ABSTRACT
Throughout his life Dziga Vertov conceived of cinema as various kinds of poetry: a poetry of science, a poetry of space, a poetry of everyday life and, above all, a poetry of facts.1 As we have seen in the previous chapter, poetry for Vertov became a synoptic way of fusing science, art and all aspects of cultural life. Rather than consider poetry an outdated literary genre, hopelessly out of touch with modern life and science, he approached poetry as a principle of life underlying both art and science. Influenced by the constructivist spirit of the Soviet avant-garde, he radically expanded the meaning and scope of poetry. Poetry advances to a master frame that shapes Vertov’s outlook on life; for him it was both a theoretical framework and an artistic practice. As poetry is concerned with prosodic and rhythmic aspects of language, it could serve as a general model of formal construction, applicable not only to poetry and film but virtually to all kinds of artistic and non-artistic practices. At the same time, poetry is invoked as an alternative to narrative and argumentative modes of representation. By applying poetic principles of composition to non-artistic material, Vertov challenged established notions about documentary and narrative fiction film.
