Heine-esque. Timur Kibirov

Abstract

Amongst the commonly recognized qualities of Timur Kibirov’s poetry is  its extensive usage of quotations, occasionally resulting in a cento. While his scholars have been limiting their search to the references to Russian poetry, this article explores Kibirov’s reception of the work and personality of Heinrich Heine in an attempt to prove that the latter influenced Kibirov greatly at the start of his career, as described in Kibirov’s autobiographic Crones, Deceased [Pokoynye starukhi], an epic poem in prose. The author points out indirect evidence of Kibirov’s enthusiastic reading of Heine (quotations, allusions, etc.), analyzes Kibirov’s poems directly referencing Heine’s work (‘Heine’ [‘Geyne’], ‘From Heine’ [‘Iz Geyne’]), and describes the principal similarities between the two poets’ poetics and philosophy, also noting their differences. Zuseva-Ozkan argues that Heine dominates Kibirov’s output, but if in the 1980s-1990s this ‘obsession’ with Heine’s spirit manifested itself mostly in reminiscences and allusions, the early 2000s saw a more vivid introspection, later turning into Kibirov’s self-identifi ation with the German poet.