Egofuturism is a trend in Russian literature that formed at the beginning of the 20th century, in the 1910s. It developed within the framework of futurism. In addition to common futuristic features, it was distinguished by the use of foreign and new words, the cultivation of refined sensations, and ostentatious selfishness.
Birth of the current
Egofuturism is a literary trend that has developed around its most famous representative, Igor Severyanin. In 1909, he appeared several followers among St. Petersburg poets. Two years later, they founded a circle called "Ego".
After that, the Northerner himself published the brochure Prologue (Egofuturism), which he sent to all newspapers. In it, he tried to formulate that this is self-futurism.
The literary movement quickly became fashionable and successful. Representatives of ego-futurism of that time were Georgy Ivanov, Konstantin Olympov, Stefan Petrov, Pavel Shirokov, Pavel Kokorin, Ivan Lukash.
Having founded society, they began to tell that self-futurism is a new direction in modern literature, which should be fundamentally different from everything that was before. For this, manifestos and leaflets were published. Moreover, the principles of the new literary direction are formulated in esoteric and abstract expressions.
Interestingly, at the same time, the forerunners of ego-futurism call the poets of the "old school". For example, Father Olympus Konstantin Fofanov and Mirra Lokhvitskaya.
The ego-futurists call their own works not poems, but poetry.
The development of self-futurism
The very first creative association quickly disintegrates. At the end of 1912, the Northerner separated, having begun to gain rapid popularity, first among the Symbolists, and then among the general public.
After this, the propaganda of this literary movement is undertaken by Ivan Ignatiev. At that time he was only 20 years old. He founded the "Intuitive Association", begins to write poems and reviews, even the theory of egofuturism. With futurism, this literary movement is strongly connected, as it pursues the same principles of the avant-garde. The versification of poets of both directions is more interested in form than content.
Petersburg herald
In 1912, the first futuristic publishing house appeared. It begins to publish books of Ignatieff himself, as well as Vasilisk Gnedov, Rurik Ivnev, Vadim Shershenevich. The ego-futurists are actively published in the newspapers Nizhegorodets and Dachnitsa.
In the first years of its existence, ego-futurism and cubofuturism are contrasted in terms of stylistic and regional characteristics. This is a kind of confrontation between Moscow and St. Petersburg. Representatives of cubo-futurism in poetry were David Burliuk, Olga Rozanova.
In 1914, the first joint performance of ego-futurists in the Crimea with the Bytlans, as the cubo-futurists were also called, takes place. The northerner has been collaborating with them for some time, releasing The First Journal of Russian Futurists, but then completely moving away.
The Petersburg Herald Publishing House closes in 1914 when Ignatiev commits suicide. He cuts his throat the day after the wedding. The reasons for this act are still unknown.
Since then, the books of ego-futurists have predominantly been published in The Enchanted Wanderer and The Mezzanine of Poetry.
Swiftness and short duration
It is with these two definitions that ego-futurism can be characterized. It was an uneven and very short phenomenon in Russian literature. The attention of critics and the public was riveted on the Northerner, who kept himself aloof from the rest.
Most representatives of this movement quickly outlived their style, looking for themselves in other genres. For example, many in the 1920s went into imagism, which was actually prepared by self-futurists.
In the 1920s, Petrograd literary groups tried to support the traditions of this trend: The Ring of Poets named after K. M. Fofanov and The Abbey of Gaers. But they did not succeed. The Ring of Poets was completely closed in 1922 by order of the Cheka.
Many self-futurists remaining in Russia were repressed. Such a fate awaited Konstantin Olimpov, Vasilisk Gnedov, Grail Arelsky.
The brightest representative
The name of Igor Severyanin has been strongly associated with ego-futurism for a long time. The real name of this poet is Lotarev. He was born in St. Petersburg in 1887.
According to him, he received his education in a real school in Cherepovets, having graduated from four classes. In 1904 he left for the city of Dalniy in the territory of modern China, lived in Port Arthur. He returned to Petersburg shortly before the Russo-Japanese War.
At the same time, he began to publish regularly. The poet himself proposed combining his first eight brochures into the World War cycle. Since 1907, begins to sign his books with a pseudonym. Moreover, in the author’s version, he looked like "Igor-Northerner." It was an act of initiation, therefore a kind of mythologeme and amulet.
Thundering Cup
It is from the publication of the brochure "Prologue of ego-futurism" that it is customary to count down the existence of a new literary trend. At the same time, he did not stay with his supporters and followers for long. Separated from them, saying that he had completed his task.
In 1913, the famous Severyanin's collection of ego-futurism was published entitled “The Boiling Cup”. In the same year, he twice performed with Vladimir Mayakovsky, and in 1914 went on tour in the south of the country.
King of poets
It was during one of the performances with Mayakovsky that the Northerner received the title of King of Poets. Witnesses claim that the ceremony itself was accompanied by a humorous crowning with a wreath and mantle, but the poet himself took this with complete seriousness.
The performance took place in the hall of the Polytechnic Museum in 1918. Eyewitnesses recall that the elections were accompanied by passionate screams and disputes, and during the break there was almost a fight between supporters of Mayakovsky and Severyanin.
The northerner was recognized as king, ahead of Mayakovsky by only 30-40 votes. On the neck of the winner was laid myrtle wreath, rented from the nearest funeral home. The wreath hung down to the knees, but the Northerner continued to read poetry already at the rank of king of poets. They also wanted to crown Mayakovsky as vice-king, but he refused to put on a wreath, jumped on the table and read the third part of the poem “Cloud in Pants”.
Life in exile
Soon after, the Northerner left, being in forced emigration. He leaves for Estonia with his common-law wife. Since 1919, begins to perform with concerts. In total, during his life in this country, several dozen of his performances took place, the last in 1940 on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of his creative activity.
In 1921, he parted with his common-law spouse Volyanskaya for the sake of a wedding with Felissa Kruut. At the same time, the poet completely abandons ego-futurism in favor of simple and realistic poetry. In exile, he publishes many collections of poems in which he feels his nostalgia for his homeland, they are completely different from everything he wrote in Russia.
In addition, he became the first major translator of Estonian poetry into Russian. He toured Europe a lot, having visited Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Finland, Lithuania and Latvia. In 1931, his two performances took place in Paris.
The poet spent the winter of 1940-1941 in Paide in central Estonia. He was constantly sick. When the war began, he wanted to evacuate to the rear, but could not do this for health reasons. In October 41, he died of a heart attack at the age of 54.