. They are united by Khlebnikov's sustained interest in theatricality: the theatricalization of gestures, of one's life and everyday behaviour, a sort of self-theatre. An overall interpretative key may be offered by the two meanings of 'vision': spectacle - Khlebnikov's creation of vivid, expressive scenes to impress the eyes; and perception - Khlebnikov's expression of his science of the universe. The article explores the composition, purpose, and functions of the predominantly supernatural characters, particularly the semi-parodic role of deus ex machina. The general term theatre of the impossible (Grigor'ev) covers both the especial difficulty of staging Khlebnikov's works, and their extreme density of semantic and visual hues. This idiosyncratic substitute for the superficially mimicked genre of tragedy ultimately resolves in collapse, implosion of the whole textual structure, when self-oriented and self-sufficient verbal layers collide.(c) 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Automated summary

This article introduces Khlebnikov's dramaturgical texts, which are little-known, little-studied, and even less staged. It explores Khlebnikov's sustained interest in theatricality and the composition and function of the supernatural characters in his works.