Abstract
The year 2020 started inauspiciously with the coronavirus epidemic still far
away in China. Yet soon, before Easter, this ugly reality
hit closer to home, in Belarus and across Europe. Present-day Belarus’s most inventive and innovative writer, Alhierd Bacharevič, finished his new book in February. With his sensitive antennae, the
author, who lives in the here and now,
interwove into the narrative the theme
of a plague as a premonition of the end
of the world, long before the World
Health Organisation actually declared this outbreak
a pandemic in March. One
of the very few independent
Belarusian-language publishers, Januškievič swiftly
brought out this pleasingly crafted volume in June,
or at the plateauing end of
the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe.
It was published just in time for readers to ponder on what the future may
bring; again, well before the mass protests that followed the rigged presidential election of August 2020.
away in China. Yet soon, before Easter, this ugly reality
hit closer to home, in Belarus and across Europe. Present-day Belarus’s most inventive and innovative writer, Alhierd Bacharevič, finished his new book in February. With his sensitive antennae, the
author, who lives in the here and now,
interwove into the narrative the theme
of a plague as a premonition of the end
of the world, long before the World
Health Organisation actually declared this outbreak
a pandemic in March. One
of the very few independent
Belarusian-language publishers, Januškievič swiftly
brought out this pleasingly crafted volume in June,
or at the plateauing end of
the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe.
It was published just in time for readers to ponder on what the future may
bring; again, well before the mass protests that followed the rigged presidential election of August 2020.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 155-158 |
Journal | New Eastern Europe |
Issue number | 6 |
Publication status | Published - 16 Nov 2020 |
Keywords
- Belarusian literature
- dystopia
- pandemic
- authoritarianism