FUTURISM: VLADIMIR MAYAKOVSKI'S URBANISM AND FUTURIST OUTLOOK

Abstract

This article analyzes the poetry of Russian poet Vladimir Mayakovski (1893-1930), renowned as a main figure of the Russian Futurist movement. The study first introduces the futurist movement in literature that took place at the beginning of the twentieth century and locates it within formalist theory. Then, it dwells upon the characteristics of futurist poetry since this was the genre the futurists were mostly concerned with. The study moves towards its main objective by examining two characteristic poems, Morning (1912) and A Skyscraper Dissected (1929), bearing in mind the theme of urbanism which is common in the futurist literary movement. This analysis attempts to prove that Mayakovski used the theme of urbanism to criticize modern city life, unlike other futurists who used this theme to glorify it. The study will also look at an important aspect of Mayakovski’s poem About This in which he imagines life in the future. To carry out this thematic study, a critically analytical and descriptive method is used.