Arnold Barratt McMillin (Арнольд Макмілін) Academic, Writer, Editor, etc. born:   June 21, 1941 Go to the Belarusian Writers Web page     Go to the Famous Belarusians Web page     Go to the A Belarus Miscellany Topic List Search the A Belarus Miscellany Web site Note: These Web pages are in Unicode (UTF-8) font encoding).

Only recently available, Dr. McMillin's newest book, Writing in a Cold Climate: Belarusian Literature from the 1970s to the Present Day (MHRA Texts and Dissertations) (2010), available from amazon.com & amazon.co.uk (and other sources):

Belarusian literature, which survives and, indeed, flourishes in the face of unfavourable domestic political conditions, deserves to be far better-known in the West. It continues to flourish as an important aspect of national consciousness in a semi-denationalized state, and at its best can compare with the literature of its Slav neighbours, including Russia. The present monograph, the first of its kind, attempts to describe and assess the work of nearly two hundred writers and literary groups, ranging over poetry, prose and drama. The coverage includes provincial as well as metropolitan literature and groupings, and pays particular attention to seven outstanding authors of the period, to historical writing which is particularly important in a country where history has been suppressed and denied, and to the youngest generation of talented poets and prose writers born in the early 1980s at the very end of the Soviet Union's existence. The book is extensively illustrated with examples of poetry in Belarusian with English translation, and of prose and drama translated into English. There is a comprehensive Bibliography of some seventeen hundred primary and secondary sources, and an extensive Index of Names to aid access to individual writers covered.

Contents

• Brief introduction

• Brief biographical sketch

• Selected (Belarus-related) Bibliography

• Links to Articles on the Internet

  Note: These Web pages are in Unicode (UTF-8) font encoding).

Introduction

Professor McMillin's contributions to Belarusian literature for English speakers have been invaluable. If someone were to ask who to read in English about Belarusian literature, only a few names come to mind: Arnold McMillin (for his descriptive and critical writings and lectures), and Vera Rich (for her poetry translations, essays, other writings, and activities) are certainly at the top of everyone's list.

Certainly Ms. Rich and Mr. McMillin are not the only two people who have spent a large portion of their professional lives writing about, translating Belarusian works, visiting Belarus, and so forth, but clearly, no others have made Belarusian literature and culture so accessible (and with a great deal of insight and sensitivity) to non-Belarusian language reading, English readers.

Brief Biographical Sketch

Arnold McMillin, who has just retired from the post of Professor of Russian Literature at SSEES/UCL [September, 2006], is best known for his work on Belarusian literature, but has also written extensively on Russian literature and music. His writing on music includes the publication of the first known secular Russian songbook (1733), studies of the settings of Pushkin’s lyrics, Gogol’s St. Petersburg stories, Chekhov and Dostoevskii, as well as on the relationship between Pushkin and Rimskii-Korsakov. Professor McMillin’s publications, in addition to numerous edited volumes and articles on Russian literature, include The Vocabulary of the Byelorussian Literary Language in the 19th Century (1973), A History of the Byelorussian Literature from its Origins to the Present Day (1977), Belarusian Literature in the 1950s and 1960s: Release and Renewal (1999, translated into Belarusian, 2001) and Belarusian Literature of the Diaspora (2002, translated into Belarusian, 2004). He is currently engaged on a major monograph on contemporary Belarusian literature.

After graduating with first class honours in Russian Language and Literature (with Latin) at SSEES in 1963, and then having spent a year in Moscow, Arnold McMillin was appointed as Lecturer in Russian Language and Literature at SSEES in 1965. In 1971 he gained a doctorate in Slavonic philology, and in 1976 he was made Bowes Professor of Russian at Liverpool University. He returned to SSEES in 1987. He has been President of the British Universities Association of Slavists (1984-86), and served as British representative on the International Committee of Slavists (1979-88). He is currently President of the Modern Humanities Research Association.

(Note: Excerpt from the: Great Britain - Russia Society Web site.)

Professor Arnold McMillin is currently the 2006 President of the Modern Humanities Research Association (MHRA), and gave his presidential address on March 17, 2006 (London): ‘Small is Sometimes Beautiful: Studying “Minor” Cultures at University, with particular reference to Belarus’.

(Note: Excerpt from the: Modern Humanities Research Association Web site.)

Selected Bibliography

Belarus-related Publications

• Writing in a Cold Climate: Belarusian Literature from the 1970s to the Present Day (MHRA Texts and Dissertations) (2010)
• Belarusian Literature of the Diaspora (2002)
• Belarusian Literature in the 1950s and 1960s: Release and Renewal (1999)
• The Images Swarm Free: Poems of Ales Harun, Maksim Bahdanovic, and Zmitrok Biadula. Translated by Vera Rich; edited and with an introduction by Arnold McMillin (1982)
• A History of Byelorussian Literature (Die Literatur der Weissrussen): From its Origins to the Present Day (1977)
• The Vocabulary of the Byelorussian Literary Language in the Nineteenth Century (1973)

Note: Some of the following links have changed since the information was collected. You may want to (1) start with the base URL for that link, or (2) use your favorite Web search tool to attempt to locate the material.

• Aesopic Language in Belarusian Literature of the 1920s: The Poetry of Dubouka and Pušča   на Беларуская Інтэрнэт - Бібліятэка Камунікат.
• History through the prism of literature — Uładzimier Arłoŭ and some of his contemporaries. This version has interesting annotations (on the www.arlou.org Web site).   Annus Albaruthenicus/Год Беларускі, № 7 / 2006 г., на Старонках Камунікатую.
• Taras na Parnasie.   annotated and translated by Arnold McMillin and Vera Rich. The Journal of Byelorussian Studies, Vol. IV, No. 1, 1977.   Abstract of article only - at this Web location
• Anatol Sys – A Soul in Torment by Arnold B. McMillin.   Annus albaruthenicus = Год беларускі, Issue 6 (2005), 149-177. [Note: This link is to a "PDF", not a Web page.]

• The previous article translated into Belarusian: Анатоль Сыс – пакутная душа (Арнольд Макмілін).
• Bykaŭ and Baradulin: A Creative Literary Friendship by Arnold McMillin.   This lecture was given to the Anglo-Belarusian Society in 2004.
• Academician Ja. F. Karski (1861-1931).   (Яўхім Карскі; Ефим Карский)   by Arnold B. McMillin. The Journal of Byelorussian Studies, Vol. I, No. 3, Year III. London, 1967; pp. 207-215.
• "Vitaut Kipel: A Transatlantic View" (Запісы, № 28; Беларускага Інстытуту Навукі й Мастацтва; New York—Miensk, 2005. — 274 с. in PDF format).
• "Arnold McMillin. Skaryna and the Diaspora" (Менск: БелФранс, 2004) in The Role of the Belarusian Diaspora in Preserving and Developing Belarusian Culture: Матэрыялы Міжнароднай канфэрэнцыі (Лёндан, 29—30 верасьня 2001 г.) / Укл. І. Іваноў, І. Лабацэвіч. — Менск: БелФранс, 2004. — 109 с. Also see Роля беларускай дыяспары ў захаваньні і разьвіцьці беларускае культуры: Матэрыялы Міжнароднай канфэрэнцыі (Лёндан, 29—30 верасьня 2001 г.) for purchase information.
• See Belarusians in Britain Web Blog for links to two articles:
  • "Нужно быть не оригинальным, а гениальным." - Інтэрв'ю з прафэсарам Арнольдам МакМілінам, апублікаваным у “Беларусь сегодня” (Менск) 23 красавіка 2005; and
  • "Наш человек в Лондоне". - Інтэрв'ю з прафэсарам Арнольдам МакМілінам, апублікаваным у “Белорусская деловая газета” (Менск) 15 красавіка 2005.