THE FUNCTION OF A LETTER IN ILYA ZDANEVICH’S DRAMA LIDANTIU FARAM

Abstract

The article explores the role of letters in the zaum text LidantYu Faram by Ilya Zdanevich. The meaning and significance of zaum text requires special methods of interpretation. The text of this Avant-Garde author is based on visual experiments, which follow the practices of the Futurists and the visual design of street signs and advertisements of the early 20th century. The way letters are written in the drama plays an important role in creating the image and atmosphere of the work, emphasizing its meaning and emotional color. The suggestive impact of the zaum text on the reader is achieved through the special design of words and letter formations used by the author. The zaum language of the drama consists of elementswords, typed according to the specially developed rules. For these formations, we introduce the concept of ‘typoem’ - a word enriched with font play. In such a word, the letters are typed in fonts that differ in width and height, as well as in style (thin, italic, bold, wide, narrow). Zdanevich creates occasional rules for the relationship between uppercase and lowercase letters. The typography of the drama breaks the integrity of the text, making it difficult for the reader-spectator to perceive the work, and requiring active participation from the reader. Certain letters of the Russian alphabet are not used by the author throughout the work, but additional symbols are invented, which form the visual composition of the text. A careful study of the text allows us to conclude that the drama is a lipogram. The visual appearance of the author’s text becomes one of the ways to make the zaum text look conventional. In the drama, the graphic peculiarity of the text is complemented by important markers: decorative symbolism, letters from other languages (Latin, Greek), nontrivial arrangement of text units on the page - diagonal, in a column, etc. The font in the work serves a characterological function. The use of different font sets affects the perception of the meaning of the artistic work and creates the impression that it also forms the meaning of the text.