Politics of Modernism. Nikolay Punin and Alexander Blok Cover Image

Политика модернизма. Николай Пунин и Александр Блок
Politics of Modernism. Nikolay Punin and Alexander Blok

Author(s): Anatoliy Vladimirovich Rykov
Subject(s): Visual Arts, Nationalism Studies, Sociology of Art
Published by: Издательство Исторического факультета СПбГУ
Keywords: nationalism; Modernism; politics; Alexander Blok; avant-garde; Nikolay Punin;

Summary/Abstract: The paper concerns the issues of nationalistic discourse in the theory and practice of the Russian avant-garde. Special attention is paid to the comparison between Evgeny Poletayev’s and Nilolay Punin’s «Against Civilization» (1918) and Alexander Blok’s «The Collapse of Humanism» (1919). The author examines the influence of the German «conservative revolution» on the Utopian thought and Modernist theory in Russia. Militaristic metaphors of the Modernist texts are considered in the context of vitalistic thought and «life philosophy». General theoretical issue – the role of Symbolism in the emergence of avant-garde paradigm – is investigated on the material of Nikolay Punin’s formalism. Punin’s theory of Russian avant-garde is a unique example of convergence of formalist discourse and the most virulent proto-fascist ideologies. Construction of the new Modernist identities under the old national/ethnic/civilizational labels in this context is following the negative logic of Modern art and of the most radical trends of Romantic Anti-Capitalism.

  • Issue Year: 2016
  • Issue No: 25
  • Page Range: 177-184
  • Page Count: 8
  • Language: Russian