Genrikh Sapgir: Klassik avangarda by M. D. Shrayer D. Shrayer-Petrov (review)

Abstract

746 SEER, 83, 4, 2005 attempt to move beyond an assessment of Vampilov's prose as preparatory worksforhis drama,and raisesthe question as to whetherhis proseworkscan ever be entirelyisolated from his playwriting.In addition, Farberincludes an appendix listing the stories in chronological order, a detailed notes section, bibliographyand index, aswell as suggestionsforfurtherreading. Overall, Farber'sstudy serves as an introduction to the prose works of a significant figure in twentieth-century Russian drama, largely neglected in Western scholarship, and for this reason is important. Her argument that Vampilov deserves attention for his prose works, as well as for his drama, is persuasive,but a more extensive and penetratinganalysiswould have helped to reinforce this. That said, the quotations alone should serve to stimulate furtherinterest in Vampilov as a prose writer, and it is to be hoped that this studywillprompt a more detailedconsiderationof hiswork. School ofSlavonic andEastEuropean Studies K. SEALEY RAHMAN University College London Shrayer,M. D. and Shrayer-Petrov,D. Genrikh Sapgir: Kiassik avangarda. Dmitrii Bulanin, St Petersburg,2004. 26I pp. Notes. Bibliography.Appendices Illustrations.Indexes. Priceunknown. GENRIKH SAPGIR (I 928-98) is well known among specialists of Russian contemporary poetry as one of the most exciting innovative poets of tlhe I960S-70S. Only since the I99oS have his writings been available to the generalpublic. His highlywhimsicalpoetry and minimalistfictiondevelop the experiments of the most prominent Russian avant-garde authors, including Velimir Khlebnikov, Vladimir Maiakovskii, Nikolai Zabolotskii, Nikolai Oleinikov and Daniil Kharms. During the late Soviet period Sapgir worked as a children's writer, penning poems and scripts for animated films and various plays for marionette theatres. Although his experimental poetry subverted the socialist realist mould, and was appreciated by only a few intellectualsin Russia and abroad, Sapgir in the I96os-8os published about fortybooks of poetry for children (p. 48). The present studymight be seen as the firstcriticalbiography of Sapgir'slife and work. The authorsare Maksim Shrayer, a specialist on Russian literature and a poet from Boston, and his fatherDavid Shrayer,a close friendof Sapgirof almostthirtyyearsand whose poetry standsclose to the worksof EvgeniiRein andJoseph Brodsky. The book includes a lively description of Sapgir'spersonality and literary activities, occasional analysis of the themes and metrical patterns found in Sapgir'spoetry; a substantialbibliography of Sapgir'sworks and secondary sources; David Shrayer's memoirs about his friendship with Sapgir; and correspondencebetween David Shrayerand Sapgir, accompanied by Shrayer 's explanations and photographs. The book portrays Sapgir as a Jewish Russian poet related to Marc Chagall and well versed in Jewish folk culture and religious practices. Hence the book will be of great interest to students and researchers interested in the origins of Russian postmodernism and Russian undergroundculture, to specialistson RussianJewish tradition,and to generalreaders.It willprovide excellent readingfor all admirersof Russian REVIEWS 747 contemporarypoetry, especially because of the authors' intimate knowledge of Sapgir's life and surroundings.The flow of the narration is such that the chronologically organized material is occasionally interrupted by detailed explanations and lyrical digressions.It also could be used as a solid stepping stone for further investigations into Moscow's underground culture of the I960s-80s because of the first-handaccount of some culturalevents,including unofficialartexhibitionsand poetry readings. The firstpart of the book contains twelve shortchaptersand a Conclusion. The firstchapter, titled 'Rannie gody' (EarlyYears),describesin great detail Sapgir'syouth. It highlights the influence on the aestheticsof Sapgir and his friends of Evgenii Leonidovich Kropivnitskii (I893-I978), a talented postSymbolist poet, artist and composer, whose gatheringsin Liazanovo village gave the name to the whole group of artists and poets advocating hyperrealism and primitivismas their main modes of expression. Maksim Shrayer compares Sapgir's 1995 book Smeiantsy to the experiments of Khlebnikov, Kharms and Lewis Carroll (pp. 52-54) and argues that it parodies famous worksof many Soviet poets, includingthe poems and fablespenned by Sergei Mikhalkov,one of the most establishedSoviet poets. Chapter six is one of the most interestingin the book, offeringsome usefulinsightsinto Sapgir'sartistic worldview relating to Russian Jewish tradition and the Bible. According to Shrayer, Sapgir translated into Russian many writings produced by the RussianJewish authorOvsei Ovseevich Driz (i 908-7 I). Shrayersees Sapgir's Psalms(i 965-66) as a radicalappropriationof the classicalJewish themes and images, and deciphers numerous hidden...