Narbut, V.I.

Keywords

List of most relevant works associated with Africa

Poems:

V puti [En route], “Sel’skii vestnik”, 27.01.1913

Pustynia Somaliiskaia [Somali Desert], “Sel’skii vestnik”, 28.04.1913

Dzhedda [Jeddah], “Ves’ mir”, 1913, 17

Prokazhennye v Kharare [Lepers in Harar], “Novyi zhurnal dlia vsekh”, 1913, 5

Abissiniia [Abyssinia], “Giperborei”, 1913, 9/10

Prose:

Gorod rasa Makonena [The city of Ras Makonnen], “Ves’ mir”, 1913, 20

Rozhdestvenskaia noch’ v Abissinii [Christmas eve in Abyssinia], “Varshavskii dnevnik”, 27.12.1913

Overview

Born into a Ukrainian noble family of Lithuanian descent, Vladimir (Volodymyr) Narbut was a Russian and Soviet poet and literary critic, a member of the Acmeist group. His relationship with Africa dates back to 1912, when he left Russia after the scandal caused by the publication of his collection of poems Alliluiia (Hallelujah). Apparently following Gumilev’s advice, he went to Ethiopia, spending there a few months and returning to Russia in early 1913, after the news about a general amnesty had reached him. Not much is known about the time he spent in Ethiopia and the precise circumstances of his journey. Only a few letters bear testimony of this period in his life, which nevertheless resulted in literary works (poetry and prose alike). His “African” production is considered more factual and concerned with social problems than that of fellow Acmeist Gumilev (cf. for instance the poem Lepers in Harar).

References

R. Timenchik, “Narbut Vladimir Ivanovich”, in Russkie pisateli 1800-1917. Biograficheskii slovar’, t. 4, ed. by P. Nikolaev, Moskva 1999, p. 227-230;

O. Lekmanov, O chem mogli (by) pogovorit’ Vladimir Narbut i Aleksandr Bulatovich, “Zvezda”, 2007, 1, https://zvezdaspb.ru/index.php?page=8&nput=689;

E. Chach, N.S. Gumilev i A.K. Bulatovich: Puteshestviia v Efiopiiu v kontekste serebrianogo veka, in E. Steiner (ed. by), Orientalizm-Oksidentalizm. Iazyki kul’tur i jazyki ikh opisaniia, Moskva 2012, p. 226-240.A.F.

A.F.