Gennadij Ajgi is perhaps one of the most intriguingly original Russian poets of the second half of the twentieth century. Ajgi's conceptual complexity and stylistic extravaganza has called forth a great number of essays exploring his poetics. In most cases, however, Ajgi's work still receives a somewhat introductory treatment. This is due to the fact that the substantial part of his voluminous oeuvre reached the reader years after if had been produced. This paper offers a more focused investigation into Ajgi's textuality via "immanent" analysis and interpretation.
Normally, the immanent (intratextual) analysis of any given poem rests upon the initial understanding of the poem as a whole, while tending to our interest in its elements, that, in the end, may (or may not) contribute to a better/different understanding of the entire work. The process of the synthesis (interpretation) of a poem is called upon when the work is "not lucid," "difficult," "demanding". Here, we have to move from the parts to the whole, in a direction opposite of the analysis. The examination of idiosyncrasies of the elements and their relations is critical to the holistic understanding of the poem.
I will address the notorious complexity of Ajgi's poetry by putting under scrutiny the textual elements of his two early poems: "son: poxod za kerosinom," and "son: polet strekozy".(from Stepen'-Ostoiki (1964–65), from Otmechennaja Zima. Sintaksis. Paris. 1982) By doing so, I will attempt to explore (and restore) the interpretative process and thus try to detect the origins of the poetic complexity, which, I believe, should be attributed to the act of synthesizing/cognizing of the "demanding" poetry.