Impromptu in the Work of V. Mayakovsky as an Act of Life-creation and a Manifestation of a Playful Life Strategy

Abstract

The author of the article examines impromptu in the works of V. Mayakovsky as a genre associated with the concept of life-creation and the element of game. Impromptu is located at the intersection of the spheres of literary life and professional literature. This feature allows the genre to be the poet’s creative laboratory, in which the writer tests indistinctive themes, implements a different stylistic intonation compared to the main body of his work, and thus can choose a different author’s strategy. When Mayakovsky uses the mask of a gallant gentleman in love notes to T. Yakovleva and L. Brik, he relies on the lyrics of A.S. Pushkin. The image of the poet in Mayakovsky’s improvisations turns out to be close to the image of the romantic poet-improviser. The article contains a detailed analyzis of impromptu chronotope (on the material of albums of K. Chukovsky, S. Prokofiev, notes to E. Savinich, E. Khin, B. Malkin, A. Litovsky, N. Efron, inscriptions on books etc.). The game function of impromptu manifests itself as a competition, implemented directly through participation in poetic tournaments of rhymes (presented by collections “The Tournament of Poets” by A. Kruchenykh), or indirectly through witty answers in disputes (which is shown by the analysis of the memoirs of A. Lunacharsky), the creation of card proverbs, alterations of poems by classics and contemporaries (A. Pushkin, A. Tolstoy, A. Blok, S. Kirsanov, V. Inber). Impromptu also penetrates the main body of Mayakovsky’s work (poems, screenplays, plays), thus influencing professional literature.

Keywords

• v. mayakovsky
• impromptu
• game
• playful strategy
• “how to make poetry
• ” literary life
• album
• love note