Formation of Roman Jakobson’s views on poetry (1916–1923)

This article explores a key aspect of the scholarly personality of the renowned Russian philologist Roman Jakobson, specifi cally his work related to poetic studies. It traces the work-to-work development of a complex of his revolutionary scientifi c ideas from 1916 to 1923, highlighting his evolving understanding of the unique rhythmic and semantic nature of poetic speech, on the one hand, and the main methodological principles that underpin this awareness, on the other hand. The role of Jakobson’s poetic creativity during his early years in this process is emphasized, including his publication of poems under the pseudonym Roman Alyagrov in futuristic editions. This practical engagement with poetry enabled the young researcher to delve deeply into the intricacies of poetic creation. Signifi cant attention is given to the range of theoretical and linguistic issues that Jakobson passionately addressed during the fi rst years of his independent scientifi c career – issues to which he remained committed throughout his life. These include a consistent understanding of poetry as a form of language serving an aesthetic function, the exploration of variability factors that form the objective basis of special poetic speech, the investigation of “semantic associations linked to specifi c metrical patterns, as well as the general rules that constrain permissible forms within a given meter”, and the “typological comparison of national poetic systems”. All these insights stemmed from Jakobson’s profound knowledge of multiple languages of different types, his theoretical mindset, his critical attitude toward the scientifi c authorities of previous generations and were reinforced by the common revolutionary enthusiasm characteristic of the fi rst decades of the twentieth century.