Poetic Escape in Vladimir Kazakov's Don Žuan Cycle

This article analyzes neo-avant-garde Russian writer Vladimir Kazakov's (1938–1988) Don Zhuan dramatic cycle (1983). Kazakov's four short plays and epilogue loosely reconstruct the Don Juan legend as an absurd, anachronistic series of adventures that deliberately avoid any concrete references to Soviet reality. In doing so, Kazakov parodies the traditional legend as represented by Pushkin and other Russian writers. At the same time, he employs motifs emphasized by these writers – such as the road, exile, and Don Juan's poetic creativity – in order to reflect on the challenge of creating apolitical art that entirely avoids allusion to Soviet political issues.