벨리미르 흘레브니코프와 이상의 언어실험

An Essay on the Comparative Study of Language Experiments Conducted by Velimir Khlebnikov and Lee Sang

This paper is an initial step and stepping stone in comparing the oeuvres of Velimir Khlebnikov and Yi Sang, two leading avant-garde poets in their respective countries, Russia and Korea, based on their language experiments. Before proceeding with the comparative analysis of their language experiments, this paper proposes to do three things: Firstly, on the premise that, to Khlebnikov and Yi, the reality and discourse of modernity are manifested as the reality of language and discourse on language, the language creation and formal experiments by these two poets should be compared in terms of the transformation and overcoming of modern reality. Secondly, it is necessary to compare the opposing directions and visions of the future-between utopian idealism and pessimism-implied in their avant-garde creation of language, with the measures of historical and literary modernity. And lastly, it should be understood how Khlebnikov and Yi ended up establishing two contrasting world models, namely the “universe” and the “small room,” as a way to overcome modernity and what psychological mechanisms were at play in these processes. This paper takes a broad view of the overall structures of their poetics rather than focusing on the comparative analysis of specific pieces of their work.