Yuri Rytkheu

Yuri Sergeyevich Rytkheu (; ; 8 March 1930 – 14 May 2008) was a Chukchi writer, who wrote in both his native Chukchi and in Russian. He is considered to be the father of Chukchi literature.

Early life Yuri Rytkheu was born 18 March 1930 to a family of trappers and hunters. His birthplace, the village of Uelen, was then in the Chukotsky District, Far Eastern Krai; it is now part of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. His grandfather was a shaman.

At birth, he was given the name "Rytgėv", which means "forgotten" in the Chukchi language (from the Chukchi word "рытгэватъё" (rytgėvatʺjo) – "unremembered" or "forgotten" ). Since Soviet institutions did not recognize Chukchi names and the Chukchi do not commonly use surnames, in order to obtain his passport he used his first name as his surname and assumed the first name and patronymic of a Russian geologist he knew.

Career

Soviet years From 1949 until 1954 he studied literature at Leningrad State University. He was only slightly older than 20 when his works started appearing in Young Leningrad (Молодой Ленинград), and then later on in other periodicals such as Ogoniok, Young World (Молодой мир), The Far East (Дальний Восток) and (Смена). In 1953, the publishing company Molodaya Gvardiya (Young Guard) published his first collection of stories The People of Our Coast (Люди нашего берега), in Russian. This book was later translated into Chukchi by A. Smolyana (А. Смоляна). While still a student, Rytkheu also translated the works of Pushkin, Tolstoy, Gorky and into Chukchi. In 1954, he was accepted into the Union of Soviet Writers. The first of these books was a new work called In the Mirror of Oblivion (В зеркале забвения).

His works have been translated into numerous languages, including several national languages of the former USSR. In addition, the composer Eduard Artemyev set his poems to music in a 1985 vocal-instrumental suite The Warmth of the Earth (Тепло Земли). Only a few of his works have been translated into English, including A Dream in Polar Fog , originally published in 1970, which was published by Archipelago Books in 2005. It was also adapted as a film in 1994; directed by .

Other activities and death He travelled extensively around the world on creative trips and with cultural and goodwill visits. As he spoke fluent English, he was invited to give lectures at American universities. He also worked with UNESCO for a time.

He died in Saint Petersburg on 14 May 2008, after a long battle with myeloma. He is buried in near the grave of his wife.

Evolution and reception Colin Thubron summarized his career as follows: For his earlier books, there are those who never forgave him. His slavish pursuit of the Party line and open repudiation of his people's traditions are embarrassingly manifest in works that celebrate the (nonexistent) transformation of his native Chukotka into a Soviet paradigm. ... But by the late 1970s, as the slow literary thaw continued, he started to write differently. Perhaps influenced by the derevenshchiki, the "village writers" who turned for their values to the unspoiled countryside, he began to extol precisely the Chukchi oral culture that he had once repudiated.

Works in translation All of Rytkheu's works are related in some way to the lives of the Chukchi:

Catalan Transliteration of author's name into Catalan: Iuri S. Ritkheu. El darrer xaman txuktxi, (Pagès editors, 2007).

English Reborn to a Full Life, (Moscow : Novosti Press Agency Pub. House, 1977). From Nomad Tent to University, (Moscow : Novosti Press Agency, 1980). Old Memyl Laughs Last: Short Stories, (Moscow: Foreign Languages Pub. House, no date). A Dream in Polar Fog, trans. by Ilona Yazhbin Chavasse (New York: Archipelago Books, 2006). The Chukchi Bible, trans. by Ilona Yazhbin Chavasse (New York: Archipelago Books, 2009). When the Whales Leave, trans. by Ilona Yazhbin Chavasse (Minneapolis: Milkweed Editions, 2019).

French Transliteration of author's name into French: Youri Rytkhèou. L'Étrangère aux yeux bleus, (Babel Series, Actes Sud, 2002). Original title in Russian: Anna Odintzowa (Zurich: Unionsverlag, 1998).

German In German, the author's name is transliterated as Juri Rytchëu. Der Mondhund Unna Der letzte Schamane (The Chukchi Bible) Die Reise der Anna Odinzova Traum im Polarnebel (1993) (A Dream in Polar Fog) Die Suche nach der letzten Zahl Wenn die Wale fortziehen (When the Whales Leave) Unter dem Sternbild der Trauer Im Spiegel des Vergessens (In the Mirror of Oblivion)

Russian "В зеркале забвения" (In the Mirror of Oblivion)

When the Whales Leave

Overview When the Whales Leave was originally published in 1975. It is a short novel which takes as its starting point the Chukchi creation myth, and segues into a generational saga. It also has a similarity—in its reliance upon realism—to the oral storytelling tradition of the Chukchi. Marina Manoukian writes that Ilona Yazhbin Chavasse’s translation of When the Whales Leave “induces a type of hypnosis that compels the reader to read straight through to the end.” She notes that since the narrative is grounded in the Chukchi oral tradition of storytelling, “the very act of writing it down is a form of translation.” Bathsheba Demuth writes that the novel is “spare, evocative” and marks a change in Rytkheu’s work—a turn “toward Chukchi narrative forms, and away from championing industrialized progress.” She notes that in the original Russian, the section where Armagirgin turns to cruel hunting and breaks the equilibrium of nature is reminiscent of the section in The Brothers Karamazov where Dostoevsky “shows the moral consequences of men acting like gods.”

Critical response Colin Thubron writes that Yuri Rytkheu’s final book—in the English translation, The Chukchi Bible—is a return to his roots. He states that the novel’s translation into English, along with that of A Dream in Polar Fog, “will cement [Rytkheu’s] reputation as a world-class writer.” Emily Klenin writes that The Chukchi Bible “combines legend and historical reality,” as well as “the Russian narrative tradition” with “a less inhibited Chukchi oral tradition of humor.” She argues that The Chukchi Bible does not represent as stark a division between his Soviet work and his post-Soviet work as other critics have written. Klenin states that Rytkheu was concerned with “folkloric and ethnographic” themes for much of his career, including in his pre-Soviet work. The review praises Rytkheu’s “clear, compassionate prose.” The review draws a comparison to James Houston’s The White Dawn and V.K. Arseniev’s Dersu the Trapper, and concludes that the novel “merits a place in the small but rich library devoted to the peoples of Siberia and the Arctic.” While Brougher takes issue with some of the translated prose, she appreciates “how naturally Rytkheu integrates the customs, traditions, rituals, mythology, and religion beliefs of the Chukchi into the fabric of the story.” Paula Persoleo agrees that while the novel “is a work of fiction. . .it is presented as the ethnography of an ancient people.” She adds that “the story of a white man who sees the beauty of living a life close to nature is not a new one, but the desire John shows for the preservation of the Chukchi way of life is new and personal to Rytkheu,” since “he is a native Chukchi.” Richardson argues further, however, that “Rytkheu does not fall into the trap of easy platitudes and sentimentality.”

King writes as well that Ilona Yazhbin Chavasse’s translation of A Dream in Polar Fog is “beautiful and engaging.”