Dr. Maria Paula Survilla (1964–2020): A Scholar and Advocate of Belarusian Culture by Zina Gimpelevich and Natallia Hardzienka

Abstract

Reviewed by: Dr. Maria Paula Survilla (1964–2020): A Scholar and Advocate of Belarusian Culture by Zina Gimpelevich and Natallia Hardzienka Arnold McMillin Gimpelevich, Zina (comp.) and Hardzienka, Natallia (ed.). Dr. Maria Paula Survilla (1964–2020): A Scholar and Advocate of Belarusian Culture. Limaryus, Minsk, 2021. 408 pp. Illustrations. Notes. Resumé. Price unknown. Paula Survilla was the daughter of Ivonka Survilla, one of the leaders of the Belarusian community in North America. At the time of her premature death from a rare disease she was Professor of Ethnomusicology and Musicology at Wartburg College, Waverly, IA, USA. The present multi-lingual Gedenkschrift covers a wide range of subjects written by scholars, politicians and other public figures, as well as some poetic tributes, and is illustrated by numerous photographs. It is undoubtedly a worthy memorial to a rich life. The book opens with a poem by Juraś Šamiećka ‘Manaloh Paŭliny Survily’, followed by a translation into English by Jim Dingley. After the Introduction, also in two languages, the volume is divided into six sections, the title of which will only be given here in English or, where appropriate, in French or Spanish, and details of authors will have to be minimal. Section one comprises three tributes to the dedicatee, the first of which, ‘With Belarus at Heart’, is by Stanislaŭ Šuškievič who played a leading role in forming independent Belarus before the arrival of Lukašenka. Next is an essay by Jocelyne Guilbault (Berkeley, CA), ‘Maria Paula Survilla’s Ethnomusical Studies of the Power of Language and Popular Music in Belarus’, and finally, ‘Parcours de combattantes’ by Marie-Laure Girou-Swiderski (Ottawa) compares Survilla with an eighteenth-century French polymath Thiroux d’Arconville. Section two comprises poems by Belarusians all of whom now live in Canada: Siarhiej Paniźnik, Voĺha Ipatava, Piotra Murzionak and Juraś Šamiecka. Section three, ‘Belarus in History and the Present Day’, is extremely varied: Virginie Symaniec (Paris) writes about how Janka Kupala’s classic play Paŭlinka was artificially turned into a Soviet classic: ‘L’Affaire Paŭlinka de Ianka Koupala (1882–1942) sous la “Loi Nefed” (1916–1999) ou comment fabriquer du “Soviétique” à partir d’écrits qui ne le sont pas’; Alieś Smaliančuk (Warsaw) presents the autobiographies of two political victims in the 1930s, found in the archives of the security services, ‘Napisaŭ sobstvennoručno…: Aŭtabijahrafii Paŭla Valošyna (1891–1937) i Fliahonta Valynca (1878–1937)’; David Marples (Alberta) and Veranika Laputska (Warsaw) present a very actual problem, ‘Dealing with Trauma in Contemporary Belarus: Official and Unofficial Remembrance of NKVD Executions (1937–1941)’; Siarhiej Navumčyk (New York) assesses a political figure, ‘Piotra Mašeraŭ: Nia čornaje i nie bielaje’; Soviet artistic romanticism at a time of stagnation is the subject of ‘Nacyjanaĺny ramantyzm u mastactvie Belarusi 1970–1980-ch hh.’ by Siarhiej Chareŭski (Vilnius); leading historian Hienadź Sahanovič (Minsk–Warsaw) writes about [End Page 371] one of his most distinguished predecessors, Mikola Jermalovič (1921–2000) in ‘Pa śliadach zmahańnia z adnym histaryčnym mifam’, attempting to account for the posthumous popularity of the latter’s work. Section four, entitled ‘Belarus and the World’, begins with an entertaining piece by Pierrot Lambert (Ottowa), ‘L’Aventure du Baroque de l’Italie à la Biélorussie’; Zachar Šybieka (Tel-Aviv) describes the potentially controversial role of Jews in nation building, ‘Kuĺturnyja ŭzajemaŭplyvy Bielarusaŭ i Jaŭrejaŭ u pracesie farmavańnia sučasnych nacyj (niebiassprečnyja tezisy dlia razvažańnia)’; Irina Chikalova (Minsk) writes about the Western roots of the Belarusian scholarly tradition, ‘V poiskakh preemstvennosti: Ob istokakh belorusskoi nauchnoi traditsii v izuchenii istoriii zarubezhnykh stran’; finally, David H. Swartz (Nappanee, IN) reminisces about his experiences as the first American ambassador to Minsk after the collapse of the USSR, ‘The First years of USA-Belarus Diplomatic Relations’. The penultimate section is very diverse in content as its title implies: ‘World Literature, History and the Present Day’. It begins with a witty and most learned article by Iryna Dubianeckaja (Minsk) about the first book of Genesis, ‘The Humpty-Dumpty Earth and the One Who Made the World of It: Creation in Genesis 1’; quite different is...