Melancholic Humor, Skepticism and Reflective Nostalgia. Igor’ Guberman’s Poetics of Paradox

Laura Salmon’s second chapter, entitled Melancholic Humor, Skepticism and Reflective Nostalgia. Igor’ Guberman’s Poetics of Paradox, explores the ‘gariki’ produced in thousands by émigré poet Igor’ Guberman. Constituting a genre invented by Guberman himself, the gariki consist of rhymed quatrains that tackle issues ranging widely from prison, drinking, and sex to the contradictory nature of God. When Guberman addresses feelings, toska is the primary exemplar: his brief texts illustrate the existential condition of marginality felt by a Russian Jew from the now nonexistent Soviet Union living as an émigré in Israel. Guberman writes with poignancy, skepticism, and humor, confirming a sense of identity that retains its drollness despite being irrevocably fractured and consequently imbued with melancholic feeling. Salmon situates the gariki within the larger historical context of Russian Jewish identity and a tradition of writing and reflecting upon the paradox of eternal non-belonging. Guberman’s verses elaborate an awareness of his own liminal condition from the perspective of a philosophical skepticism, leading him to acknowledge – with wry melancholy – the paradoxical nature of human life.