Author-coined terminology in Russian verse theory: the formalist legacy

Abstract

Any system of terminology serves as a map of the field within which it is employed. The history of terminology, as an integral component of intellectual history, offers valuable in­sights for methodological reflection. It often prompts a reevaluation of specific issues by re­turning to their origins and rekindling potential implications and developments that were set aside in the course of the subsequent evolution of the discipline. This paper focuses on several terms that emerged during the formative decades of Russian verse theory (1910s and 1920s). These include: ritmicheskii kursiv [rhythmic italics], a term coined by Mikhail Shtokmar, which became common after the works of Kiril Taranovsky and Mikhail Gasparov; slo­vorazdel [word boundary], a term coined by Osip Brik, which has lost its association with Formalist terminology in modern-day use; and, eventually, dol’nik [strict accentual verse], one of the most debated concepts in Russian verse studies (the difference between this concept and the related but defunct concept of pauznik [pause-based verse] is also discussed). The concluding section of the article is devoted to the history of the overarching term for verse studies, stikhovedenie (a calque of the German Verslehre). The study of versification ter­minology allows us to more effectively develop modern verse theory, which dates back in many respects to the polemics between the Russian Formalists and the Symbolists.

Keywords

• poetry
• russian formalism
• verse studies
• terminology