Like Water, Like Fire
ISBN 0-04-891041-4 | |
Like Water, Like Fire is the first and still the most comprehensive anthology of Belarusian poetry in English translation. Its full title is Like water, like fire: an anthology of Byelorussian poetry from 1828 to the present day. It was published in London in the UNESCO Collection of Representative Works series in 1971. The translator of all works was
Content
The book's title comes from
by forces unknown / New-created, like water, like fire![1]: 21 [3]
The book consists of 221 poems and poetry fragments by 41 authors[4]
It begins with the only known poem by Paŭliuk Bahrym, ‘Play Then, Play’, which was taught in the schools of Soviet Belarus as the earliest example of peasants’ liberation literature. It continues with works by Francišak Bahuševič and Janka Łučyna from the mid-19th century and ends with the Soviet Belarusian authors Maksim Tank and Arkadź Kulašoŭ.
The book begins with acknowledgements and a 10-page introduction, in which the translator discusses the historical context of the published works and of Belarusian literature as a whole. The translator also explains the pronunciation of the names and transliterated words of Belarusian origin, for which she uses a Belarusian Latin alphabet.
The anthology is divided into seven chronological parts. Each part begins with a short introduction to the corresponding literary period and ends with the translator's detailed commentaries to the published works.
Analysis
The Belarusian diaspora and specialists in Belarusian studies welcomed the anthology and recommended it to their readers. They also criticized its shortcomings.
Alexander Nadson, head of the Belarusian Catholic community in London, who knew Rich for many years and assisted her with translations, recalled that the translator kept the exact content of the anthology secret, alluding this was due to a possible influence of one of the book's funders.[5] He noted that Rich was most productive under pressure which might explain the varied quality of translations.[6] In a short critical article he quoted Nił Hilevič's A Wonder Came (Belarusian: Цуд тварыўся) as an example of a successful translation. He also regretted that a significant number of works selected for the anthology were of poor quality. He predicted the next chance for such a publication wouldn't happen soon.[7]
Anton Adamovič of the Belarusan Institute of Arts and Sciences, New York, corroborated McMillin's criticism. He noted that contemporary (that is, post-World War II) Soviet Belarusian poetry was represented most extensively: 29 out of 41 authors of the anthology were living at the time of the publication; 165 out of 221 poems were composed and published in Soviet Belarus. Most of those works were also translated well, "particularly the poems by Tank, Kulašoŭ, Pančanka, Pysin, Baradulin, and Hilevič".[4] However, the 1920s - one of the most fruitful periods for the Belarusian literature and culture - was represented by only one poem. The whole of pre-Soviet Belarusian poetry was represented by 56 poems of nine authors.[4] None of the poets of the post-Second World War Belarusian diaspora were included. Adamovič admitted that the book had "many apt observations and comments in the introduction and in the numerous notes",[4] however it contained "just as many misunderstandings and factual errors".[4] This led him to suggest that while the book would be useful and enjoyable for general readers, "journalists and scholars [...] should be cautious when using the anthology for quotations and comments."[4]
Thirty years after the anthology's appearance, a US-based scholar, Lavon Jurevič, wrote that the anthology "is a unique edition even today; it is indeed the only one of its kind in a positive sense, because of its quality and coverage, but also in a negative sense, it being the only one".[10]
In 2012, Svetlana Skomorokhova produced a detailed analysis of the anthology as part of her doctoral thesis on the English translation of Belarusian literature.
Curious facts
Acknowledgements
The one page and half of the Acknowledgements section reads like a piece of smart comedy. It begins with acknowledging 13 libraries and research institutions which assisted Vera Rich with "help and advice": mostly libraries in Britain (incl. the
A paragraph of the Acknowledgements is dedicated to the members of the Belarusian community in London, incl. "Bishop Česlaǔ Sipovič, for his valuable advice on all Church matters"; Rev. Alexander Nadson, "for supplying much of the bibliographical detail"; Rich's tutors in Belarusian, Dominik Aniśka and "Leǔ Haroška, whom for so long I drove to distraction with my inability to master the pronunciation of the hard 'ł'". The only person from the Soviet Belarus mentioned in the Acknowledgements was Jazep Siemiažon , a translator who Rich had never met, "for his suggested list of inclusions".
At the end of the section Rich explains that the work on the anthology spread over 18 years. It made many people weary of the translator's problems related to the book. The final gratitude is addressed to "the
Dustjackets
The book appeared with two different dust jackets. One featured an oak leaf while the other featured a historical coat of arms, the Pahonia. Its designer's name is mentioned in the book: Stewart Irwin.
According to Janka Zaprudnik, the National Commission for UNESCO of the
The reprinted dust jacket had neither the Pahonia nor an oak leaf; it was plain sky-blue with bold lettering. The price went up from £4.50 to £4.95. Both editions — at variance with the established bibliographical practice — carried the same ISBN, which makes finding the copies with the original dustjacket more difficult.[5][6]
References
- ^ OCLC 207773.
- ISSN 1054-9455. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
- ^ a b c Будзіч, А. (1972). "Савецкая канфіскацыя анталёгіі ЮНЭСКА" [The Soviet confiscation of the UNESCO anthology]. Беларус (in Belarusian). No. 179.
- ^ S2CID 164359195.
- ^ a b Ivanou, Ihar (2017-03-17). "The First Anthology of Belarusian Poetry in English: Sponsors and Censors - European studies blog". European Studies Blog. British Library. Retrieved 2021-04-19.
- ^ a b Іваноў, Ігар (2017-03-02). "Like Water, Like Fire: Першая анталогія беларускай паэзіі на англійскай мове" [Like Water, Like Fire: the first anthology of Belarusian poetry in English]. Francis Skaryna Belarusian Library and Museum (in Belarusian). Retrieved 2021-04-19.
- ^ Надсон, А. (1971). "Рэцэнзія" [Review]. Божым шляхам (4): 7–8.
- ^ JSTOR 4206495.
- ^ S2CID 220926860.
- ISBN 985-6638-71-2.
[А]нталёгія "Як агонь, як вада" й сёньня з'яўляецца ўнікальным выданьнем; прычым унікальным і ў станоўчым пляне - сваёю якасьцю, гэтак і ў адмоўным - тым, што яна адзіная.
- ^ a b c d e f Skomorokhova, Svetlana (2012). "Arising from the depths" (Kupala) : a study of Belarusian literature in English translation (PDF) (phd thesis). University of Warwick.