Vladimir Mayakovsky’s “About This” and the poetry of “Interlude”. Part One: “In this theme, both personal and petty...”

This article is the first in a series dedicated to poetics, literary sources and early reception of Vladimir Mayakovsky’s longer poem “About This” (1923). It is focused on literary analysis of the poem undertaken by the philologists of the OPOIAZ circle, primarily, Yury Tynianov and Roman Jakobson, and, later, Viktor Shklovsky and Kirill Taranovsky. The authors discuss the significance of the critical study of “About This” in Tynianov’s article “Interlude” (1924), and its direct connection with the critic’s historical and literary studies at the time. Further, the authors demonstrate the correlation of key themes of love and byt as they were perceived by the first generation of Mayakovsky’s readers. The theme of love is passionately conveyed by the poet, and it clearly overpowers his ruminations about everyday existence. The authors establish relations of “About This” with Mayakovsky’s early lyrical pieces. In their discussion they rely upon rare printed sources and unpublished archival materials.