Wasyl Bykow in the eyes of Aleksy Karpiuk: autobiographical novel Farewell to Illusions Cover Image

Аўтабіяграфічная аповесць Развітанне з ілюзіямі: Васіль Быкаў вачыма Аляксея Карпюка
Wasyl Bykow in the eyes of Aleksy Karpiuk: autobiographical novel Farewell to Illusions

Author(s): Anna Sakowicz
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Studies of Literature, Belarussian Literature
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Warmińsko-Mazurskiego w Olsztynie
Keywords: Grodno; autobiographism; friendship; creativity; socio-political situation in Belarus;political persecution;

Summary/Abstract: This article analyses the memories about Wasyl Bykow (1924–2003), one of the most outstanding Belarusian prose writers Aleksy Karpiuk (1920–1992) included in the book Farewell to Illusions (2007). Particular attention is paid to the writer’s life in Grodno and his friendship with A. Karpiuk, an artist born in Straszewo in the Bialystok region, the author of many works describing the reality of the borderland of north-eastern Poland. A. Karpiuk truly describes twenty-two years shared with his friend in Grodno, in a period unfavorable for rebellious writers. The writer shows the personality of Bykow, focuses on the socio-political aspect of life in the second half of the twentieth century, but tactically ignores the private sphere. A. Karpiuk, on the occasion of describing the problems that the literary milieu struggled with, gives his own assessment of the socio-political situation in Belarus.

  • Issue Year: 4/2018
  • Issue No: XXIII
  • Page Range: 33-44
  • Page Count: 12
  • Language: Belarusian