Marc Chagall and His Times: A Documentary Narrative by Benjamin Harshav , Barbara Harshav (review)

Abstract

150 SEER, 86, I, 2008 that 'prose, poetry and drama luxuriate in post-modern pluralism, whilst criticism has to remain within the bounds of decency, i.e. classicism' (p. 7). The first chapter concludes with the discussion of three very differentbooks about the 1920 Shick Uprising, a major event in ?migr? and unofficial Belarusian history. In the second, under the playful title 'Portrait de Famille (Against the background of a fullmoon and eclipse of the sun)', she considers some of the poetry published in the periodical press during 2001. This is followed by 'The Unbearable Strangeness of Being', a review of thewriting of Jury Stankievic, one of the more freethinking of the older generation of writers; 'AnApologia forRealism' discusses the prose ofRaisa Baravikova, a farmore conservative writer; in Anatomy of a Single Loneliness' thework of poet and critic Leanid Hahibovic is given sympathetic consideration. The next chapter, 'Play (of) the classics' reviews a variegated assortment of books by both older and young writers whilst, in the following one, tradition and innovation are brought together inwhat she calls 'Kunstkamera: Groundhog Day', dividing thepages into two, and discussing works by avant-garde writers from the so-called 'Second front of the arts' in the leftcolumn and on the right sampling poems from the four issues of the official literary newspaper Litaratura imastactva inApril 2003; some of the latterquotations and excerpts read almost likeparodies, so that perhaps the criticmay be accused of select ingmischievously, but the contrast between the young writers and the conser vatives isgraphically highlighted. The book concludes with half a dozen more book reviews under the characteristically intriguing title, A Modest Holiday ofOpposition in theReservation of a Pause'. For all their contrasting formats and, indeed, narrative manner, these two books of literary criticism are both produced under the aegis of the 'Second front of the arts' and published by the same independent publisher. Each makes a distinct and worthwhile contribution to our understanding of the present day literaryprocess in Belarus, and should be welcomed by scholars and students alike. As well as by some, though not all, of thewriters they discuss. UCL Arnold McMillin Harshav, Benjamin. Marc Chagall and His Times: A DocumentaryNarrative. With translations fromRussian, Yiddish, French, German and Hebrew by Benjamin and Barbara Harshav. Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA, 2004. xx + 1026 pp. Illustrations. Notes. Indexes. ?30.50 (paperback). The cultural identityofMarc Chagall has long been a mystery. Born Moyshe Shagal to a Jewish family fromLyozno in the extensive Jewish Pale of Settle ment along thewestern edge ofRussia, his early days were passed inVitebsk where a strongJewish cultural heritage was maintained within theRussian Empire. Chagall's imaginative subject matter has often been associated with Jewish village life,but as this book makes clear (p. 29) there are signs that REVIEWS W Chagall was relatively ignorant ofJewish religious matters. It is also made clear thatVitebsk was a city and regional capital with a predominandy Jewish community that was urban and sophisticated in languages, business and culture,where Yiddish was spoken at home, Hebrew in religious observance, and Aramaic for study of the Talmud (p. 33). The historical and political history of this region also meant thatLithuanian, Latvian, Polish languages, business and cultural heritage were also in evidence. There were in addition other layers of identity: many of theseJewish familieswere secular, and shared a sense ofJewish nationhood sometimes expressed inZionist aims. Learning Russian in his teens,Chagall became aware ofVitebsk as a busy western outpost of the vast Russian Empire where Jewish life remained restricted to thePale of Settlement. He also discovered thatwith good contacts a talented Jewish boy could study in the capital. His family, his friends, and the great stage designer Leon Bakst achieved this for Chagall. This diverse cultural background provided the painter with a shifting sense of identity which became in itself a feature of his paintings. When Moyshe Shagal became Mark Shagal, he adopted a name with Christian associations and took a step beyond his Jewish heritage. When he later adopted the French spellingMarc Chagall, he was literallymaking his name in the international cultural centres of cubist Paris and expressionist Berlin. In this large book Benjamin Harshav has achieved an elegant and effective investigation of...