Overview

This is thefirst-ever English language anthology of zenithism, an eclectic avant-gardemovement unique to the Yugoslav region that existed 19211927. Zenithism'sfounder Ljubomir Mici envisioned the movement as a fusion of futurism, dada,constructivism, expressionism, and proto-surrealism, driven by what he calledthe ""barbarogenius."" A hallmark of the movement was its embrace of cross-genrewriting, from Ljubomir Mici's cin-poem RescueVehicle and Branko Ve Poljanski's lyric novel 77 Suicides to MID's lyric philosophic treatise The Sexual Equilibrium of Money. Thezenithists promoted their ideas through their journal Zenit and press Biblioteka Zenit. Reaching American readers for thefirst time, this anthology sheds light on an untapped chapter in Europeanmodernism ideal for the general and academic reader alike.

Full Product Details

Author:   Aleksandar Bokovi ,  Steven Teref
Publisher:   Academic Studies Press
Imprint:   Academic Studies Press
ISBN:  

9781644697221

ISBN 10:   164469722
Pages:   1200
Publication Date:   07 December 2023
Audience:   General/trade ,  General/trade ,  General ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Temporarily unavailable  
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Table of Contents

Acknowledgments List of Translators List of Illustrations Pronunciation Guide Introduction: You Have to Be a Zenithist The Barbarians are Coming, or a Savage Rhythm Introduction Man and Art (February 1921), Ljubomir Micić The Manifesto of Zenithism (June 1921), Ljubomir Micić, Yvan Goll, and Boško Tokin The Spirit of Zenithism (September 1921), Ljubomir Micić The Barbarogenius, the Balkanization of Europe, and Cultural Nihilism Introduction Zenith Manifesto 1922 (February 1922), Ljubomir Micić Zenithism as the Balkan Totalizer of New Life and New Art (February 1923), Ljubomir Micić Effect on Defect (1923), Marijan Mikac in the name of zenithism [foreword], Ljubomir Micić here 360 ÷ 180 = 0 joyous lament zenith—specter a riot of atoms rush up the rope a poem for the twentieth dog a prayer of the blessed curse a fanatic’s nights of love bachelor tax against gossips man’s tango with a flea the guard on the rhine predicts effect on defect from Archipenko: New Plastics (September 1923) Toward Opticoplastics, Ljubomir Micić Nemo propheta in patria (February 1924), Various anonymous Zenithosophy: or the Energetics of Creative Zenithism (October 1924), Ljubomir Micić Antisocial Art Needs to be Destroyed (December 1924), Ljubomir Micić The New Art (December 1924), Ljubomir Micić from The Monkey Phenomenon (1925) The New Zenithist Art, Marijan Mikac Airplane without an Engine (1925), Ljubomir Micić Barbarism as Culture (November–December 1925), Risto Ratković Anti-Europe (1926), Ljubomir Micić Beyond-Sense and Anti-Europe the barbarogenius barbarian omelet hey slavs syphon—soda—blood radio in the balkans bim bam boom made in england avala, a tomb in the sky oh, balkan cavavan slender snakes blossom Typogram (April 1926), Ljubomir Micić Zenithism through the Prism of Marxism (December 1926), Dr. M. Rasinov (Ljubomir Micić) The First Road of the Barbarogenius: Cinépoetry and the Radio-Film Introduction Cinema Poems (October 1920), Boško Tokin Paris Burns (October 1921), Yvan Goll Film and the Future of Humanity (December 1921), Branko Ve Poljanski Shimmy at the Latin Quarter Graveyard (March 1922), Ljubomir Micić Damn Your Hundred Gods (Rescue Car) (October 1922), Ljubomir Micić Prologue by a Madman Before a Legion of Exceptionally Wise Flies Categorical Imperative of the Zenithist School of Poetry Zenithism: Second Attack of the Barbarians Zenithist Barbarogenics in 30 Acts from Radio-Film and the Zenithist Vertical of the Spirit (April 1923), Ljubomir Micić The Second Road of the Barbarogenius: The Hybrid Novel, Prose Poetry, and the Serpentinella Introduction Here I Am! (January 1921), Branko Ve Poljanski (as Virgil Poljanski) Under the Sign of the Circle (February 1921), Branko Ve Poljanski A Lasso around the Holy Mother’s Neck (March 1922), Branko Ve Poljanski The Beauty of a Horse and the Face of Queen Zita (March 1922), Branko Ve Poljanski Dada Causal Dada (May 1922), Branko Ve Poljanski Codes of the Dada-Jok State (May 1922), Branko Ve Poljanski 33 Seconds (May 1922), Branko Ve Poljanski 2 ÷ 2 = 1 (July–August 1922), Branko Ve Poljanski Radiograms (1922), Branko Ve Poljanski 77 Suicides (1923), Branko Ve Poljanski Panic under the Sun (1924), Branko Ve Poljanski No! C’mon, Now! [foreword], Ljubomir Micić Manifesto Alarm On Train Tracks Longing At the Hair Salon Graveyard Express Poem #13 Trip to Brazil Tick-Tock like a Crab in a Tailcoat Blind Man Number 52 Arise TB Sing Sing We Ride the Himalayas You, Belgrade, You God Beefsteak Joyous Poem Topsy-Turvy (1926), Branko Ve Poljanski S.O.S.Manifesto Contraidioticon Eros 300,000 Punches per Second The Panopticon Passes through a Mirror The Laughter of Rifles A Steamboat in the Appendix Nihilon Whistling Face Mariner’s Bell You Have Beautiful Eyes, Lucia Dusk Poem About HimThe Third Road of the Barbarogenius: Conceptual Writing Introduction The Sexual Equilibrium of Money (1925), MID The Metaphysics of Nothing (1926), MID Form Devours the Spirit [I] (April 1926), MID Form Devours the Spirit [II] (May 1926), MID A Tobacconist in Literature (November 15, 1925), Anonymous Review of The Sexual Equilibrium of Money (April 1926), Anonymous Review of The Metaphysics of Nothing (May 1926), Anonymous The Barbarogenius at the Gates: Zenithist Theater, Soirées, and Public Interventions Introduction Zenithist Theater (Zagreb, December 16, 1922), Anonymous The First Zenithist Soirée (Belgrade, January 3, 1923), Anonymous The Second Zenithist Soirée (Zagreb, January 31, 1923), Anonymous A Zenithist Soirée by Marijan Mikac (Petrinja, August 18, 1923), Anonymous A Zenithist Evening of Sensation (April 1925), Branko Ve Poljanski The Marinetti and Poljanski Dialogue (November–December 1925), Branko Ve Poljanski Rabindranath Tagore and the Zenithist Protests (December 1926), Anonymous Open Letter to Rabindranath Tagore (December 1926), Ljubomir Micić, and Branko Ve Poljanski The Nadir of Zenithism Introduction The Red Rooster (1927), Branko Ve Poljanski Dogs Bark and Poets Sing 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12Afterword: The Zenithist Legacy Bibliography Index

Reviews

The editors and translators of this volume-barbarogeniuses every one-bring to life the zany revolutionary spirit and exuberance of Zenithism. The anthology is a feast of energy and creativity. - Ellen Elias-Bursac, Literary Translator and Independent Scholar Boskovic's and Teref's expertly edited and well-translated anthology will contribute to the creation of a fuller picture of the European avant-garde. By demonstrating how original movements were flourishing outside of the main European languages, this anthology invites us to re-map an important period in literary history. -Zoran Milutinovic, Professor of South Slav Literature and Modern Literary Theory, University College London The publication of Zenithism (1921-1927)-A Yugoslav Avant-Garde Anthology adds an important piece to the complex picture of interwar avant-garde in Europe. For a long time, zenithism was a missing piece in this history. Centered on the journal Zenit, this movement was the most prominent and internationally active avant-garde formation in Yugoslavia between World Wars. Aleksandar Boskovic's and Steven Teref's excellent selection and expert translation of texts published in Zenit offer a vivid portrayal of the literary and visual production of this group. Their critical framing of the whole zenithist enterprise is essential. It situates this group within the European avant-garde at its peak, and places it within the dynamic social, cultural, and economic processes in the interwar Yugoslavia. As a result, we finally have a comprehensive, well-researched, and documented portrayal of zenithism in English. This volume will be indispensable for future research of the avant-garde currents in Central Europe, across the continent, and beyond. - Branislav Jakovljevic, Sara Hart Kimball Professor of the Humanities, Department of Theater and Performance Studies, Stanford University This is the first English translation of almost the entire opus of zenithism (1921-1927), the original Yugoslav contribution to high modernist movements. The zenithist concept of the 'barbarogenius' and barbarism challenged the notions of cultural value that, as the collection's editors state, 'has been created, reproduced, and re-capitalized as a cultural means for colonial oppression and economic domination.' Through carefully done translations and exhaustive introductions, the anthology spans a variety of texts-from poetry to the short novel, to flyers, to critical reviews, constructing a narrative about zenithism as an authentically Balkan utopian cultural project, as well as a socially oriented art. It contextualizes zenithism in a novel way that has not been done in previous studies of this movement, by emphasizing not only the zenithists' practices of textual hybridity and their relations to film and radio, but also their so-called cultural banditry and conceptual writing, as well as by creating a connection with Yugoslav neo-avant-garde literary and artistic practices from the second half of the twentieth century. This is a definitive collection that should become an essential text for anybody interested in modernism. - Tatjana Aleksic, Associate Professor of South Slavic and Comparative Literature, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

Author Information

Aleksandar Bokovi teaches at Columbia University. He is the author of The Poetic Humor in Vasko Popa's Oeuvre (in Serbian, 2008) and co-editor of The Fine Feats of the Five Cockerels Gang (2022). Steven Teref's translations include Ana Ristovi's Directions for Use, shortlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Award, Best Translated Book Award, and National Translation Award, and Novica Tadi's Assembly. His translations have appeared in The New Yorker, Brooklyn Rail, Columbia Journal, and elsewhere. He is a member of the Third Coast Translators Collective.

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