Karlos Grigorievich Sherman
(Шэрман Карлас Рыгоравіч)
Poet and Translator; October 25, 1934 -- March 4, 2005
![[ Photograph: Karlos Sherman ]](sherman-s.jpg)
Karlos Grigorievich Sherman(Шэрман Карлас Рыгоравіч)Poet and Translator; October 25, 1934 -- March 4, 2005 |
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Photo Credit: Накірункі Свету (The Cardinal Points). A book-length poem in four translations, Беларускі кнігазбор, Mensk (2000); frontispiece.
Karlos Sherman: "If you have brains, do not leave your country, but change it!"A son of a Belarusian immigrant and Indian national, Sherman was born in Montevideo (Uruguay) and did his studies in Buenos-Aires (Argentina). He traveled all across South America, part of Europe and Northern Africa. He translated from Spanish into Russian and Belarusian over 20 books. He wrote many himself, his last book being dedicated to the American Indians. Karlos have been living in Minsk since mid-50ies. He's married, has children and grandchildren. Works as the Vice-President of the Belarusian PEN Centre. Apart from Spanish, Russian and Belarusian speaks Italian and French.
You want to immigrate? - he asked me with certain irritation notes in his voice: How about we all move away and leave Belarus to Lukashenko? If you say you're smart, stay here and change life in your home-country. Otherwise, you'll just spoil it more.
Karlos Grigorievich, why have you returned to Belarus?
My father left Western Belarus for Argentina in search of a better life. Ever since he has been always homesick. When my mother took out of the oven a huge golden dorado fish, he would tell her: "Do you call it "fish" here? Then you haven't eaten tench!" My mother always bought apples in Rio-Negro - very delicious - while my dad would always recall "bely naliv". At last, in mid-fifties both my parents returned to Belarus. Soon I followed them too.
Did you have a choice to move or stay at home?
I didn't have a choice. When your parents tell you to do something, you're supposed to obey. That's the matter of upbringing, I guess. I had everything in Argentina: job, friends, sunshine and ocean. I traveled every day in a tram, from the window of which one could admire the blue waters of lagoon. But parents are more important.
Is it because of some religious background?
Religion is different. I separate religion and church. The temple is inside of me, so I seldom go to church.
Remember Akhmatova: "They changed my life. It goes another way now…" Do these lines speak of you?
No, I'm living my life. I'd put it this way: my father made a mistake by having left Belarus for Argentina. I repeated his mistake, as well. I would never recommend anyone to immigrate, no matter what circumstances. That's the wound, which cannot be healed with time.
You made yourself a living sacrifice?
Not really. I didn't only live for my parents. I simply paid my tribute to them and lived my life. When I found myself in the new environment, I simply continued working and exploring it.
Were you stunned by the way things were here?
What could we know then about our homeland? We were regularly posted "Farmer" magazine, with photos of well-fed Russian women and "The Soviet Union" magazine, printed on high quality Finnish paper. But bear in mind that I didn't come from the USA, but from Argentina, where home-grown dictators were also in abundance. I lived through the times of dictator Peron's reign in Argentina, heard about dictator Gonzalez Videl of Chili, who banished Pablo Neruda. We shouldn't fear dictators, but rather oppose them.
Do you want to immigrate?
You know, frustration about one's home country is our top priority problem of the moment. No, I don't want to. Nor does my family. I'm in love with Belarus. Somehow many believe that there's nothing you can change here. That's just not true. One can do things even in some Central African regions, populated by savage cannibal tribes!
All Belarus citizens owe credit to their country, is that what you're saying?
Surely. That's their Motherland.
Is it something to be estimated above one's personal life?
Our life needs to be put in conformity with this our duty.
What do we owe to the nation, which denies independence and welcomes the dispersal of the Parliament?
You see, two hundred years of imperial Russia's yoke couldn't but cast its shadow on today's events. Then there was this war with Poland. Belarusians' national identity was eradicated. Let's take Jamaica for example. The Spanish came and brought in their language and religion. 20 years later Jamaican young man tells the Jamaican young lady that he loves her - in Spanish, rather than his native language. Then there came the Britons and annihilated everything Spanish. In 20 years' time an average Jamaican guy is a protestant and speaks English. Something similar happened to Belarus. Belarusian language was forbidden, its history being numerously re-written. They cleared off people's memory. And don't be surprised now that people deny their own culture.
Fine, we have this dreadful past - 2 hundred years of slavery. But we also have modern tendencies - economic globalization, cultural integration et cetera. Any normal person wants to live in a civilized world right now, rather than persevere trials and sorrows on his way to the better future. So what are we supposed to do? Living on the edge is something you don't want to choose…
It's not us who reached the edge. We had been pushed there by force, which is something totally different. First, we got to realize what happened and then we'll be able to get ourselves out of the ditch. The road to the civilized world lies through normal independence, friendly relations with all countries, Russia included, and neutrality. Belarus is an originally European country and it needs to follow the European path - healthy trade relations, advanced science and intelligentsia.
If I feel like reading some good poetry, I take a book by Ahmatova, rather than that of the Belarusian poets. When my daughter grew up I re-read the "Station controller" by Pushkin, as far as he learnt more about adolescents, than anyone before or after him. Russian language gives more food to my soul than the Belarusian one. I'm not saying it's good, but that's just the way it is. Meantime, many believe that our national revival can only be brought about if we restore our national language…
Independence is first and foremost a political, economic and cultural phenomenon. To me the national identity, economy and politics are all equally important. Vatslav Gavel is a humanist, but he concentrated on economy, not forgetting politics and culture. And you know the result. Language problems are something more difficult to resolve. Our Belarusian PEN-Center is involved in the international program on linguistic rights. We expect them to pass international convention on the issue, which would lift the problem of linguistic minority and majority. There's the language of the community. "Community" stands for the country, history and territory of residence. And there also exist groups of individuals who desire to study their native language. Russian language is in the same dire straight in present-day Belarus as the Belarusian one. It's very poor and primitive here. It's sort of a mixture of the two, as I call it. That's a usual problem of all aboriginal tribes. Finally, the problem of rights' harmonization. If the problem gets resolved, no one will force you to speak Russian or Belarusian. This has to happen on the level of mutual respect and harmony. The state is responsible for sound language development on its territory. (from the European experience - there are two official languages in Finland and, nonetheless, true independence)
Some assume that if it weren't for the native language of the Baltic States, they would have never acquired sovereignty.
The Baltic region was lucky that the Soviets came there too late. The language there fulfilled the protective function. Even at Soviet times you could ask someone in Tallinn in Russian and get no response. Today they would gladly answer you - Russians no longer pose any threat to Estonians. It's all different now.
Do we have an elite of intellectuals here?
We do but they are very few. After the dissolution of the USSR there were 600 members of the Writers' Union. When in 1989 Ales Adamovich, Vasil Bykov and I attempted to set up a Belarusian PEN-Center, we could hardly get 20 people involved. Of course, Svetalana Aleksievich, Rygor Baradulin and Ales Ryazanov are our national heroes, but they are too few to fulfill their historic function of the moment. Fortunately, we are getting more of the young names, especially young essay-writers. That's encouraging. But we need to win time. I'm convinced that time is working for the benefit of our independence.
Did you feel euphoria during Gorbachov's perestroika?
You bet I did. But I came back to my senses when I saw on TV how they made fun of Sakharov. That was disgusting. Then there followed the Karabakh tragedy. The Soviet system possessed potential reserves, also financial. Belarus is sort of a Russian testing area. Everything that proves successful here is soon tried in Russia. I'm alarmed at the ongoing processes there. It's very disturbing, let me tell you.
Do we have a chance for revival?
We do. But to my regret we don't have our Havel, Valensa, Sakharov, or even Yeltsin.
But if we never have appropriate figures at the right times, doesn't that mean we are a doomed nation?
They will emerge. It's just that we're more humiliated at this time of transition. And we need more time. Today I feel as though I was in Argentina during Peron's rule. But I'm positive that we'll get democracy re-instituted here. Though it will cost us something. It'll cost us dearly.
Komsomolskaya Pravda Note:
The Belarusian PEN Centre is a non-governmental, non-profit, non-political organization of writers and is part of the International PEN-club. It is a professional union of writers, set up to promote intellectual cooperation, whose branches are in over 100 states of the world. The club was founded back in 1921 in London. (At the time of this interview, the President of the Belarusian PEN-Center was Vasil' Bykaŭ).
Interview by Anna Leshkevich, Komsomolskaya Pravda, republished on the Charter 97 Web site (November, 2000) but apparently no longer available there.