The concepts "Time" and "Acceleration" as constants of a utopian type of consciousness in Velimir Khlebnikov’s supersaga Zangezi

Abstract

The authors examine the concepts “Acceleration” and “Time” in the context of other constants of the utopian type of consciousness based on the material of the works Zangezi (1922), the poem Boards of Destiny (1922), as well as other poetic, dramatic works, treatises and articles by Velimir Khlebnikov (1885–1922), a futurist poet, a consistent “budetlyanin”, a unique, not fully understood and underestimated utopian thinker. The line-by-line analysis of metaphors and intertextual connections of Zangezi allows the authors to show Khlebnikov’s innovation in solving the main issue of utopia – achieving happiness and likening a person to God. According to the authors of this article, the poet’s innovation consists in a special interpretation of the analyzed concepts that fit into the general conceptual framework of utopia and that are objectified by techniques familiar to the utopian thought of the late 19th and early 20th centuries and developed in the context of the futuristic ideas of their time. The artistic integrity of Zangezi is achieved by the widest hypertext that Khlebnikov provides by using the literary method “zaum”. Meanings, ideas, symbols, images from the seemingly disordered text transform into a harmonious embodiment of the main idea of conquering time. Zaum is a code for hypertext, a symbolic canvas Khlebnikov draws through the cultural contexts of different eras and peoples. Zaum is needed to read the new utopian idea that previous generations uncovered to the prophetic poet – “shaman”. The cultural code Khlebnikov deciphered and presented in his final supersaga Zangezi does not “throw off the ship of modernity” the achievements of other cultures and generations, but unites them, forming a new universal timeless continuum, where time (past, present, future) remain, but the transience of life is not essential since a person can “walk” in time. He controls it completely and he has the ability to go to the past or the future, connect with the following or previous generations. Khlebnikov offers his own solution to the problem of the “siege of time, words and multiplicities”, his own breakthrough into the Future, more precisely, into all times – into a timeless continuum.