Academic literature on the topic 'Belarusian Patriotic literature'

The attitude of front-line writers and those writers who survived the Great Patriotic War in childhood is considered. The author gives an assessment of the political and social phenomena of the post-war period from the perspective of today. The question is highlighted – the writer and ideology. The main attention is paid to the military experience of writers and their reflection in their work. The prose of the most prominent representatives of two generations of writers is analyzed. Significant for our time, works are also evaluated in terms of plots, images, styles. The work of V. Bykov is investigated in detail. The importance of the work of Belarusian front-line writers in the development of Belarusian literature is indicated.

The attention of the author of this paper is focused on “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” (Slovo o polku Igoreve), a famous work of Russian literature. Before the revolution the text was included in the school curriculum, and within the period of 1850–1917 its separate editions exceeded 150. The early Soviet period was marked by a brief decline of the popularity of the “Tale”, but since mid-1930s, the number of its separate editions started to grow, and the negative or indifferent comments on Prince Igor Sviatoslavich in Soviet encyclopedias were replaced by the favorable ones. The heroization of its characters during the Great Patriotic War also contributed to the popularity of the “Tale”. After the war, “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” was effectively used again as a symbol of the unity of three brotherly nations — Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian. The celebrations of different anniversaries, such as the 750th anniversary of the “Tale” and 150th anniversary of its first publication were also typical of the Soviet era. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the “Tale” has become an object of rivalry between Russia and Ukraine. Each country claims to be the only true heir of the “Tale”, actively contributing to its popularization via publications, the organization of commemorative events and the introduction of its text into school curriculums. However, further prospects of the “Tale” commemoration-wise are quite obscure — the article argues that the “Tale” (as well as many other literary works) does not constitute an effective tool for building of national past.

Publicist, editor of periodicals, translator of Polish poetry, literary critic Dorofey Bokhan is an outstanding member of the Russian literary life of Minsk and Wilno. His biography in the Minsk period before the turn of 1919 and 1920 is generally well-known. But the Wilno period (1921–1939) has not been studied enough. The purpose of the study is to reconstruct the activities of Bokhan in Wilno in the first years after fleeing from the Bolshevik Minsk. The material for this study are newspapers in Russian, as well as documents of the Office of Government Commissar for the City of Wilno, Starostwo of Wilno and other institutions stored in the Lithuanian Central State Archives. The documents reveal a confusion about Bokhan’s year of birth: in some documents 1872 is indicated, in others – 1878. On the other hand, the date of Bokhan’s appearance in Wilno is discovered: he was registered at a new address on January 7, 1921. On the same day an edition of “Vilenskoe slovo” was released that included Bokhan’s first publication. Bokhan published articles, reviews, translations of Polish poetry in this newspaper. He also translated a poem by a young Belarusian poetess Natalia Arsenyeva and excerpts from the poem by a classic of Lithuanian literature Maironis “Young Lithuania”, as well as a poem by a Lithuanian poet Matas Grigonis. Bokhan translated Lithuanian poetry into Russian from Polish translations. Some of his articles were signed by the initials D. B., in some cases – N. Serebryansky. Feuilletons and poetic feuilletons were signed by the pseudonym Dodo and Vova Krutikov. The publication of the newspaper “Vilenskoe slovo” ceased in August 1921. In October of the same year, the “Vilenskoe utro” newspaper began to be published. The role of Bokhan in the newspaper was so great that the authorities considered him the actual editor, not the nominal editor Anatoly Romashev. In 1921, Bokhan became one of the leaders of the Wilno Russian society and headed the Literary and artistic section of the society. The literary and artistic section held numerous literary evenings. The authorities were suspicious of the patriotic character of the evenings. Reports on Russian culture were presented as a manifestation of disloyalty to the Polish state. The authorities saw Bokhan as “the most prominent and at the same time harmful” leader of the Russian press and the Wilno Russian society. Thus, in the early years of Bokhan in Wilno, he occupied an important place in the local Russian press and began to play a key role in Russian literary life. But due to conflicts in the Wilno Russian society in 1923, he withdrew from the society’s board and withdrew from participation in the Literary and artistic section.

The article examines the connections between the classic of Belarusian literature Yakub Kolas and some Kazakh writers. These connections are traced with the help of the collection materials of the State Literary and Memorial Museum of Yakub Kolas, and the creative activity and life paths of Belarusian and Kazakh writers are also analyzed. The acquaintance of Yakub Kolas with the classics of Kazakh literature Sabit Mukanov and Mukhtar Auezov is described in detail, and their creative paths and significance for their peoples are compared. Attention is especially focused on the similarity of social and political activities and literary creativity (military poems, autobiographical novels) by Sabit Mukanov and Yakub Kolas. Possible ways of developing cooperation between museums established in honor of Kazakh writers and the literary museum of the classic of Belarusian literature are noted.The connection with Kazakhstan of the national poet of Belarus during the Great Patriotic War is also not overlooked, as are the translations of the works of Yakub Kolas into the Kazakh language. The material also contains an attempt to analyze the degree of popularity of the Belarusian classic Yakub Kolas among the Kazakh creative intelligentsia. It can be assumed that the congratulatory address and personal gifts from Kazakh writers are evidence of the recognition, respect and certain fame of Yakub Kolas in the spaces of the Kazakh steppe.