The Poor Rhymes of Hooligans: The Anarchist Aesthetics of OBERIU and Pussy Riot

Abstract

In August 2012, having been found guilty of “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred,” Nadezhda Tolokonnikova of Pussy Riot delivered a closing statement in which she argued that her group's performances are part of a canon of nonconformism and dissent–from Aristotle, to Jesus, to the Soviet dissidents. But she singled out an obscure early Soviet absurdist, Alexander Vvedensky, whose “poor rhyme” aesthetic she compared at length to the anarchist style of Pussy Riot. Her extended discussion of Vvedensky inspires this paper's analysis. Contrary to recent scholarship that has suggested that the Oberiuty cultivated reactionary politics, I argue that their work should be viewed in the context of anarchism in the arts. Vvedensky's work, and the collaborative performances and texts of his circle, the Oberiuty, differed considerably from the avant‐garde and mainstream artistic conventions of their time because of its anarchist principles. Instead of seeking to communicate artistic mastery, or advocating utopian paradigms and transcendent knowledge, their works sought to suspend the search for absolutes and to cultivate spontaneity. The final portion of this essay contextualizes Tolokonnikova's interpretation and appropriation of Vvedensky in the rediscovery and reception of the Oberiuty by leftist artists, writers, and philosophers.