Velimir Chlebnikov: i poemi della Rivoluzione

During the autumn of 1921, after returning from Iran, Khlebnikov spent some time in Pyatigorsk in Northern Caucasus. Here he wrote four poems connected with the October Revolution. These poems, or fragments of poems, are "Noch pered Sovetami" [The Night before the Soviets], "Prachka" [The Washerwoman], "Nastoiashchee" [The Present Time], and "Nochnoi obysk" [The Night Raid]. Tynyanov defined them as «probably the most significant things that have been created in verse about the Revolution». In this article I analyze the polyphonic structure of these poems, their connections with the literary tradition concerning the condition of the serfs, and the representation of the Revolution by contemporary poets like Maiakovskii and Blok. In the final part of the article I describe two very recent theatre productions of the poem "The Night Raid" by the experimental theatre company "Chille de la balanza" from Florence.