Zenithism (1921–1927)

Aleksandar Bošković teaches at Columbia University. He is the author of The Poetic Humor in Vasko Popa’s Oeuvre (in Serbian, 2008) and co-editor of The Fine Feats of the Five Cockerels Gang (2022).Steven Teref's translations include Ana Ristović's Directions for Use, shortlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Award, Best Translated Book Award, and National Translation Award, and Novica Tadić's Assembly. His translations have appeared in The New Yorker, Brooklyn Rail, Columbia Journal, and elsewhere. He is a member of the Third Coast Translators Collective.

“The editors and translators of this volume—barbarogeniuses every one—bring to life the zany revolutionary spirit and exuberance of Zenithism. The anthology is a feast of energy and creativity.”– Ellen Elias-Bursać, Literary Translator and Independent Scholar

• AcknowledgmentsList of TranslatorsList of IllustrationsPronunciation GuideIntroduction: You Have to Be a ZenithistThe Barbarians are Coming, or a Savage RhythmIntroductionMan and Art (February 1921), Ljubomir MicićThe Manifesto of Zenithism (June 1921), Ljubomir Micić, Yvan Goll, and Boško TokinThe Spirit of Zenithism (September 1921), Ljubomir MicićThe Barbarogenius, the Balkanization of Europe, and Cultural NihilismIntroductionZenith Manifesto 1922 (February 1922), Ljubomir MicićZenithism as the Balkan Totalizer of New Life and New Art (February 1923), Ljubomir MicićEffect on Defect (1923), Marijan Mikacin the name of zenithism [foreword], Ljubomir Micićhere360 ÷ 180 = 0joyous lamentzenith—spectera riot of atomsrush up the ropea poem for the twentieth doga prayer of the blessed cursea fanatic’s nights of lovebachelor taxagainst gossipsman’s tango with a fleathe guard on the rhine predictseffect on defectfrom Archipenko: New Plastics (September 1923)Toward Opticoplastics, Ljubomir MicićNemo propheta in patria (February 1924), Various anonymousZenithosophy: or the Energetics of Creative Zenithism (October 1924), Ljubomir MicićAntisocial Art Needs to be Destroyed (December 1924), Ljubomir MicićThe New Art (December 1924), Ljubomir Micićfrom The Monkey Phenomenon (1925)The New Zenithist Art, Marijan MikacAirplane without an Engine (1925), Ljubomir MicićBarbarism as Culture (November–December 1925), Risto RatkovićAnti-Europe (1926), Ljubomir MicićBeyond-Sense and Anti-Europethe barbarogeniusbarbarian omelethey slavssyphon—soda—bloodradio in the balkansbim bam boommade in englandavala, a tomb in the skyoh, balkan cavavanslender snakes blossomTypogram (April 1926), Ljubomir MicićZenithism through the Prism of Marxism (December 1926), Dr. M. Rasinov (Ljubomir Micić)The First Road of the Barbarogenius: Cinépoetry and the Radio-FilmIntroductionCinema Poems (October 1920), Boško TokinParis Burns (October 1921), Yvan GollFilm and the Future of Humanity (December 1921), Branko Ve PoljanskiShimmy at the Latin Quarter Graveyard (March 1922), Ljubomir MicićDamn Your Hundred Gods (Rescue Car) (October 1922), Ljubomir MicićPrologue by a Madman Before a Legion of Exceptionally Wise FliesCategorical Imperative of the Zenithist School of PoetryZenithism: Second Attack of the BarbariansZenithist Barbarogenics in 30 Actsfrom Radio-Film and the Zenithist Vertical of the Spirit (April 1923), Ljubomir MicićThe Second Road of the Barbarogenius: The Hybrid Novel, Prose Poetry, and the SerpentinellaIntroductionHere I Am! (January 1921), Branko Ve Poljanski (as Virgil Poljanski)Under the Sign of the Circle (February 1921), Branko Ve PoljanskiA Lasso around the Holy Mother’s Neck (March 1922), Branko Ve PoljanskiThe Beauty of a Horse and the Face of Queen Zita (March 1922), Branko Ve PoljanskiDada Causal Dada (May 1922), Branko Ve PoljanskiCodes of the Dada-Jok State (May 1922), Branko Ve Poljanski33 Seconds (May 1922), Branko Ve Poljanski2 ÷ 2 = 1 (July–August 1922), Branko Ve PoljanskiRadiograms (1922), Branko Ve Poljanski77 Suicides (1923), Branko Ve PoljanskiPanic under the Sun (1924), Branko Ve PoljanskiNo!C’mon, Now! [foreword], Ljubomir MicićManifestoAlarmOn Train TracksLongingAt the Hair SalonGraveyard ExpressPoem #13Trip to BrazilTick-Tock like a Crab in a TailcoatBlind Man Number 52AriseTBSing Sing We Ride the HimalayasYou, Belgrade, YouGod BeefsteakJoyous PoemTopsy-Turvy (1926), Branko Ve PoljanskiS.O.S.ManifestoContraidioticonEros300,000 Punches per SecondThe Panopticon Passes through a MirrorThe Laughter of RiflesA Steamboat in the AppendixNihilonWhistling FaceMariner’s BellYou Have Beautiful Eyes, LuciaDuskPoem About HimThe Third Road of the Barbarogenius: Conceptual WritingIntroductionThe Sexual Equilibrium of Money (1925), MIDThe Metaphysics of Nothing (1926), MIDForm Devours the Spirit [I] (April 1926), MIDForm Devours the Spirit [II] (May 1926), MIDA Tobacconist in Literature (November 15, 1925), AnonymousReview of The Sexual Equilibrium of Money (April 1926), AnonymousReview of The Metaphysics of Nothing (May 1926), AnonymousThe Barbarogenius at the Gates: Zenithist Theater, Soirées, and Public InterventionsIntroductionZenithist Theater (Zagreb, December 16, 1922), AnonymousThe First Zenithist Soirée (Belgrade, January 3, 1923), AnonymousThe Second Zenithist Soirée (Zagreb, January 31, 1923), AnonymousA Zenithist Soirée by Marijan Mikac (Petrinja, August 18, 1923), AnonymousA Zenithist Evening of Sensation (April 1925), Branko Ve PoljanskiThe Marinetti and Poljanski Dialogue (November–December 1925), Branko Ve PoljanskiRabindranath Tagore and the Zenithist Protests (December 1926), AnonymousOpen Letter to Rabindranath Tagore (December 1926), Ljubomir Micić, and Branko Ve PoljanskiThe Nadir of ZenithismIntroductionThe Red Rooster (1927), Branko Ve PoljanskiDogs Bark and Poets Sing123456789101112Afterword: The Zenithist LegacyBibliographyIndex