S4E2 - Mayakovsky (pt. 2/3)

Episode Notes

S4E2: Mayakovsky (pt. 2/3): The Shitposts


Alexander Billet joins us to discuss the Soviet
Futurist-Communist poet Vladimir Mayakovsky (1893 Baghdati – 1930
Moscow). We consider a couple of his pre-revolutionary futurist
poems, and some of his key works from the revolutionary period of
February 1917 to February 1923. Anna and Rachel talk shit on his
love life and puzzle over his imagery. Frank makes some bad jokes
and talks about photos you can see if you follow on Insta and
Twitter. We barely scratch the surface of Pro Eto (“About That”
AKA “About This” AKA “That’s What” AKA “It”), a dizzying montage
of personal and political impressions. The final episode will
continue with this, several longer poems of the revolutionary
era, and a few remaining Communist faves.


This episode focuses on: GREAT BIG HELL OF A CITY / LISTEN! /
ORDER No. 1 TO THE ARMY OF ARTS / ORDER No. 2 TO THE ARMY OF ARTS
/ PRO ETO “ABOUT THAT" (alternate English titles in paragraph
above)


For more on ProletCult and Alexander Bogdanov, see: Guerrilla
History, “Art and the Working Class w/Taylor Genovese,” 20 Jan.
2022.
https://guerrillahistory.libsyn.com/art-and-the-working-class-w-taylor-genovese


For more on the Russian Revolutions of 1917, see: Duncan, Mike.
Revolutions, Season 10.


The Pointless Crew: Frank Fucile (he/him/his) @thtopofmyvoice –
Lit & Theory, Film & Media, Genre, Enviro & Tech
Studies // Alexander Billet (he/him/his) @UbuPamplemousse –
Poetry, Music, Cultural Criticism, Marxist Theory & History
// Rachel Hamele (she/they/her/their/hers/theirs) – History,
Humanities, Queer Studies, Fandoms // Anna Wendorff
(she/her/hers) – Communications, Rhetorics of Sci & Tech,
Feminism // Madalyn McCabe (she/her/hers) – Co-Producer, Sound
Editing, European Studies


// Troll us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PointlessCent //
T-shirts are now available:
http://www.teepublic.com/users/the-pointless-century // Watch us
on Instagram: @thePointlessCentury // Support us on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/ThePointlessCentury


Shout out to Locust Review: https://www.locustreview.com/
https://twitter.com/locustreview


Bibliography:


Brown, Edward J. Mayakovsky: A Poet in the Revolution, Princeton
UP, 1973.


Mayakovsky, Vladimir. The Bedbug and Selected Poetry. Translated
by Max Hayward and George Reavey, edited by Patricia Blake,
Indiana UP, 1960.


Mayakovsky, Vladimir. Mayakovsky. Translated and edited by
Herbert Marshall, Hill and Wang, 1965.


Mayakovsky, Vladimir. Poems. Translated by Dorian Rottenberg,
USSR, 1972.


Mayakovsky, Vladimir. Selected Poems. Translated by James H.
McGavran III, Northwestern UP, 2013.


Mayakovsky, Vladimir. Volodya: Selected Works. Edited by Rosy
Carrick, Enitharmon, 2015.


Schick, Christine Suzanne. Russian Constructivist Theory and
Practice in the Visual and Verbal Forms of Pro Eto. Doctoral
Dissertation, UC Berkeley, 2011.
https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3949b3fr


MUSIC: FUGAZI – “Epic Problem” and “Ex-Spectator” from The
Argument (Dischord, 2001)


ART: Vladimir Mayakovsky with Red Army soldiers in 1929 (unknown
photographer)