The Anthology of Old Belarusian Literature, Edited by Halina Tvaranovich, in the Context of the Problem of the Belarusian Literary Canon

Abstract

: The anthology Starabelaruskaâ lìtaratura XI–XVIII stagoddzâŭ (Bialystok 2004), edited by Halina Tvaranovich, is reviewed in the context of the literary canon and literary historiography (Literaturgeschichtsschreibung). The article presents a brief overview of the history of the arrangement of collections of texts of ancient Belarusian literature, beginning with the edition of Bronislav Epimach-Szypillo’s Belaruskaâ hrèsta-matyâ . Separate considerations are devoted to the chrestomathy edited by Alex ander Korshunov (1959), which was a landmark textbook that was simultaneously important for Belarusian historical-literary research and Belarusian literature didactics. The concept of the Bialystok textbook is compared with the scholarly approaches of Bela-rusian literary historians of the previous period, starting with Maksim Harecki. The innovativeness of Halina Twaranovich’s approaches in arranging the chresto mathy was emphasized, as well as the possibility of linking her scientific ideas with the theory of cultural memory, with Pierre Nora’s concept of “place of me mory”