On One Ancestor: Vasilisk Gnedov in the Work of Sergej Sigej and Ry Nikonova 1

This article looks at the influence of the Futurist poetry of Vasilisk Gnedov on the work of Sergej Sigej and Ry Nikonova. Gnedov is not a well known Futurist, so the extent to which they refer to him in their literary and critical work is unusual. Sigej has evolved his own forms based on Gnedov's text-less ‘Poėma konca’ (‘Poem of the End’) and other poems. Aspects of Gnedov's work turn out to be deeply integrated into Sigej's, a fact he openly acknowledges. In contrast, although Nikonova notes that Gnedov's work was a precursor to her vacuum, gesture, and vector poetry, she emphasises the independence of her creative path over any sense of deliberate evolution. Nevertheless, some general thematic concerns – such as the absence of text and its replacement with other elements – can be traced to Gnedov's ‘Poėma konca’. The article includes many previously unpublished works by Sigej and Nikonova and draws on the author's correspondence with them.