"BIRDS OF PROTEAN PEDIGREE": IRRADIATIONS OF IMAGISM IN GERMAN AND SLAVIC LITERATURES (Spine title: Irradiations of Imagism in German and Slavic Literatures) (Thesis format: Monograph) by Mykola Polyuha Graduate Program in Comparative Literature A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Faculty of Graduate Studies The University of Western Ontario London, Ontario, Canada © Mykola Polyuha 2008 Library and Bibliotheque et 1*1 Archives Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-43085-9 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-43085-9 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives and Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par Plntemet, prefer, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans loan, distribute and sell theses le monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, worldwide, for commercial or non­ sur support microforme, papier, electronique commercial purposes, in microform, et/ou autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. this thesis. Neither the thesis Ni la these ni des extraits substantiels de nor substantial extracts from it celle-ci ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement may be printed or otherwise reproduits sans son autorisation. reproduced without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne Privacy Act some supporting sur la protection de la vie privee, forms may have been removed quelques formulaires secondaires from this thesis. ont ete enleves de cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires in the document page count, aient inclus dans la pagination, their removal does not represent il n'y aura aucun contenu manquant. any loss of content from the thesis. Canada THE UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN ONTARIO FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES CERTIFICATE OF EXAMINATION Joint-Supervisor Examiners Dr. Stephen Adams Dr. Michael M. Naydan Joint-Supervisor Dr. Clive Thomson Dr. Vladimir Tumanov Dr. David Darby Supervisory Committee Dr. Paul Coates The thesis by Mykola S. Polvuha entitled: "Birds of Protean Pedigree": Irradiations of Imagism in German and Slavic Literatures is accepted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Date Chair of the Thesis Examination Board ii Abstract This thesis considers Imagism, the first modernist movement in Anglo-American literature, and the movement's repercussions in German literature and the Slavic literatures. Although critics have suggested that certain literary trends (Russian Acmeism and Imaginism, Spanish Ultraismo, German Expressionism, to name a few) have much in common with Imagism, studies of Imagism rarely cross the borders of the countries, in which the movement was launched. As a result, no solid research on the international impact of Imagism is presently available, and this dissertation aims at filling the lacuna. Focusing on German Expressionism, Russian Imaginism, as well as the Ukrainian Imagist poet Bohdan-Ihor Antonych, and relying on the notions of the Zeitgeist and Weltanschauung developed by Johann Gottfried Herder, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Wilhelm Dilthey, Hans Robert Jauss, and Meyer Abrams, the research examines connections between the movements and determines similarities, as well as differences, in Imagist praxis. In contrast to previous studies, this dissertation analyzes Imagism not as a writing technique, but as a Weltanschauung. It is determined that the Imagist Weltanschauung consists of three main elements: semi-realism, aesthetic individualism, and provocatism. Each of these elements is described, and it is argued they are necessarily present in all the international reverberations of Imagism. Generally, this project is directed towards building a new international Imagist paradigm that should help to better understand the intellectual situation at the outset of the twentieth century. Keywords: Imagism, Expressionism, Imaginism, Ezra Pound, Gottfried Benn, Georg Trakl, Vadim Shershenevich, Anatolii Mariengof, Sergei Esenin, Bohdan-Ihor Antonych, Zeitgeist, Weltanschauung. iv Irradiation: The spread of a nervous impulse beyond the usual path of conduction (The American Heritage Stedman 's Medical Dictionary) v Acknowledgements In the several years that this work has been in progress, I have incurred numerous intellectual and emotional attachments and obligations, which I wish to acknowledge. My thesis owes a great deal to very kind and generous assistance of many people from several countries, who either led me through various stages of my writing, advised me on different aspects of the research, or provided me with either moral or financial support. The idea for this project takes its distant origins from conversations with Dr. Serhii Muzyka (Ternopil Pedagogical University, Ukraine), who initiated my interest in poetry and Ezra Pound. Professors of the Ternopil Pedagogical University, Roman Hromiak and Tatiana Volkova (who unfortunately did not live to see this thesis), guided me through the intricacies of literary investigation, assisted in collecting materials, as well as in narrowing down the focus. While I studied in the United States, my interests were supported by Professors Michael Naydan (Pennsylvania State University) and George Grabowicz (Harvard University). In Germany, I received much help and advice from Professor Peter Drews (University of Freiburg). At the University of Western Ontario, I am particularly thankful to my dissertation supervisors, Professors Stephen Adams and Vladimir Tumanov. With a keen eye on the project overall and on its smallest details, with their candid comments, they greatly helped me to overcome many obstacles that I encountered. I have benefited immensely from their criticism. vi For their help and advice with Ukrainian materials, I am grateful to Professors Ihor and Olha Papusha (Ternopil, Ukraine), Dr. Marko Stech (York University), and Andreas Jakubczik (University of Hamburg). Eva Hesse (Munich) was kind enough to generously share both her great expertise and personal memories on Pound. I am also thankful to Yuliya Tkachenko (University of Freiburg / McGill University) for her help with some Italian sources and her ever-brilliant and pertinent questions during our extensive discussions at Schluchsee and in "Feierling." Several organizations merit special mention in this list of gratitudes. For their generous financial grants, I would like to thank the Fulbright Program, the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute, the Ontario/Baden-Wiirttemberg (OBW) Student Exchange Program, and the Baden-Wiirttemberg Landesstiftung Stipendium. These organizations enabled me to collect materials in different parts of the world and provided me with the free time necessary for writing this dissertation. I am obliged to faculty and staff members at my department, in particular to David Darby, Melitta Adamson, Calin Mihailescu, and Antony Purdy whose support and encouragement I appreciate greatly. I wish to thank Professor Katherine Hume (Pennsylvania State University) for polishing my writing skills in English. I must express my considerable gratitude to Leyla Akyol (University of Ankara) for her unflagging readiness to help, optimism, and enthusiastic belief in my project. It goes without saying that I am forever indebted to my parents, Stephan and Anna Polyuha, without whose vii unstinting love and inspiration this work would ever become possible. Gracious thanks are also owned to my friends and colleagues from Ukraine (Anna Bubnova, Ruslan Tkhoryk, Andriy Kreta, and Dr. Oleksiy Kholodov), Norway (Nataliya Oliynyk), Poland (Anna Wylegala and Anna Golajb), Germany (Anna Jarocha and Marketa Hajkova), USA (Lev Feigin and Parastou Feiz), Puerto Rico (Professor Edly Santiago-Andino), Canada (Maria Mayr, Alma Ramirez, David Monteith, Elan Paulson, Carmen Barbu, Yuriy Kucher, Naqaa Abbas, Yaoci Pardo, Grzegosz Danowski, Aviva Atlani, and Agata Dusko). All these people and many others, whose names cannot fit here because of space limitations, in one way or another assisted me in my work. To my teachers, who instilled in me the love for learning and helped me grow both professionally and personally, I dedicate this dissertation with deepest appreciation. viii Table of Contents Certificate of Examination ii Dissertation Abstract iii Epigraph v Acknowledgements vi Table of Contents ix List of Appendices x Note on Translations and Transliteration xi Abbreviations xii Introduction: Imagism as an International Literary Phenomenon 1-36 Chapter One: Towards Defining the Imagist Weltanschauung 37-71 Chapter Two: Expressionism: Imagism German Style 72-101 Chapter Three: Russian Imaginism: A Kin in Name and in Spirit 102-146 Chapter Four: "The Only Ukrainian Imagist": Bohdan-Ihor Antonych and Imagism 147-184 Conclusion: International Imagism: Significance and Implications 185-200 Works Cited 201-224 Appendices 225-228 Vita 229-230