Abstract

This paper deals with the concepts of “universal language” common in linguistics and in the poetic Avant-garde in the period from the 1910s to the 1930s. During that period, sociopolitical reforms gave rise to new realia and concepts, which required an updated vocabulary. “Language construction” was important both for peoples with no written languages and for future international communication in the context of faith in world revolution. These factors underlie not only the renewal of language policies, but also the creation of universal languages by linguists and poets. Interlinguistics was developing during these years; within which the “Kosmoglot” society played an important role. Among the Avant-garde concepts, Khlebnikov’s “star-language” and the Gordin brothers’ “cosmic language of AO” are of particular importance. The Gordin brothers followed Khlebnikov but went further in their search for cognitive and linguo-social changes. This paper compares these linguistic and poetic universal languages and concludes that the orientation towards linguistic experiment in the period in question was paramount for scholars and poets alike.