Translators note:
Dear wanderer,
This anti-war futurist manifesto was written by the avant-garde brigade led by Velimir Khlebnikov1. He deservses a separate post (one day). in 1916, when the war was raging across Europe and Russian Empire2. In this article, the term “Russian” is used in specific contexts rather than broadly referring to nationality. It may denote something related to the “Russian Empire,” reflecting historical or cultural associations, or it may signify the “Russian language,” indicating the linguistic medium rather than the ethnic identity of the individuals discussed. Although the people mentioned come from various national backgrounds, they are unified by their use of the Russian language. was about to be destructed from the inside3. For the record, I’m not a monarchist but I’m not a communist/socialist/whatever either and believe that the whole Soviet state was a fascist state like many other communist states around the world. If there was any good promise in the ideas the revolution was pursuing, it was ditched and forgotten as soon as people who took over the country revealed themselves as nothing but greedy terrorists who then killed dozens of millions of people and oppressed millions more, leaving a large political scar that hasn’t been healed since. I don’t know why this footnote exists. It feels like there’s a separate essay hidden between the lines and now emerging into reality taking over the main topic today, but dilligaf?. That whole time, 1900-1917, is quite fascinating because of the unique vibe it had — “chaos versus cosmos”, as I heard someone calling it. Even before 1914 everyone sensed that the world was about to change and many parts of it would collapse and fade into oblivion. Amidst that turmoil, envisioning the change, many now widely known movements originated, including symbolists, formalists, futurists4. Meaning Russian Futurists only. The primary difference between Italian Futurists and Russian Futurists lies in their philosophical and ideological underpinnings and their approach to the future and modernity. Italian Futurism celebrated speed, technology, and industrialization, often glorifying war and violence as means to overthrow the old order and embrace the new. It was characteristically aggressive, seeking to reject the past and even attack traditional cultural institutions. In contrast, Russian Futurism, though also praising modernity and innovation, was less focused on violence and had a more complex relationship with the past. Russian Futurists, including Velimir Khlebnikov, sought to break with traditional literature and art but were more inclusive in their embrace of the future, often integrating elements of the Russian language and culture in a transformative way. They were more experimental in their linguistic and artistic pursuits, seeking to revolutionise art and society without the same level of aggressive militancy found in Italian Futurism. You can trace that difference at least in this manifesto taking an anti-war stance., modernists and many other.