Prozasedavshiyesya
Poem by Vladimir Mayakovsky (1922)
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"Prozasedavshiyesya" (Russian: Прозаседавшиеся, lit. 'The Over-Meetinged') also translated as "In Re Conferences" and "Mayakonferensky's Anectidote",[1] is a poem by Vladimir Mayakovsky. It was published on 5 March 1922 in the newspaper Izvestia (No. 52) under the title "Nash byt. Prozasedavshimsya"[a]. The poem addresses the pressing issues of that period: famine, post-revolutionary devastation, foreign intervention, and the dominance of bureaucracy.[2] This poem marked the beginning of Mayakovsky’s collaboration with Izvestia. Previously, the writer had not been published in the newspaper due to the stance of its then editor-in-chief, Yuri Steklov, who was away at the time the cooperation agreement was made and was being substituted by the executive secretary of the editorial board, Oleg Litovsky.[3]
The work exhibits features of the author's individuality, which introduced the word prozasedavshiyesya into the Russian language.[4] Furthermore, the poem displays the device of semantic intensification of a word, acquiring a grotesque character, a technique Mayakovsky employed very frequently in his works.[5]
On 6 March, Vladimir Lenin, speaking to the communist faction of the All-Russian Congress of Metalworkers, praised the poem.[3], despite his negative attitude toward Futurism, which Mayakovsky represented.[2] The poem became Mayakovsky’s first major statement against bureaucratism. Lenin saw in it the writer's response to a universal problem of the time. Lunacharsky recalled that the poem "greatly amused Vladimir Ilyich, and he even repeated certain lines."[2] Lenin subsequently assessed it as a very bold and correct act of self-criticism. The leader’s praise encouraged the poet. Following this, Mayakovsky intensified criticism and self-criticism in other publications; his satire targeted bigots and sycophants, slanderers and cowards, officials and servile functionaries.[6] Lenin’s response dispelled the atmosphere of distrust that Mayakovsky’s opponents had attempted to create around his name.[7]