Boba Skvozniakov in the Village

Abstract

A short commentary by I. E. Loschilov accompanies the poem “Boba Skvozniakov in the Village”. This text presents a short preface to the poem “Boba Skvozniakov in the Village” published in 1912 and written for children by the poet Petr Petrovich Potemkin (1886–1926). Potemkin, whose creative work was affiliated with the famous periodical “Satirikon”, has published his poem in the children’s supplement to this journal, that was entitled “Little Jackdaw”. The story developed around the adventures of a mischievous boy during his summer break in a village. One can clearly see in this poem the controversy with the official school didactics and the elements of absurdist poetry. It has been suggested that this work has influenced the later development in children’s poems written by Kornei Chukovsky and the works of the poets of the OBERIU circle.   Keywords: Potemkin, Satirikon, children’s poem, children’s journal, mischievous boy, official school didactics, absurd stylization, OBERIU circle, Kornei Chukovsky.