Abstract:
At the turn of the 20th century, literary-artistic cafes /cabarets
constitute a special part of the literary life of the major cities in different
countries. The history of cabaret culture begins in the end of 80s of the
19th century and is associated with Paris. Along with the “artistic cafe”
the names “artistic club”, “intimate theatre” can be found, which makes
the content of the literary-artistic cafe (“The Stray Dog”) more precise.
According to scholar T. Tabatadze, “researchers frequently use the
term “artistic cabaret” to describe the cabarets of the late 19th and early
20th centuries. The term “artistic cabaret” is used broadly to denote the
special character of cabaret of this period, to differentiate it in relation to the current form of the cabaret genre, its modern understanding,
which should indicate a possible internal functional differentiation of
these establishments”.
An important place in the history of literary and artistic cafes is
occupied by the “Stray Dog” café which was opened in 1912 (according
to another report, on December 31, 1911) in Petersburg. A similar cafe
“Fantastic Tavern” was opened in Tbilisi in 1917 and existed until the
second half of 1919.
Numerous noisy literary disputes, literary games or poetic duels took
place there; planned or unplanned events aroused the same interest. It
was within the walls of this cellar that the Acmeists announced a new
movement. The poet, publicist Giorgi Ivanov (1894-1958) recalls in his
St. Petersburg notes: “The Stray Dog was open three times a week: on
Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays – we gathered late, after twelve.
Before the official opening hours, only “pharmacists” came, which in
the “Stray Dog” jargon meant all random visitors – starting with the
adjutant wing – including a veterinarian, paid three roubles for entry,
drank champagne and were surprised at everything”. Members of this
literary and artistic cafe and persons with written recommendations
could enter the “The Stray Dog” , probably strictly observing this rule.
R. Timenchik and A. Parnis restored 153 evening programs held
here. A particularly important event in the history of the existence of
the “Stray Dog” was the speech of a student of St. Petersburg University
Viktor Shklovsky, and his report entitled “The Place of Futurism in the
History of Language” (December, 1913).
