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First published January 1, 1988
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About the author
Daniil Kharms
237 books412 followersDaniil Ivanovich Yuvachev (Даниил Хармс) was born in St. Petersburg, into the family of Ivan Yuvachev, a well known member of the revolutionary group, The People's Will. By this time the elder Yuvachev had already been imprisoned for his involvement in subversive acts against the tsar Alexander III and had become a religious philosopher, acquaintance of Anton Chekhov during the latter's trip to Sakhalin.
Daniil invented the pseudonym Kharms while attending high school at the prestigious German "Peterschule". While at the Peterschule, he learned the rudiments of both English and German, and it may have been the English "harm" and "charm" that he incorporated into "Kharms". Throughout his career Kharms used variations on his name and the pseudonyms DanDan, Khorms, Charms, Shardam, and Kharms-Shardam, among others. It is rumored that he scribbled the name Kharms directly into his passport.
In 1924, he entered the Leningrad Electrotechnicum, from which he was expelled for "lack of activity in social activities". After his expulsion, he gave himself over entirely to literature. He joined the circle of Aleksandr Tufanov, a sound-poet, and follower of Velemir Khlebnikov's ideas of zaum (or trans-sense) poetry. He met the young poet Alexander Vvedensky at this time, and the two became close friends and inseparable collaborators.
In 1927, the Association of Writers of Children's Literature was formed, and Kharms was invited to be a member. From 1928 until 1941, Kharms continually produced children's works and had a great success.
In 1928, Daniil Kharms founded the avant-garde collective OBERIU, or Union of Real Art. He embraced the new movements of Russian Futurism laid out by his idols, Khlebnikov, Kazimir Malevich, and Igor Terentiev, among others. Their ideas served as a springboard. His aesthetic centered around a belief in the autonomy of art from real world rules and logic, and the intrinsic meaning to be found in objects and words outside of their practical function.
By the late 1920s, his antirational verse, nonlinear theatrical performances, and public displays of decadent and illogical behavior earned Kharms — who always dressed like an English dandy with a calabash pipe — the reputation of being a talented but highly eccentric “fool” or “crazy-man” in Leningrad cultural circles.
Even then, in the late 20s, despite rising criticism of the OBERIU performances and diatribes against the avant-garde in the press, Kharms nurtured a fantasy of uniting the progressive artists and writers of the time (Malevich, Filonov, Terentiev, Vladimir Mayakovsky, Kaverin, Zamyatin) with leading Russian Formalist critics (Tynianov, Shklovsky, Eikhenbaum, Ginzburg, etc.,) and a younger generation of writers (all from the OBERIU crowd—Alexander Vvedensky, Konstantin Vaginov, Nikolai Zabolotsky, Igor Bakhterev), to form a cohesive cultural movement of Left Art. Needless to say it didn't happen that way.
Kharms was arrested in 1931 together with Vvedensky, Tufanov and some other writers, and was in exile from his hometown (forced to live in the city of Kursk) for most of a year. He was arrested as a member of "a group of anti-Soviet children's writers", and some of his works were used as an evidence. Soviet authorities, having become increasingly hostile toward the avant-garde in general, deemed Kharms’ writing for children anti-Soviet because of its absurd logic and its refusal to instill materialist and social Soviet values.
He continued to write for children's magazines when he returned from exile, though his name would appear in the credits less often. His plans for more performances and plays were curtailed, the OBERIU disbanded, and Kharms receded into a very private writing life. He wrote for the desk drawer, for his wife, Marina Malich, and for a small group of friends, the “
Daniil invented the pseudonym Kharms while attending high school at the prestigious German "Peterschule". While at the Peterschule, he learned the rudiments of both English and German, and it may have been the English "harm" and "charm" that he incorporated into "Kharms". Throughout his career Kharms used variations on his name and the pseudonyms DanDan, Khorms, Charms, Shardam, and Kharms-Shardam, among others. It is rumored that he scribbled the name Kharms directly into his passport.
In 1924, he entered the Leningrad Electrotechnicum, from which he was expelled for "lack of activity in social activities". After his expulsion, he gave himself over entirely to literature. He joined the circle of Aleksandr Tufanov, a sound-poet, and follower of Velemir Khlebnikov's ideas of zaum (or trans-sense) poetry. He met the young poet Alexander Vvedensky at this time, and the two became close friends and inseparable collaborators.
In 1927, the Association of Writers of Children's Literature was formed, and Kharms was invited to be a member. From 1928 until 1941, Kharms continually produced children's works and had a great success.
In 1928, Daniil Kharms founded the avant-garde collective OBERIU, or Union of Real Art. He embraced the new movements of Russian Futurism laid out by his idols, Khlebnikov, Kazimir Malevich, and Igor Terentiev, among others. Their ideas served as a springboard. His aesthetic centered around a belief in the autonomy of art from real world rules and logic, and the intrinsic meaning to be found in objects and words outside of their practical function.
By the late 1920s, his antirational verse, nonlinear theatrical performances, and public displays of decadent and illogical behavior earned Kharms — who always dressed like an English dandy with a calabash pipe — the reputation of being a talented but highly eccentric “fool” or “crazy-man” in Leningrad cultural circles.
Even then, in the late 20s, despite rising criticism of the OBERIU performances and diatribes against the avant-garde in the press, Kharms nurtured a fantasy of uniting the progressive artists and writers of the time (Malevich, Filonov, Terentiev, Vladimir Mayakovsky, Kaverin, Zamyatin) with leading Russian Formalist critics (Tynianov, Shklovsky, Eikhenbaum, Ginzburg, etc.,) and a younger generation of writers (all from the OBERIU crowd—Alexander Vvedensky, Konstantin Vaginov, Nikolai Zabolotsky, Igor Bakhterev), to form a cohesive cultural movement of Left Art. Needless to say it didn't happen that way.
Kharms was arrested in 1931 together with Vvedensky, Tufanov and some other writers, and was in exile from his hometown (forced to live in the city of Kursk) for most of a year. He was arrested as a member of "a group of anti-Soviet children's writers", and some of his works were used as an evidence. Soviet authorities, having become increasingly hostile toward the avant-garde in general, deemed Kharms’ writing for children anti-Soviet because of its absurd logic and its refusal to instill materialist and social Soviet values.
He continued to write for children's magazines when he returned from exile, though his name would appear in the credits less often. His plans for more performances and plays were curtailed, the OBERIU disbanded, and Kharms receded into a very private writing life. He wrote for the desk drawer, for his wife, Marina Malich, and for a small group of friends, the “
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 26, 2021
Au fost destule texte la care am simțit fizic bucuria de a le citi ca atunci când acrobatul care merge pe sârmă la 10 metri deasupra solului ajunge cu bine la celălalt capăt al traseului, și jubilezi, tu spectator, de măiestria de care a dat dovadă până la final. De multe ori începeam un text cu o strângere de inimă, mă gândeam că nu o să mă mai poată surprinde cu ceva, că e o schemă care se repetă, dar nu, nu știu cum face dar găsește aproape de fiecare dată ceva care întoarce toată povestirea și te lasă așa, puțin fericit.
July 17, 2021
Daniil Charms is één van de meest unieke stemmen in de Russische literatuur. Zijn absurde kortverhalen zijn met niets te vergelijken: soms zijn ze lachwekkend, dikwijls wreedaardig, dan weer filosofisch of compleet van de pot gerukt.
Een personage voorstellen en het verhaal dan over iemand compleet anders laten gaan? Zes vrouwen uit een raam laten vallen om dan te zeggen dat je er genoeg van had en bent verder gegaan? Poesjkin over Gogol laten struikelen en Gogol over Poesjkin en weer opnieuw en daar een theatertekst van maken? Vergeten welk getal er eerst komt, de zeven of de acht?
Charms draait er zijn hand niet voor om. Amusant en bevreemdend om lezen, maar dikwijls schuilt er achter die verhalen een wrange blik op het leven in Rusland en op het zinloze van het bestaan.
Charms werd bij aanvang van de Tweede Wereldoorlog opgepakt, krankzinnig verklaard en opgesloten. in 1942 overleed hij en werd hij vermoedelijk in een massagraf begraven. Tragisch en pijnlijk.
Geef ons daar maar de legende die een Russisch volkszanger er jaren later in een lied van maakte: Charms verliet het huis om sigaretten te kopen, maar telkens hij aan de winkel komt is die net gesloten en zo trekt hij verder en zwerft hij al jaren door het land.
Indrukwekkend figuur, straf proza en beide volstrekt uniek. æ
Een personage voorstellen en het verhaal dan over iemand compleet anders laten gaan? Zes vrouwen uit een raam laten vallen om dan te zeggen dat je er genoeg van had en bent verder gegaan? Poesjkin over Gogol laten struikelen en Gogol over Poesjkin en weer opnieuw en daar een theatertekst van maken? Vergeten welk getal er eerst komt, de zeven of de acht?
Charms draait er zijn hand niet voor om. Amusant en bevreemdend om lezen, maar dikwijls schuilt er achter die verhalen een wrange blik op het leven in Rusland en op het zinloze van het bestaan.
Charms werd bij aanvang van de Tweede Wereldoorlog opgepakt, krankzinnig verklaard en opgesloten. in 1942 overleed hij en werd hij vermoedelijk in een massagraf begraven. Tragisch en pijnlijk.
Geef ons daar maar de legende die een Russisch volkszanger er jaren later in een lied van maakte: Charms verliet het huis om sigaretten te kopen, maar telkens hij aan de winkel komt is die net gesloten en zo trekt hij verder en zwerft hij al jaren door het land.
Indrukwekkend figuur, straf proza en beide volstrekt uniek. æ
March 23, 2014
Harms este un absurd, sfidează orice regulă, orice cauzalitate, orice logică și are dreptate, ionescian vorbind. Dacă ne rupem din rădăcini avem toate șansele să-ncepem o plutire comic-onirică într-o mare aberație. Și de ce-ar fi asta un lucru rău, păi nu e. Din contră, dacă te iei după Harms poți ajunge înapoi în mă-ta, în neantul numărul doi, din care nu te mai renaște decât diareea. (Acum am să vă povestesc cum m-am născut).
http://suntgulie.wordpress.com/2014/0...
http://suntgulie.wordpress.com/2014/0...
May 12, 2021
Bijzonder raar, surrealistisch proza, korte tot superkorte verhalen die erin slagen je telkens weer op een verkeerd been te zetten. Vooral verhalen die na twee (of zo) zinnen eindigen met 'En dat is eigenlijk alles.' zijn speels en verwarrend. Een bijzondere schrijver.
October 10, 2014
Velice zábavné povídky a básně. Nejvíce mě zaujala Čtyřnohá vrána, ještě teď se směju… ale není to kniha pro každého.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews