Khlebnikov’s poem “Incantation by Laughter” emerges in a twentieth century Russian cultural context largely influenced by the European cultural movements of futurism and cubism. Influenced by the spirit of the day, which had largely been defined by the need to shed artificiality and search for the basics of humanity, Khlebnikov was interested in experimenting with the Russian language with the eventual goal of producing a language that was closest to human experience. He developed what was called zaum, a transrational, universal, and transmental language created by Alexei Kruchenykh and wrote in that language. Kruchenykh and Khlebnikov’s expectation was that zaum would cross the barrier of national languages and emerge as a proto-Esperanto.
In “Incantation by Laughter,” Khlebnikov is playing with the word ‘laugh.’ He comes up with various formations of the root word ‘laugh’ by adding different prefixes and suffixes to the root. By doing so, he explores numerous possibilities that are embedded in language, but that had hitherto been ignored.
This poem could be seen as a case where art functions against art in an important way. In the Hegelian hierarchy of fine arts, poetry is considered the most advanced form of art. According to Hegel, poetry marks the furthest limit of artistic expression, and it ultimately strives to become philosophy. This understanding projects poetry as the one medium that facilitates the transition from art in general to higher order thinking. Given the close proximity that poetry has to philosophy, one could logically argue that poetry in a Hegelian sense is fundamentally about making meaning.
The “Incantation by Laughter” radically deviates from the Hegelian understanding of poetry in that it rejects the meaning making dimension of poetry altogether. In this sense, this poem could be seen as an example for “poem without poem.” The poem indicates a case where poem as an art form is used as a site of scientific experimentation on language. Instead of using language, which is the medium of poetry, to make meaning that would eventually lead to higher order thinking, the poem dissects its own medium while drawing attention to the technical dimension of the medium. The fact that this dissection of its medium happens necessarily within the art form of poem indicates a conscious attempt on the part of the poet to push the boundaries of poem as an art form.
In “Incantation by Laughter,” Khlebnikov is playing with the word ‘laugh.’ He comes up with various formations of the root word ‘laugh’ by adding different prefixes and suffixes to the root. By doing so, he explores numerous possibilities that are embedded in language, but that had hitherto been ignored.
This poem could be seen as a case where art functions against art in an important way. In the Hegelian hierarchy of fine arts, poetry is considered the most advanced form of art. According to Hegel, poetry marks the furthest limit of artistic expression, and it ultimately strives to become philosophy. This understanding projects poetry as the one medium that facilitates the transition from art in general to higher order thinking. Given the close proximity that poetry has to philosophy, one could logically argue that poetry in a Hegelian sense is fundamentally about making meaning.
The “Incantation by Laughter” radically deviates from the Hegelian understanding of poetry in that it rejects the meaning making dimension of poetry altogether. In this sense, this poem could be seen as an example for “poem without poem.” The poem indicates a case where poem as an art form is used as a site of scientific experimentation on language. Instead of using language, which is the medium of poetry, to make meaning that would eventually lead to higher order thinking, the poem dissects its own medium while drawing attention to the technical dimension of the medium. The fact that this dissection of its medium happens necessarily within the art form of poem indicates a conscious attempt on the part of the poet to push the boundaries of poem as an art form.