Towards the Theater of the Absurd: Absurd Elements in OBERIU’s Plays in the Case of Vvedensky
Emine Öztürk KızmışThis article aims to reveal the similarities between the works classified as the “theatre of the absurd” by Martin Esslin and the theater works of the group known as OBERIU from the Russian avant-garde period. Although evaluations are found in different Western sources stating OBERIU to have been able to expand the temporal boundaries of the theatre of the absurd genre, the art of OBERIU has been evaluated more in the context of avant-garde art. The concept of the theatre of the absurd, which had been put forward based on the common aspects of the absurd elements in theatrical works written after World War II in different European countries, also shows similarities with the theatrical works produced by the writers from OBERIU who’d witnessed World War I and Russia’s October Revolution. The nicknames of group members, which mean “nonsense” in Russian, absurd derivation of words, and their portrayal of the world in an absurd atmosphere in their art make the similarities appear more visible. This paper aims to show the absurd themes and absurd techniques in Vvedenksy’s “Christmas Tree at the Ivanovs” at the OBERIU, which can be described as the precursors to the theatre of the absurd genre in Russia.
Absürt Tiyatroya Doğru: OBERİU Oyunlarında Absürt Öğeler (Vvedenski Örneği)
Emine Öztürk KızmışBu çalışmada Martin Esslin tarafından “absürt tiyatro” terimi altında sınıflandırılan eserlerle Rus avangart dönem OBERİU topluluğunun tiyatro eserlerinin benzerliklerinin ortaya konması amaçlanmıştır. Farklı Batılı kaynaklarda OBERİU topluluğunun absürt tiyatro türünün zamansal sınırlarını genişletebileceği yönünde değerlendirmeler yapılsa da OBERİU topluluğunun sanatı daha çok avangart sanat bağlamında değerlendirilmiştir. Avrupa’nın farklı ülkelerinde II. Dünya Savaşı sonrasında kaleme alınan tiyatro eserlerinin içerdikleri absürt ögelerin ortaklığından yola çıkılarak ortaya atılan absürt tiyatro kavramı, I. Dünya Savaşı ve Ekim Devrimi’ne şahitlik etmiş OBERİU sanatçılarının ürettiği tiyatro eserleriyle de benzerlikler göstermektedir. Grup üyelerinin “saçma” anlamına gelen Rusça sözcüklerle kendilerine takma adlar alması, bunu çağrıştıran söz oyunlarına başvurmaları ve sanatlarında absürt bir dünya yaratmaları da bu benzerliği perçinlemektedir. Makalede Batılı bir kavram olan absürt tiyatro türünün Rusya’daki habercileri olarak nitelendirebileceğimiz OBERİU grubunun İvanovlar’ın Çam Ağacı oyunu üzerinden absürt temalar ve eser dilindeki absürt uygulamalar gösterilmeye çalışılacaktır.
The early 20th century was a time of new directions for the art genres in Russia as well as in the rest of the world. This period was known as the time of modernism for Russian art history, with avant-garde being the most remarkable discipline of art in that century. At the beginning of the 20th century, many avant-garde circles were formed in Russian art, one of these being OBERIU, which existed between 1927-1930. OBERIU was an acronym and name for a group of poets, writers, and philologists who were the pioneers of Russian avant-garde art. In the Russian language this abbreviation stands for “Association for Real Art”(ОБЭРИУ – Объединение реального искусства) . Daniil Kharms and Alexander Vvedensky were the most popular and well-known writers of OBERIU. In the 1920s, the group put forward a new theatrical approach. In their manifesto announced at an art night in Dom Pechati [The Press House], they rejected the usual theatre traditions and explained their theatral visions. In their artistic discipline was clearly seen the absurdist elements such as the absence of determinism and causality, unresolved endings of plays, senselessness of dialogues, and gestures.
Similarities between the Western theatre of the absurd and OBERIU theatre plays got the attention of critics in the 1990s. The term “theatre of the absurd” had been put forward by Martin Esslin in 1961. In his book, Esslin showed the similar techniques in some plays by Western dramatists such as Samuel Beckett, Eugene Ionesco, and Jean Genet, who lived and wrote during the same years. One common opinion of critics was that the plays of these dramatists had come about as a reaction to World War II. The plays of the theatre of the absurd are very different from realist theatre plays. Generally, these plays express the meaningless of life, show irrational worlds, and demonstrate the nonsense of human life. In Jean-Philippe Jacquard’s (1991) book Daniil Harms et la fin de l’avant-garde russe [Daniil Harms and the End of the Avant-Garde Russia], he revealed the common aspects between the plays of the theatre of the absurd and the OBERIU theatre. In his detailed book, Jacquard classifies the techniques to the works from the Theatre of Absurd and to OBERIU plays by comparing the works of Daniil Kharms (the founder of OBERIU) and Eugene Ionesco. Jacquard and some other Western and Russian critics pointed out how the plays by the OBERIU group had expanded the time horizons of the theater of the absurd. After all, Esslin had not drawn any definite time or country boundaries when he had coined the term and grouped absurdist works under one title. Esslin had also associated the theatre of the absurd with the traumas World War II had left on humanity, but the members of OBERIU were witnesses of World War I who’d continued to suffer the results of the Great War after the Revolution in 1917, as well as the totalitarian rules of government. Artists of the theatre of the absurd had experienced similar traumas before and after World War II. As a result, these traumas affected these artists’ works. This study examines Vvedensky’s play “Christmas Tree at the Ivanovs” based on Jacquard’s propositions in order to observe the commonalities of OBERIU and the plays of the theatre of the absurd.
