Authorial Punctuation Signs as the Markers of the Meaning. On the Example of Mayakovsky’s 150 000 000
The first anonymous edition of Vladimir Mayakovsky’s poem 150,000,000 (1921) is distinguished by its “non-classical” punctuation. In the context of the futuristic aesthetics, it becomes a manifesto of the new revolutionary art. The article examines Mayakovsky’s punctuation as a problem of the author...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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A.M. Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences
2020-06-01
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| Series: | Studia Litterarum |
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| Online Access: | http://studlit.ru/images/2020-5-2/Kupchenko.pdf |
| Summary: | The first anonymous edition of Vladimir Mayakovsky’s poem 150,000,000 (1921) is distinguished by its “non-classical” punctuation. In the context of the futuristic aesthetics, it becomes a manifesto of the new revolutionary art. The article examines Mayakovsky’s punctuation as a problem of the author’s idiostyle focusing on his use of authorial punctuation marks. Such marks in the first edition of the poem are: zero sign at the end of the line, combination of the period / zero sign and the capital letter at the beginning of the line, question marks and dashes at the end of the line, at the end of the term and at the end of the stanza simultaneously, a combination of the dash and the period, dashes, and exclamation points in the mentioned order. A comparison with a ladder-designed manuscript (1924) allows me to clarify the meaning of the zero signs intentionally used by the author and to trace the change in the poet’s mindset as the meaning of the poem becomes less futuristic and more epic. Thus, in the last lifetime edition of the poem (1929), there are no authorial marks. Their absence signals the shift of the poem’s style from avant-garde to epic. The poetic persona is no longer an impudent and rude guy “pointing with a finger at the sky” but the omnipresent and unplaceable author of the epic poem. Studying the semantics of the authorial punctuation and its role allows us to trace the evolution of the text and its author as well as distinguish between the editions of the same text. |
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| ISSN: | 2500-4247 2541-8564 |