Daniil Harms: biography, creative path

1928 year. The Leningrad House of Press is agitated by the performance of young outrageous writers who call themselves Oberiutians. They recited poetry written in a bizarre way, put absurdist "Elizabeth Bam", and to top it all, they showed the world an editing film with a promising title "Meat mincer". The main among the oberiutians was Daniil Harms, whose biography became the topic of this article.

early years

The future poet was born on December 30, 1905. The propensity for writing was transferred to Daniel genetically: his father, who was in correspondence with Chekhov and Tolstoy, was known not only for revolutionary activity, but also for pen tests, and his mother was a noblewoman and in charge of the orphanage. A brief biography of Daniil Kharms includes a mention of his brilliant education in a privileged German school. After the revolution, he was listed in the Leningrad Electrotechnical Institute, from where he was expelled with the phrase "weak attendance", inactivity in public works. "

Origins of literary activity

When Kharms Daniil Ivanovich, whose biography became the subject of many studies, changed the name of Yuvachev and finally believed in his writing talent? The first use of the pseudonym was at the beginning of the 1920s. The cliche of the name "Harms" (as well as its many variants, including Hharms, Haarms and Karl Ivanovich, unknown from wherece), tried to find in numerous adverbs. The most plausible are the analogies with English and French. If the first harm is "harm", then in the second, a similar word means charm, attractiveness.

Approximately then Harms writes his first poems. As a guide, he chooses Khlebnikov, or rather, his close admirer A. Tufanov. Subsequently, the "Order of the Zaumniks" will be replenished with such a talented poet as Daniel Harms. His biography also testifies that in 1926 he joined the All-Russian Union of Poets, from where he was expelled due to non-payment of contributions.

OBERIU

In the first half of the 1920s, Kharms got to know Vvedensky and Druskin, who were the founders of the "chinarey" circle. Subsequently, Daniel will enter there, decided to rally all the "left" writers under one name, one group - Oberiu. This complex abbreviation stands as "Unification of Real Art". Interestingly, in the group's manifesto, published in 1928, the school "zaumi" was declared by the Oberiuty most hostile to itself. Harms renounced the destruction of the word, the usual game of nonsense. The purpose of their group was global and projected onto the world around them. The Oberiutians sought to purge the object of the "literary husk", to make its perception more real. This applies to his clearly avant-garde experiences (poems "Evil Collection of Infidels", "I Sang ..."), and works that are humorous.

Kharms explains the phenomenon of absurdity in prosaic miniatures like "Blue Notebook No. 10", "Sonata", "Falling Old Woman". In his view, the logic of art should be different from everyday art. In the example Harms cites the case when the artist, in spite of anatomical laws, somewhat twisted the shoulder of the main character, which, however, does not prevent us, the audience, from admiring the beauty of the depicted nature. He created Daniel and dramatic works (for example, the above-mentioned "Elizabeth Bam"), which easily fit into the context of the experiments of the remaining Oberiutians.

Works for children

How did Daniil Kharms's biography develop further? For children, he began writing from the late 1920s, collaborating with a number of journals. Other members of the Oberiu worked there, however, unlike them, Harms took a responsive attitude to his current work, which, by the will of fate, became his only source of income. Poets, puzzles of the poet were published in magazines, he published a number of books (First and Second, Game, etc.). Some of them were banned or not recommended for mass libraries, others were particularly loved among small readers.

Harms in the 1930s

This period became especially difficult for writers who did not want to put their talent on the conveyor. Daniil Harms was one of them. Biography (autobiography, more precisely) of those times is imprinted in the sad lines of the poem "On visits to the writers' house ...". The poet with surprise and indignation discovers that his acquaintances turned away from him, who fell into disgrace with the writer. The first arrest of Harms took place in December 1931. Formally, the sentence concerned the activities of the poet in the field of children's literature, although the real reason for the arrest was connected with the Oberiu. Apparently, the Soviet authorities could not forgive him for the shocking, somewhat scandalous antics that characterize avant-garde art - as Daniel Harms understood. The biography of the poet in the 30's is different worldview crisis and constant material deprivation. However, to cope with them he was helped by his second wife - Marina Malich, who stayed with the poet until the end of his life.

Death

The war began. Harms met her defeatist moods and unwillingness to participate in it, for which he was arrested for the second time. In order to avoid the execution, Harms feigned madness. He was placed in a psychiatric hospital, where he died during the terrible events of the siege of Leningrad. Thus, Daniil Harms, whose biography and creative heritage are now of considerable interest, ended his life .