Nabokov's World by J. s> Grayson A. McMillin , P. Meyer (review)

Abstract

330 SEER, 8i, 2, 2003 Althoughone canoccasionally findhereandtherein thepressthenamesof otherBelarusian writers frompartsoftheformerSovietUnion,itmustbesaid thatthe threehighlightedhereare indeedthe mostcreativelygiftedof the writersin this category.The presentreviewerwould,however,have been inclinedto addanothername:thatof IvanLaskofl, anothertalentedwriter who lives permanentlyin the Siberiancity of Yakutsk,but publishesin Belarusian aswellastranslating hisownworksintoRussian. In partthreeProfessor McMillinexaminestheworkof Belarusian writers. Thestructure ofthissectionissimilartothatofpartone,exceptthatseparate chaptersare devotedto only one poet,Jan Cykvin,and one prosewriter, SakratJanovic, theundisputed leadersoftheBelarusian literary movement in Poland.It must be said that in post-warPoland(or, more precisely,the Bialystok region)theregrewupa numerically largeandculturally significant literaryschool.The originsof thisphenomenonlie in Stalin'scedingof the Bialystokregion to Poland afterWorldWN'ar II, as some kind of a rewardto it forjoiningthesocialistcamp.Andalthoughpolonization iswelladvancedat the presenttime, a significantproportionof the local people still use the Belarusian languageand, indeed,createliteraturein it, as the bookunder reviewexcellentlydemonstrates. The firstchapterof this sectionconsiders poetry, introducinga wide range of poets from Viktar Svied, Dzmitry Satylovicand Ale?Barskito NadziejaArtymovicand MiraLuksa.In the chapteronprosetheworkofsuchwriters asJankaZamojcin, VasilPietrucuk, AlenaAniseuiskaja and othersis discussed.The finalchapterconsistsof a reviewof the theatreand dramaof thisperiod:the writersare all poetsor prose writerswho have figuredearlier,includingBarski,JurkaHienijus, CykvinandJanovic. The monograph iswrittenconvincingly witha finesenseof theBelarusian language(includingthe highlydialectalusagesof severalwriters),and also withan understanding of the Belarusian mentalitywhich,in the opinionof this reviewer,is essentialfor the understanding of the heroesand other characters in thisliterature, includingthelyricalheroesof poetry.Professor McMillin'sexceptionally wideacquaintance withsecondary literature in no wayaffectstheoriginality of hisinterpretations andhisnotablyuntraditional approachto individual works.His creativetrademarks, familiar fromearlier works,remaina gentlesenseofhumour,a colourful andlivelynarrative style anda sensitivedescriptive manner.Thisreadable bookcaptivates thereader, asifitwereitselfa novel. Francis Skaryna Belarusian Libragy JURAS LAU'RYK London Grayson,J., McMillin, A., and Meyer, P. (eds).Nabokov's World.Volume i: 77le Shape ofNabokov's World; Volume 2. Reading Nrabokov. Studies in Russia and East Europe. Palgrave, in association with the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, Basingstokeand New York,2002. XVi+ 237 PP.; XVii+ 24I pp. Illustrations.Notes. Bibliography.Index. C45.??;?47.50. NINETEEN NINETY-NINE must have been a franticyear forVladimirNabokov's ghost, being summoned by numerousinternationalconferences and scholarly REVIEWS 33I gatheringsthat celebrated the writer'scentennial. And still he is not allowed to rest in peace. The organizers of two Nabokov conferences in I999 have now teamed up to present this two-volume collection of essays:Jane Grayson who organized 'Nabokov at the Crossroads' held at the University of Cambridge, and PriscillaMeyer who organized 'I 799, i 899, I999: Pushkin, Nabokov and Intertextuality' at Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT. Together with Arnold McMillin, they have assembled the work of around thirtyscholarsinto one of the mostambitiousgatheredcollectionson Nabokov to date. That the contributions of younger academics are set alongside the worksof leading specialistsis one of the strengthsof this collection. The broad range of scholars from different countries and differentgenerations ensures that these two volumes of dense scholarshipreflectboth currenttendencies as well as new developmentsin Nabokov studies. The collection sets out as 'an investigationinto the agencies and influences that formed Nabokov and helped fashion his art' (vol. I, p. 3). While the first volume is dedicatedto the factorsand influencesthat shapedNabokov'sworld view, the second part concentrates on his fiction and its reception. Graysonis well aware of the precariousness of such a large-scale project. She suspects that there might be 'something a trifle ridiculous, sterile and, yes, poshlo,in star-watcherscraning theirnecksto seejust how high Nabokov has now risen in the literaryfirmament, [. . .] while academicsponder the weighty matterof "Nabokovstudiestoday" ' (vol. i, p. i). That thiscollection of essays,however, does not shy away from addressingprecisely this 'weighty matter', as well as opening new vistas for future research, represents a major contribution to Nabokov scholarship. Take, for instance, the notorious 'otherworld'which is stillone of the most prominent issues in Nabokov studies -a trend that is reflected in the high number of essaysthat concentrate or at least touch on Nabokov's beyond, his ghosts or his spiritualism.Considering the theme's popularity, it is therefore fitting that the whole collection begins with a general discussion of the treatment of the 'otherworld' in Nabokov studies. Don Barton Johnson's playful suggestion to neglect neither the 'dirty' nor the funny Nabokov in favour of Nabokov the moralist and metaphysicalphilosopher, is contrasted with Brian Boyd's didactic essay which advocates an holistic reading of Nabokov's texts and concludes with the somewhatpatronizinggem...