Velimir Chlebnikov: due brevi prose del periodo tardo

“Ottobre sulla Neva” [“Oktjabr’ na Neve”] e “Nessuno negherà…” [“Nikto ne budet otricat’…”] (1918)

Abstract

Velimir Chlebnikov (1885-1922) is one of the most renowned Russian poets of the Twentieth century. He is generally considered a representative of the futurist avant-garde. In the past decades, critics have paid great attention not only to his role as primus inter pares in the cubo-futurist movement but also, and above all, to his poetic production and his logopoietic theories (such as slovotvorčestvo, korneslovie, zaum’…). Here, we present the first Italian translation of two of Chlebnikov’s short prose works: Oktjabr’ na Neve and Nikto ne budet otricat’…, both composed in 1918. The aim of this contribution is to consider a part of Chlebnikov’s literary corpus to which not enough attention has been paid. Chlebnikov’s prose has never been translated in Italian, with the exception of a few isolated, scattered works. The two translations here are introduced by a note grounded on remarks by Ju. Tynjanov, T. Gric and R. Duganov. We also highlight the formal and stylistic features of Chlebnikov’s prose together with the difficulties encountered in translating it.