Studi Slavistici XXIII (2026) 1
Articoli

“Razum v večnoj pogone”. Notes on the Experimentalism of Viktor Mamčenko in Tjažëlye pticy

PDF (Italian)
  • Sara Gargano
Sara Gargano
Roma Tre University
Bio
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36253/Studi_Slavis-17805

Published 2026-07-02

Keywords

  • Viktor Mamčenko,
  • Russian Poetry,
  • Exile,
  • Symbolism,
  • Futurism

Copyright (c) 2026 Sara Gargano

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Abstract

An exponent of the young émigré generation settled in Paris in the interwar period, Viktor Mamčenko (1901-1982) stands out for his original lyrical voice. Taking into account key aspects of the author’s biography, the article examines his first publication, Tjažëlye pticy (1936), with particular focus on the influences exerted on his pre-Second World War poetry by Russian Symbolism and Russian Futurism. The analysis aims to emphasise the stylistic and thematic peculiarities of his formative literary production, shedding light on the nuanced artistic scene of the nezamečennoe pokolenie and laying the groundwork for an understanding of his evolution as an exiled writer. The paper also provides an overview of Viktor Mamčenko’s contemporary critics’ responses to his first collection of poems, offering insight into the reception of his creative experimentalism.

PDF (Italian)

References

  1. Adamovič 2018: G.V. Adamovič, “Poslednie novosti” 1936-1940, sost. O.A. Korostelëv, Sankt-Peterburg 2018.
  2. Belyj 1922: A. Belyj, Posle razluki, Berlin 1922.
  3. Bem 1936: A.L. Bem, O bessmyslice v poėzii (Viktor Mamčenko, Tjažëlye pticy. Pariž, izd. Ob’’edinenie poėtov i pisatelej, 1936), “Meč”, 25-27 dekabrja 1936, 52, <https://www.mochola.org/russiaabroad/bem/bem51_mamchenko.htm> (ultimo accesso: 02.03.26).
  4. Berberova 1972: N.N. Berberova, Kursiv moj, Mjunchen 1972.
  5. Blok 1997: A.A. Blok, Polnoe sobranie sočinenij i pisem v dvadcati tomach, II. Stichotvorenija (1904-1908), otv. red. A.V. Lavrov, Z.G. Minc, Moskva 1997.
  6. Bonola, Calusio 2005: A. Bonola, M. Calusio (a cura di), Dopo la Russia (in Francia), Milano 2005.
  7. Calusio 2009: M. Calusio, Il paradiso degli amici. Per un’analisi della poetica di Boris Poplavskij, Milano 2009.
  8. Caratozzolo 2006: M. Caratozzolo, La Russia allo specchio. Cultura, società e politica dell’emigrazione russa a Parigi negli anni Trenta, Torino 2006.
  9. Ciepiela 2004: C. Ciepiela, The Women of Russian Montparnasse (Paris 1920-1940), in: J.M. Gheith, A.M. Barker (eds.), A History of Women’s Writing in Russia, Cambridge 2004, pp. 117-133.
  10. Gippius 1936: Z. Gippius, Mamčenko V.A. Tjažëlye pticy: Stichi. Pariž: Ob’’edinenie poėtov i pisatelej, 1936; Savnikov L.B. Avanpost: Stichi. Pariž: B. i., 1936 [recensione], “Sovremennye zapiski”, 11 ijulja 1936, 61, pp. 466-468.
  11. Gippius 1999: Z. Gippius, Dnevniki, ii, red. A.N. Nikoljukin, Moskva 1999.
  12. Gorboff 1995: M. Gorboff, La Russie fantôme. L’émigration russe de 1920 à 1950, Genève 1995.
  13. Gousseff 2008: C. Gousseff, L’exil russe – La fabrique du réfugié apatride, Paris 2008.
  14. Greve 2004: C. Greve, Writing as an “Imagetext” in the Poetic Universe of Velimir Chlebnikov, “Russian Literature”, lv, 2004, 1-3, pp. 127-168, doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0304-3479(04)00009-2.
  15. Grigor’ev 1986: V. Grigor’ev, Slovotvorčestvo i smežnye problemy jazyka poėta, Moskva 1986.
  16. Imposti 1981: G. Imposti, Poetica e teoria della lingua in Velimir Chlebnikov: samovitoe slovo e zaum’, “Studi italiani di linguistica teorica ed applicata”, x, 1981, pp. 105-140.
  17. Imposti 1991: G. Imposti, “Zangezi”. La lingua degli dei. Fonosimbolismo e “zaum’”, in: L. Magarotto, M. Marzaduri, D. Rizzi (red.), Zaumnyj futurizm i dadaizm v russkoj kul’ture, Bern 1991, pp. 103-115.
  18. Ivanov et al. 2000: V.V. Ivanov, Z.S. Papernyj, A.E. Parnis (sost.), Mir Velimira Chlebnikova: Stat’i. Issledovanija (1911-1998), Moskva 2000.
  19. Janovskij 1993: V. Janovskij, Polja Elisejskie, Sankt-Peterburg 1993.
  20. Kaspė 2005: I. Kaspė, Iskusstvo otsutstvovat’. Nezamečennoe pokolenie russkoj literatury, Moskva 2005.
  21. Knorring 1939: I. Knorring, Okna na sever, Pariž 1939.
  22. Knorring 1949: I. Knorring, Posle vsego. Tret’ja kniga stichov (posmertnaja), sost. N. Knorring, Pariž 1949.
  23. Korostelëv 2003: O.A. Korostelëv, “My i oni” v mirovozrenii “Parižskoj noty” (Georgij Adamovič o Evrope i Rossii), in: C. Solivetti, T. Civjan (a cura di), L’Europa nello specchio della prima emigrazione russa (1918-1940) / Evropa v zerkale russkoj ėmigracii (pervaja volna, 1918-1940), “Europa Orientalis”, xxii, 2003, 2, pp. 171-184.
  24. Korostelëv 2011: O.A. Korostelëv,“Parižskaja nota” russkogo Monparnasa, ouvr. coll. Modèle de Gouvernement, ens lsh, Lyon, mis en ligne le 15 juillet 2011, <http://institut-est-ouest.ens-lyon.fr/spip.php?article302> (ultimo accesso: 02.03.26).
  25. Korostelëv 2013: O.A. Korostelëv, Ot Adamoviča do Cvetaevoj. Literatura, kritika, pečat’ russkogo zarubež’ja, Sankt-Peterburg 2013.
  26. Livak 2003: L. Livak, How It Was Done in Paris: Russian Émigré Literature and French Modernism, Madison 2003.
  27. Majakovskij 1955: V. Majakovskij, Polnoe sobranie sočinenij v tridcati tomach, i. 1912-1917, red. V.A. Katanjan, Moskva 1955.
  28. Mamčenko 1936: V. Mamčenko, Tjažёlye pticy, Pariž 1936.
  29. Mamčenko 1946: V. Mamčenko, Zvezdy v adu, Pariž 1946.
  30. Mamčenko 1949: V. Mamčenko, V potoke sveta, Pariž 1949.
  31. Mamčenko 1951: V. Mamčenko, Zemlja i lira, Pariž 1951.
  32. Mamčenko 1957: V. Mamčenko, Pevčij čas, Pariž 1957.
  33. Mamčenko 1964: V. Mamčenko, Vospitanie serdca, Pariž 1964.
  34. Mamčenko 1970: V. Mamčenko, Son v cholodnom dome, Pariž 1970.
  35. Mamčenko 1983: V. Mamčenko, Dviženie ljubvi, in: Z. Gippius, D. Merežkovskij (red.), Literaturnyj smotr: svobodnyj sbornik, Holyoke 1983, pp. 16-22.
  36. Menegaldo 1998: H. Menegaldo, Les russes à Paris. 1919-1939, Paris 1998.
  37. Menegaldo 2000: H. Menegaldo, La jeune génération des avant-gardistes russes à Paris (1921-1930), “Slavica occitania”, x, 2000, pp. 249-260, doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.3406/slaoc.2000.1962.
  38. Močul’skij 1936: K.V. Močul’skij, Viktor Mamčenko “Tjažёlye pticy” Pariž 1936. Izd. Ob’’edinenija Poėtov i Pisatelej [recensione], in: Krug. Al’manach, i, Berlin 1936, pp. 179-180.
  39. Nosov 2022: N.N. Nosov, Kategorija sovesti v tvorčestve V.A. Mamčenko (po zarubežnym publikacijam), “Observatorija kul’tury”, xix, 2022, 6, pp. 634-646, doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.25281/2072-3156-2022-19-6-634-646.
  40. Ocup 1950: N.A. Ocup, V potoke sveta [recensione], “Novosel’e: literaturno-chudožestvennyj žurnal”, 1950, 42-44, pp. 222-223.
  41. Pomerancev 1986: K. Pomerancev, Skvoz’ smert’. Vospominanija, London 1986.
  42. Poplavskij 1931: B. Poplavskij, Flagi, Pariž 1931.
  43. Smith 1978: G.S. Smith, The Versification of Russian Emigré Poetry, 1920-1940, “Slavonic and East European Review”, lvi, 1978, 1, pp. 32-46.
  44. Sofiev 2013: Ju. Sofiev, Sinij dym, sost. N. Černova, Almaty 2013.
  45. Solivetti 1986: C. Solivetti, L’utopia linguistica di Velimir Chlebnikov, in: G. Saccaro del Buffa, A.O. Lewis (a cura di), Utopie per gli anni Ottanta. Studi interdisciplinari sui temi, la storia, i progetti, Roma 1986, pp. 51-70.
  46. Struve 1996: G. Struve, Russkaja literatura v izgnanii. Opyt istoričeskogo obzora zarubežnoj literatury, Pariž-Moskva 1996.
  47. Terapiano 1986: Ju. Terapiano, Literaturnaja žizn’ russkogo Pariža za polveka – ėsse, vospominanija, stat’i (1924-1974), sost. R. Gerra, A. Glezer, Pariž-N’ju-Jork 1986.
  48. Tomaševskij 1923: B. Tomaševskij, Russkoe stichosloženie, Peterburg [sic] 1923.
  49. Varšavskij 2010: V. Varšavskij, Nezamečennoe pokolenie, red. O.A. Korostelëv, T.G. Varšavskaja, M.A. Vasil’eva, Moskva 2010.
  50. Vasil’eva 2007: M. Vasil’eva, K probleme “nezamečennogo pokolenija” vo francuzskoj literature, in: O.B. Vasilevskaja, M.A. Vasil’eva (otv. red.), Russkie pisateli v Pariže. Vzgljad na francuzskuju literaturu 1920-1940. Meždunarodnaja naučnaja konferencija, Ženeva, 8-10 dekabrja 2005 g., Moskva 2007, pp. 43-62.
  51. Vroon 1983: R. Vroon, Velimir Xlebnikov’s Shorter Poems: A Key to the Coinages, Ann Arbor 1983.