Il palindromo in Velimir Chlebnikov: “specchio del suono"

This article opens with a brief overview of the form and meaning of the palindrome in literature, maths and biology. It then focuses on the revival of the palindrome by the Futurist poet Khlebnikov, who in 1912 composed a short poem consisting of palindromes and who later wrote a long poem entirely in palindromic verses devoted to the legendary historical figure of Stenka Razin. The palindrome is a rhetorical device that meant more than a mere verbal game in Khlebnikov's poetics. It reflects his conception of the word as magic and cosmogonic power which can transform and recreate the world. It is also a figure suitable for the expression of a time of troubles and revolutions. Khlebnikov himself interprets his own life as a palindrome of Razin's, as he declares: “I am the opposite of Razin, I am Razin inside-out”. During the Soviet era, in particular during the rule of Stalin, the palindrome was not approved of, as it was considered a formalistic and purely rhetorical form. Its revival in the 1960s and then again at the beginning of the 1990s acquired political and revolutionary significance. From the 2000s onwards it has become very popular and many publications, sites and blogs in Russia are devoted to it, while its revolutionary significance has noticeably declined. In recent times Khlebnikov's then record-length palindromic poem “Razin” has been overtaken, in terms of length, by numerous other poems composed in various countries.