The Image of the Wolf and the Artistic Realization of the Concept of Paradise in the Aleś Navaryc’s Novel "The Lithuanian Wolf’ Cover Image

Вобраз ваўка і мастацкая рэалізацыія канцэпту раю ўрамане Алеся Наварыіча „Літоўскі воўк’’
The Image of the Wolf and the Artistic Realization of the Concept of Paradise in the Aleś Navaryc’s Novel "The Lithuanian Wolf’

Author(s): Dzmitry Kliabanau
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Studies of Literature, Belarussian Literature
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Warmińsko-Mazurskiego w Olsztynie
Keywords: modern Belarusian literature; historical novel; the image of the wolf and werewolf; interpretation of the image of paradise

Summary/Abstract: Aleś Navaryc’s historical novel “The Lithuanian Wolf” continued to pursue the traditions established by Uladzimir Karatkievic. The main subject of the story is the picture of the Belarusian society in the second half of the XIX century on the eve of the Kastuś Kalinouski’s uprising. “The Lithuanian wolf” is characterized by a specific hypertext and allusiveness. The title of the novel contains a clear allusion to the historical and cultural tradition of the use of the name “Lithuania” in relation to the Belarusian territory which was the core of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, as well as a reference to the image of the wolf and werewolf, well-known since pagan times. The image of the wolf in the Navaryc’s novel is ambivalent, and the reason of this ambivalence is a parallel existence of two systems of the perception of the world in the Belarusian culture, resulting in the blend of a special folk sacralization of nature and culture as a divine creation. The image of paradise has an interesting and specific interpretation in the novel. The appearance of forest robbers-werewolves becomes the introduction to the paradisiacal motif. In the context of the conceptualization of paradise in this novel, on one hand, the influence of the apocryphal tradition and an allusion to the biblical texts should be noted. On the other hand, there is a clear correlation with the concept of the homeland as a lost paradise and the necessity of sacrifice for its future and independence.

  • Issue Year: VII/2016
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 201-220
  • Page Count: 19
  • Language: Belarusian