Journal of Foreign Language Research

Journal of Foreign Language Research

Language games and the Interpretation of Meaning in Modern Iranian and Russian Poetry: A Comparative Analysis of two poems “Phoenix” by Nima Yushij and “Incantation by Laughter” by Velimir Khlebnikov

Document Type : research article

Authors
1 Department of Russian Language, Faculty of Literature, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran
2 Department of Russian Language, Faculty of Literature, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran.
10.22059/jflr.2026.422822.1314
Abstract
Objective: This study aims to examine the fate of meaning in modern language and to elucidate how it depends on function and context in modern Iranian and Russian poetry.
​Methodology: The research relies on a comparative-linguistic analytical method. Drawing upon Wittgenstein’s theory of "language-games," it examines two poems: "Qoqnus" (Phoenix) by Nima Yushij and "Incantation with Laughter" by Velimir Khlebnikov.
​Findings: By breaking traditional forms and creating novel lexical collocations, Nima detaches meaning from a fixed signified, turning it into an interpretive process. In contrast, Khlebnikov severs the conventional relationship between sign and signified through morphological and phonetic neologisms, anchoring meaning in the poetic function of the word. Despite cultural differences, both poets—in response to the crisis of meaning in the modern world—transform language into an arena of language-games and the production of fluid meanings.
​Conclusion: The instability of meaning in modern language constitutes a common foundation in the poetry of both Nima and Khlebnikov, and interpretation is regarded as the primary mechanism for apprehending meaning in modern poetry.
Keywords
Subjects

 
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