Eloquent Silence: Akhmatova, Mandel’shtam, Early Cinema, and Modernism

Abstract

Given the conservative nature of the Acmeism movement, which placed emphasis on ‘high’ cultural production, it might be expected that a mechanical medium such as cinema would engender a hostile reaction. Through readings of selected early lyrics it is demonstrated that, despite a measure of suspicion towards cinema as a manifestation of mass culture, both Mandel’shtam and Akhmatova engaged creatively with film from the outset. Readings of later poems which invoke popular mass icon Charlie Chaplin show that ‘low’ and ‘high’ culture are now drawn into much closer proximity. Overall, the lyrics discussed serve to illuminate some of the complexities and tensions inherent to the interaction between modernist literature and the cinema, as well as providing examples of their convergence.