Phonological Theory of Zaum' Language by A. Tufanov and R. Jacobson

Humboldtian Origins of the Russian Formalism

Abstract

The article discusses the phonological interpretation of the poetic language in the works of A. Tufanov and R. Jacobson. From the author's point of view, the original analytics of zaum' language was based on the acoustic theory proposed by Jan Baudouin de Courtenay. The first zaumniki who were guided by this theory in their early theoretical research were I. Zdanevich and I. Terent'ev. It also influenced A. Tufanov, who because of his orientation towards the concept of the universal language of Velimir Khlebnikov, formulated the idea of so-called “immediate lyricism”, which was much closer to the poetic language than all previous interpretations made by formalists. A. Tufanov proposed to consider phonemes as autonomous elements of the work of art, which are designed to directly evoke certain emotions. Finally, the bridge from the early zaum' poets to formalist school was thrown by R. Jacobson with the help of his theory of the phonological foundations of the zaum' language. Jacobson distinguished between phonetica (based on Baudouin's acusmas and kinemas) and phonology, which considered the sound as an artistic device. From this point of view, zaum' turned out to be maximally divorced from semantic sound structure, but at the same time, Jacobson recognized that there is a dialectical interdependence between semantics, syntax, and phonology. The phonological theory was an important milestone in the way of understanding zaum', as well as one of the sources for the formation of the theoretical foundations of the formalist school.