An attempt to build the life of our country 
 based on differences in race and skin color as 
 as such, it will be disastrous for us. 
 
 

Olivia Schreiner

Is it easy to imagine that a writer from South Africa was published in our country more than a hundred years ago? What did Maxim Gorky write about Olivia Schreiner and publish her stories in the newspaper Nizhegorodsky Listok back in 1899? And that even then, at the end of the nineteenth century, Gorky was not the first person to introduce it to the Russian reader?

Yes, it was! As early as 1893, a complete translation of her novel "The Story of an African Farm" was published in the St. Petersburg magazine "Bulletin of Foreign Literature" (Schreiner, 1893). And then?

Whether you leaf through Niva or Russkaya Mysl, Zhurnal Dlya Vsego, or Literaturnye Vechera, you'll find some of her stories. It was also translated in the Pictorial Review, The New Century, The World of God, Russian Wealth, The Northern Lights, and the Bulletin of Foreign Literature... Her books were published both in publications intended for "intelligent readers" and in the mass series "Book by Book". Her books were published both before the revolution and after, in the 1920s (Schreiner, 1929). In 1974, in Moscow, the publishing house "Khudozhestvennaya Literatura" published her "Favorites "[Schreiner, 1974]^.1

What a strong and resonant voice this woman had, if it resonated so loudly in Russia-thousands and thousands of kilometers away, from the other side of the world. From what is now the Republic of South Africa, then the Cape Colony, and not even from any of the famous places of that land-the Cape of Good Hope, Cape Town, but from the real backwater in Southern Africa, where she lived when she was young. As journalists like to write - in the outback.

Yet it was the first voice from Southern Africa to be heard not only in the capitals of St. Petersburg and Moscow, but also in various parts of Russia.

Why did Olivia Schreiner (1855-1920) deserve such attention in our country? She is considered the ancestor of English-language fiction in South Africa. Since the 1880s, she has become known far beyond the borders of her homeland. Her works were published many times in England, translated into German, Afrikaans (the language of Afrikaners-Boers), French, Dutch, Czech... Chesterton called O. Schreiner "the only genius that the [Cape] Colony has produced."

The article was prepared with the support of the Russian State Scientific Foundation (grant No. 06-01-00538a).

¹ The introductory article to this publication, "Olivia Schreiner and Her Books," was written by the author of this paper.

page 72

She was admired by people as diverse as Gladstone, Kipling, Cecil Rohde, Charles Dilke, George Meredith. Bernard Shaw was a friend of hers [Gregg, 1957, p. 27].

So the interest in Olivia Schreiner in Russia is not surprising at all. Surprisingly different. The most complete and probably the best book about her lists countless translations of her books into many languages of the world [First and Scott, 1980, p. 370-376], but completely ignores the translations into Russian. The authors did not forget that in 1907 one of the collections of her short stories was published in Ukrainian, and translations into Esperanto were mentioned. But not a word about the numerous editions of her books in Russian and her influence in Russia.

This article is intended to fill this gap.

Olivia Schreiner was born on March 24, 1855, to a missionary family in the town of Wittebergen ("White Mountains"), deep in the Cape Colony, on the southern bank of the Orange River. Now near these places is the border between the Republic of South Africa and the Kingdom of Lesotho.

Her father, a missionary, was from Germany. My mother is from England. They settled in Southern Africa in 1838, still young-their father was twenty-four, and their mother was twenty.

They lived among the Basuts and Koi-koins (Hottentots). Both became attached to South Africa and remained there for the rest of their lives. My father lived there for about 40 years, and my mother-65.

The girl named Olivia was their ninth child. Since childhood, she showed independence and independence of character, and her father did not impose his religious views on her. The family could not give her a systematic education. The family budget was already burdensome: three brothers were sent to study at Cambridge. Olivia, when she was seventeen, had to work as a governess on a Boer farm.

page 73

But the family upbringing was also beneficial. The family was, by then South African standards, cultured and liberal. One of the brothers, William, the tenth child in the family, later became, though for a short time, Prime Minister of the Cape Colony. In the history of the country, he remained not only as a liberal prime minister, but also as one of the rare statesmen who spoke out in defense of Africans.

Olivia Schreiner's views were also shaped by what she read, and she often read books on philosophy, economics, theology, history, and politics instead of school textbooks. And in general, almost all the time I tried to study, either by myself or under the guidance of Theo's older brother, Theophilus, who was a school teacher.

In her notes, a sheet with a daily schedule was preserved. She compiled it when she was 14 years old: from 6 to 8 - French and German; from 9 to 10-music; from 10 to 11-Latin; from 11 to 12 - mathematics; from 1 to 2-drawing; from 2 to 3-painting; from 3 to 4 - Latin; from 4 to 5-math; from 6 to 7 - classes with Theo; from 7 to 9-read; from 10 to 1-write.

Thus, for sleep, food and everything that is not directly related to school, the girl gave herself only 7 hours. Such a program was hardly feasible, but it vividly illustrates the tasks that young Olivia set for herself.

And then? School of life. Her universities are Boer farm, where she served as a governess for several years. There she began to write three novels one after the other, and in 1881, when she was 25 years old, she finished working on one of them.

It was " The Story of an African Farm." Olivia sent the manuscript to a friend in Scotland, and later that year she followed it to Europe. In November 1881, she arrived in London. Her plans, though not very definite, included the intention to get a medical education.

But with the release of the "African Farm" in 1883, its fate abruptly changed. The novel was a booming success, selling tens of thousands of copies. He was talked about everywhere, in newspapers and magazines. It was translated into other languages. The novel was published under the pseudonym Ralf Iron [Ralf Iron, 1883]². Olivia Schreiner, like many other famous writers of the 19th century, chose a male pseudonym. But the real name of the author was no secret to anyone, and she became, as the London newspapers wrote,"the lioness of the season."

Olivia Schreiner lived in Europe, mainly in London, until 1889 and was at the center of social and cultural life. Her interests were very broad. She talked about poetry with Oscar Wilde, philosophy with Herbert Spencer, talked to Ryder Haggard, and Gladstone. Schreiner became intimately acquainted with the socialist movement. She met the leader of the German Socialists, Wilhelm Liebknecht, and the leader of the English Socialists, Keir Hardy, knew Karl Marx's family well, became a friend of his youngest daughter, Eleanor, often saw her husband, Eduard Eveling, and visited the Lafargues in France.

O. Schreiner became not only a popular speaker at rallies for women's equality in London, but also one of the first to seriously study the problems that are now called tender. For many years, she has researched the situation of women in both Europe and Africa. The result of this research was the book "Woman and Labor". It was published twice in English in 1911 (in London and Leipzig), in the same year in Dutch and in 1914 in German. The book got hurt-

² The book was reprinted in the same year, and in 1887 - twice, later many times, including in translations: in Dutch (1892), in French (1901), in Czech (1903), in Esperanto (1934)

page 74

There was a great resonance in the public opinion of Europe, and only the World War that began in 1914 diverted wide attention from it.

Olivia Schreiner was also at the origin of the science that is now called sexology. In 1883, she became closely acquainted in England with Havelock Ellis, one of the pioneers of sexology, became his friend and actively helped him in the study of the psychology of sex. Victorian mores, as is well known, did not contribute to the manifestation of interest in gender issues and the collection of information about the intimate aspects of life, especially the sexual life of women. So it was important to Havelock Ellis that Olivia Schreiner talked to him about her feelings and even, it seems, asked her friend Eleanor Marks to share her experience.

Introduction to X. Ellis's relationship with Olivia Schreiner began with the fact that he, like many, came to admire the "African Farm". Even in his old age, he called Olivia "the most remarkable woman of her time" (Ellis, 1939, p. 229). For a time, they had a loving relationship, but even after it ended, there was a friendship that lasted until her death. They exchanged thousands of letters.

In 1889. Olivia Schreiner has returned to her homeland, South Africa. The next decade was fruitful for her - she wrote many short stories and combined them into two books: "Dreams" ³ and "Dreams and Reality" [Ralph Iron, 1893, 1897, 1912].

Her journalistic essays on various aspects of South African life are published. Later, after the writer's death, they were collected and published in a separate book - "Thoughts on South Africa" (Schreiner, 1923, 1927). The titles of the essays are: "The Boer", "The Problem of Slavery", "The Boer's Wanderings", "The Boer Woman and the" Modern Women's Question", "The Boer and his Republics", "The Psychology of the Boer", "The Englishman"... They are so well thought out and so vividly written that they can still be recommended to anyone who is interested in South Africa and its history.

In 1890-1891. Olivia Schreiner, like many in England and South Africa, was influenced by the personality of Cecil Rhodes. But not for long. She was outraged by his actions in the countries he named after himself, Rhodesia, and his attempt in 1895 to capture the Boer Republic of Transvaal. Olivia Schreiner made a brave stand against Cecil Rhodes, then all-powerful in Southern Africa. Her sharply anti-colonial story " Private Peter Holkit in Mashonaland "[Schreiner, 1897, 1899, 1905, 1926 (twice), 1950, 1974...] opened with a unique incriminating document-a photo of a gallows with the corpses of Africans executed by volunteers of Cecil Rhodes ' detachments.

On the eve of the Boer War, she published a book of her reflections on the pre-storm situation in Southern Africa [An English South African's View..., 1899]. And during that war (1899-1902), she courageously opposed British politics. In Britain, the opposite was expected of her: after all, English culture was close to her, she wrote in English, her mother is English. However, Olivia Schreiner, who had previously criticized many things about the Boer lifestyle and mental makeup, came to their defense at this difficult time.

Her protests against the British invasion of the Transvaal and the Orange Republic were so outraged and received such a response in Europe that the British military authorities seized Johannesburg, where the writer was then living, and in effect held her under arrest.

³ Schreiner O. Dreams. London, 1890, 1891 (twice), 1892, 1893, 1894, 1895, 1897, 1903, 1905, 1907, 1908, 1912 (twice), 1913, 1914, 1915, 1917, 1919, 1923 (twice), 1930...

page 75

But the war was over, and within a few years the Boer landlords had found common ground with the English government. In 1906. Olivia Schreiner wrote that she was less interested in the Boer question than before. "They are more than able to take care of themselves. But the fate of the natives worries me incessantly " [The Letters..., 1924. p. 254]. The longer she went on, the more concerned she became about the fate of Africans and other non-white South Africans. In her social activities, she was much closer to the Africans than was considered natural and accepted in her country. Her home was visited by the then most famous African politician, John Tengo Jabawu. In 1910. She left the Cape Town Women's Civil Rights League when the League refused to accept non-white women into its ranks [Gregg, 1957, p. 13].

Olivia Schreiner's vision for the country's future, her political credo, was most fully expressed in 1908. At that time, the Union of South Africa, the predecessor of the current Republic of South Africa, was being created, and the question of its statute and future arrangements was being discussed. Transvaal Leader magazine asked Olivia Schreiner for her opinion. Her answers were published not only in a magazine, but also in a small book [Schreiner, n. d.]. Half a century later, on the eve of the proclamation of the Republic of South Africa, they were reprinted and still sounded relevant.

Olivia Schreiner was very clear: "I am sure that trying to build the life of our country on differences in race or skin color as such will be disastrous for us." When dealing with the racial problem, she insistently suggested looking to the future, and not proceeding solely from the past. "The problem of the twentieth century will not be a repeat of the problem of the nineteenth century or even earlier times. The walls that separated continents from each other are falling down; everywhere, Europeans, Asians, and Africans will live together. The twenty-first century will not see the world as it appears at the dawn of the twentieth century. And the problem that the present century will have to solve is how to achieve the interaction of various human communities on a broader and more beneficial basis, which would ensure the development of all mankind in accordance with modern ideals and modern social requirements" [Schreiner, [n.d.], p.7-8].

Offering her white compatriots an open-eyed view of the future, Olivia Schreiner wrote:: "Not always the Europeans will make up the top layer."

Each nation, she believed, should make its own contribution to the common cause of all mankind. And the task of South Africa, with its multi-racial population, is to set an example of building relationships between different racial groups, "to create a free, spiritually developed, harmonious nation, each part of which would act together with the rest and for the benefit of the rest." In this, Olivia Schreiner saw the historical role of her country, "as great and inspiring a role as any nation has ever had, if only we were strong enough to fulfill it" [Schreiner, [n.d.], p. 7-8].

When discussing what components should form this "South African nation", Olivia Schreiner first of all spoke about Africans, urged them to understand them, respect them, and see them as people. She reminded us that Africans "were already living in South Africa when we came here," and that they would remain in South Africa, not disappear, not die out, as happened to the aborigines of many other countries. Moreover, those who seem to want to get rid of the Africans are actually completely dependent on them, on their work.

She also demanded respect for the Indians who settled in southern Africa, "sane, hardworking and intellectually developed."

"This is the material from which our nation is to be formed; and we are the few and currently undivided dominant white aristo-

page 76

a democracy that is primarily responsible for carrying out social reconstruction - we should be grateful for such human material" [Schreiner, [n. d.], p. 7 - 8,24 - 31].

The country will be strong and rich, Olivia Schreiner argued, if " the population of South Africa is united."

"But if it's not unified?" "What is it?" she asked.

Anticipating that the ruling circles would not want to create a "South African nation", she showed the harmfulness of such a decision for the whites themselves.

"If, blinded by temporary advantages, we still see in our black population only gigantic working hands who work for us; if they are not people for us, but only tools; if they are deprived of land, although they have shown abilities for peasant work... if they are not admitted to the highest forms of labor, if they are not given the rights of citizenship, if they are not allowed to participate in our social organization, even though their own has been destroyed; if these masses, who are not connected with us by feelings of gratitude and sympathy, and are far removed from us in blood and color, we will still only keep Then I'd rather not look into the future of my country...

Until nine-tenths of our population becomes full citizens and has the opportunity to participate in government, how can we feel safe? Will we have peace? One disappointed person who feels that they have been treated unfairly is a vulnerable point in society, but when the vast majority of the country's inhabitants are in this position, it is already a crack in the entire social structure... In the end, the conquered people always put a seal on the conqueror's face... If we raise the black man, we will rise with him; if we trample him under foot, he will pull us back, hampering our movements "[Schreiner, [n. d.], p. 24-31].

Olivia Schreiner titled her thoughts: "Closer Union". This title is its main idea.

It is no exaggeration to say that no one had ever taken such an approach to the racial problem of South Africa before Olivia Schreiner. Or maybe her thoughts extend to the global racial problem? Aren't the views of the South African writer worthy of attention today, and not only in relation to South Africa?

Over the past two decades, O. Schreiner's life has been severely marred by asthma, which has plagued her since childhood. But she continued to lead an active life as much as possible, meeting all sorts of people - with Mohandos Gandhi (he was not yet called the Mahatma Teacher), with the famous suffragist Sylvia Pankhurst...

In the artistic works of O. Schreiner, something may seem outdated these days. But her letters from 1876 to 1920 were published [The Letters..., 1924], and her letters from 1871 to 1899 were even reprinted more thoroughly [Schreiner, 1987]. They are still read with great interest.

* * *

What attracted Russian publishers and readers to the work of Olivia Schreiner? What did they see in him?

Russia's introduction to her books began with "The Story of an African Farm", a novel that brought the author worldwide fame. The translation was published in the Bulletin of Foreign Literature, in four issues, from September to December 1893. A little earlier, one of her short stories appeared in the same magazine [Schreiner 1893]. Most likely, it was published due to the fact that a translation of the novel was being prepared - the story was like the first business card of the author, whose serious acquaintance was being prepared.

page 77

The publication of the translation was accompanied in the journal by a note about the author. I will give it in its entirety. The signature under the note is F. B. [F. Bulgakov?].

"Under the pseudonym Ralph Iron, who owns the novel "African Farm" that we are publishing, there is an English writer Oliva Schreiner, who has already managed to gain fame among English novelists. With one of her later stories, "A dream inspired by wild bees", readers of Vestnik are familiar. Oliva Schreiner is the daughter of a German missionary who, after marrying an Englishwoman (the daughter of a London preacher), went to South Africa in 1836 to preach Christianity, and she was born and lived in Africa until very recently. So what she portrays in "The Story of an African Farm" was experienced by her. To characterize the author of this "Story", it is interesting to quote Oliva Schreiner's statement about the origin of her novel. An English critic of" Story of an African Farm "remarked that he would rather have a book"that tells of wild adventures, of herds of cattle driven by bushmen into impenetrable abysses, of fights with predatory lions, and of amazing ways to save life from danger." Oliva Schreiner responded as follows: "It's impossible for me to write such a book. Such books are best written in London. There you can give space to your creative imagination, without being constrained by touching reality. But if anyone tries to portray the conditions in which he grew up, he has to make sure that the facts are stronger than he is. The brilliant images that the imagination seeks in distant lands, it can not deliver. With embarrassment, he must squeeze out the mottled paint from his brush and immerse the latter in the dark colors of his surroundings" " [Bulletin of Foreign Literature, 1893, p. 252].

What is behind the controversy between the English critic and Olivia Schreiner?

The closer the nineteenth century came to its end, the greater the role in Western European literature was occupied by countries far from Europe, especially Africa. If in the mid-19th century the book market was filled with a variety of "Parisian Mysteries"," Rocambole " by Ponson du Terail and the novels of Aristide Dumas-the father, then at the end of the century they were replaced by adventures in the wilds of Africa with its mysterious nature, mysterious tribes, dangers and wild animals.

Why? There was a colonial division of the world, first of all - Africa. Europe divided the far ends of the earth. They were talked about and written about. Adventurous-adventure-colonial literature flooded the book market. And she was in demand - she had her own bright romance. To this day, the reading circle has preserved the best. "King Solomon's Mines", "Thieves of diamonds"... Louis Boussenard, Pierre Loti, Ryder Haggard... They are certainly not typical. They are talented. But even from their novels, one can judge the nature of the mass literature of that time. Real, everyday life has no place there. It was the real life, reliably described by the young writer, that distinguished "African Farm" from most of the novels about Africa at that time. And it is gratifying to learn that the novel was once praised for this in the Bulletin of Foreign Literature.

The main setting is a farm similar to the one where Olivia Schreiner served as a governess. A typical Boer farm, lost in the veldt-the South African steppes, in the vast expanse of Karru, a vast high plateau. The farm is located in the depths of the Cape Colony, but the action is transferred to the Orange Republic, the characters are also on the Cape of Good Hope, and in the Transvaal, and on the diamond mines of Kimberley.

Validity period- 60 - 70-20s of the XIX century The territory now occupied by the Republic of South Africa then included two English possessions, the Cape Colony and Natal, and two Boer republics, the Transvaal and the Orange (Orange Free State).

page 78

Among the actors are representatives of different racial and national groups of the diverse population of South Africa. The relationship between them is outlined in the novel very vividly. Boer farm owner Aunt Sunny (her prototype is the owner of the house where Olivia Schreiner served as a governess) does not like the English. Englishman Gregory Rose considers the Boers primitive commoners. Africans-Hottentots and "Kaffirs" - are not among the main characters of the novel. But you can clearly see their place in "white" South Africa. The author's position on romanticizing Africans is also clearly marked. Lindahl, the main character, says of the Kaffir shepherd:"This is the most interesting and intelligent creature around me... This young man makes me think. Would his race disappear in the fire of a collision with a stronger one? Looking at it, you can't help but think about the future and remember the past."

Of the South African realities of that time, the most vivid is the life and life on Boer farms at a time when the industrial boom had not yet really begun. The richest diamond deposits have just been discovered, and no one expects that in a few years the world's largest gold deposits will also be discovered nearby. The main wealth is considered to be sheep, and even ostriches, which supply Parisian fashionistas with their feathers.

It may seem that Olivia Schreiner is unfair to the Boer farmers, that their life in the novel is too unsightly, their desire to understand literally everything written in the Bible is exaggerated, and their unwillingness to read anything but it. But the widespread opinion of the Boers was much more unpalatable - at least until the Boer War, when the Boers were widely admired for their courage.

The opinions and assessments of Olivia Schreiner were listened to not only in the Russian "Bulletin of Foreign Literature". Mark Twain, describing his trip to South Africa in 1896, constantly referred to: "I think that the main thing I am writing about here can also be found in the books of Olivia Schreiner"," ...mentioned in the books of Olivia Schreiner " [Twain, vol. 9, 1961, pp. 546-547].

But the wide popularity of the "African Farm" is not primarily due to the way South Africa is shown. The book became so popular because it talks about universal problems: the struggle against religious hypocrisy, women's rights, and in general about many things that people were concerned about at that time.

In the lives of Lindahl, Waldo, and Emm, young men and women who lived far away from South Africa recognized themselves, their generation, its problems, anxieties, and dramas. Jerome Jerome wrote: "The Story of an African Farm is a unique thing. I remember very well the storm of indignation that was unleashed on the "African Farm"... This book, they say, can not be given into the hands of a young man or a well-bred young lady. But young men and women eagerly stretched out their hands to her and grabbed her as if she were a guide in the wilds of life " [Jerome, 1958, p. 541].

In Russia, "The African Farm" was not only translated, but it was discussed and debated - both about universal humanistic ideas and about specific pictures of life in South Africa.

One of the critics wrote about the "African Farm" in the preface to the Russian translation of another book by Olivia Schreiner: "She had a large mind, an original and bold idea, and most importantly - some special healthy strength, which obviously grew out of constant communication with nature" [Tchaikovsky, 1912, p. 3]. A particularly detailed and also very friendly analysis of the "African Farm" was carried out in a large, almost forty-page article by the famous St. Petersburg publicist V. Lesevich "Olivia Schreiner and her works", which appeared in the magazine "Russian Thought" in 1901.

page 79

Olivia Schreiner's novel Private Peter Holket in Mashonaland attracted even more attention in Russia. It was translated and published with lightning speed, in the same year as 1897, when it was published in London. This first translation appeared in the October 1897 issue of the journal "Bulletin of Foreign Literature". And then the story was repeatedly published as a separate book (in Moscow-in 1900, in St. Petersburg-in 1908) and in magazines [Home Library, 1898, N 10; Appendix..., 1898, N 10; Literary Evenings, 1901, N 1-9].

The story undoubtedly deserves such attention. At the time of the" division of the world", when the public opinion of Europe considered colonialism a natural phenomenon and even beneficial," Peter Holket " - perhaps the first work of fiction in which the crimes of colonialism were condemned so mercilessly. True, four decades earlier, the Dutch writer Multatuli's novel Max Havelaar, or The Coffee Auctions of the Dutch Trade Society, was published, which also strongly condemned colonialism, but it was about an earlier period, and besides, the novel was little known outside the Netherlands for a long time. Shortly before Olivia Schreiner, an Englishman, Wilfred Blunt, criticized the colonial actions in Egypt. But even his works did not receive a wide response at that time. Mark Twain's voice was heard all over the world, denouncing the actions of his country in the Spanish-American War of 1898, but this was after the release of Peter Holket.

"Pieter Holket" was the first anti-colonial novel, which immediately received a wide response. There were many reasons for this. After the release of" African Farm", the voice of Olivia Schreiner was listened to in many countries around the world. Yes, and the story itself was written passionately and made you believe in the authenticity of the painted picture.

Readers also appreciated the author's courage; after all, Olivia Schreiner raised her voice against Cecil Rhodes, who was the idol of a large part of English society. V. I. Lenin called Cecil Rhodes the" hero of the day " in England at that time [Lenin, vol. 27, p. 375]. Peter Holket in the story of Olivia Schreiner is a fighter of the Rhodes detachments that conquered the country that is now known as the Republic of Zimbabwe. From this story, Russian readers learned about the tragic fate of its indigenous people - the Ndebele and Shona peoples. During their uprisings in 1896, punitive detachments made up of such "holketts" blew up caves where people were hiding with dynamite and burned crops so that hunger would force the rebels to stop fighting.

How was the story perceived in Russia? Here is one of many responses:

""It is no exaggeration to call the story "Private Peter Holket" one of the most powerful works of European literature in recent years. Its plot is simple: an English mercenary soldier, who was standing guard at night in South Africa, comes to the Savior and resurrects the lost soul of this poor man, mired in vain dreams of profit. It is difficult to imagine the depth and stability of the impression produced by the simple and vivid scenes of this excellent story; not only by the loftiness of the ideal, by the strength of humanity and clarity of outlook, but also by the majestic simplicity of the narrative, there is something biblical in it. The dark forces that have moved the great defender of freedom, old England, to a bad and unnecessary cause are properly illuminated in it...

We strongly recommend Oliva Schreiner's story to our readers. A native of South Africa, she was imbued with the moods that give such power to her story at the scene of dark events "[Zhurnal dlya vsem, 1900, pp. 767-768].

Here's a different response:

"After fighting off the detachment, Private Peter Holket sat in the dark night in the desert near the fire he had built on the top of a hill, and thought.

page 80

This was in South Africa shortly after the Jameson ⁴ raid. He was "neither a good nor a bad person, like all other people." He was unconsciously living and doing unconscious cruelties, like all the Englishmen in South Africa did, and he didn't think those cruelties were evil, because that's what everyone did. And on that dark night, when he was alone with himself, a man came to his campfire and began to talk to him about what he had only heard from his mother when he was a child. The forgotten distinction between good and evil was revived in his soul, and he realized that this stranger was Christ. Private Peter Holket had his own "resurrection", and he returned to his squad and stood up for the Negro, whom the captain ordered to be shot. In response, the captain appointed him as the Negro's own executioner. Holket freed the negro in the night and was killed himself.

This story, reminiscent of Leo Tolstoy and Ude's paintings, is beautifully written and makes a strong impression" [Russkaya Mysl, 1900, p. 277].

Although Olivia Schreiner was the daughter of a missionary, she did not seem particularly religious to any of her contemporaries. But as she protested against the atrocities of colonialism and called on her readers to be fair and humane, she couldn't help but appeal to Christian charity. And Peter Holket's conscience is personified in the image of the nameless wanderer he met, in which Christ is guessed.

Assessments of the story in the Russian press were often given together with the presentation of its content, and it is almost impossible to separate one from the other. So, while I apologize for the lengthy quotations, I quote another one from the magazine Russkaya Mysl (Russian Thought) in 1901.:

"Holket came to South Africa by accident, and here only had time to catch the mood of the newcomers, which is why it is highly consistent with the author's goals. As an extremely elementary person, he makes it possible to imagine reflected in his simple and naive soul, as in a mirror, the truly terrible situation of the whole of South Africa created by^the Eitlanders.

Holket, a country boy who had recently been snatched by the rush of events from some English backwater where an old mother still lives, is now working in a regiment serving in South Africa. In carrying out the honorable mission of suppressing the alleged rebellion of the black Mashons, this gallant regiment destroys them with bayonet, butt, cleaver, magazine, "maxim" - whatever is necessary-always to the same extent as indicated by the authorities, and, of course, in compliance with all established rules. At the present moment, the regiment is making some sort of march, and Holket, having accidentally strayed from his team, is forced to spend the night completely alone in the desolate desolate steppe. Sitting by the fire, he indulges in dreams-dreams of the same profit, that is, just such profit, for which you do not need to lift a finger, about the same profit that everyone gets here...

It was a cold night, and Holket sipped whisky as he warmed himself by the fire. His thoughts became fragmentary, confused, mixed up, passing into memories of the past: first his native village, his mother's cottage, school flashed before him... Then these memories were replaced by dreams about the recent experience in the new land: He pictured the severed head of an old Negro, his hands still moving, and the loud shouts of native women and children as the Maxims were aimed at their kral⁶; then there was a dynamite explosion that destroyed their cave. And he also thought of the scene when he was working one of these maxims, and it seemed to him that his work was similar to the work of a reaping machine that he used to use in the old days at home; only now it was not the ears of corn that fell to the ground, but the heads of black children, those heads. they also fell in rows... " [Lesevich, 1901, pp. 127-129].

And finally-from the preface to the first edition of Peter Holket in Russian:

⁴ Jamson's Raid-an attempt to capture the Transvaal by a detachment of L. Jamson, an associate of S. Rhodes.

^Uitlanders 5 (or Uitlanders) - English settlers who flooded into South Africa after the discovery of the world's largest deposits of gold and diamonds.

^Kral 6 ( or rather-kraal) - a village of Africans.

page 81

"Very far removed from romantic fables, from tales of hidden treasures and ancient mysterious cultural peoples, of lion and buffalo hunts and savage struggles, all for the sake of satisfying the jaded and blunted tastes of the London public, although, however, these stories to some extent reflect the spiritual world of English adventurers and gold seekers, - the works of the English writer Oliva Schreiner are very far from them.

.. Of course, Schreiner is only on the threshold of a long journey: a vivid proof of this is the new work of the gifted writer "Private Peter Holket", which attracted the attention of the best organs of the foreign press - not only English, but French and German. Significant progress has been made in the development of the writer. If we compare her first works with her last ones, we cannot fail to notice a big step forward not only in style and composition, but also in the ideological content. From the despair that permeated her first novel, Schreiner moved to a serious, trusting hope, to a fully mature worldview "[Vestnik..., 1897, pp. 19,21-22].

Of course, at the time of the Boer War, the hype surrounding this book also had an unhealthy taste of Anglophobia. But the story itself was written before the war and not out of opportunistic considerations, so it has stood the test of time. It was also published in Russia in 1908, when the nature of Anglo-Russian relations changed for the better. And even then, at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, with another surge of anti - British feelings in Russian society, this story was seen not only as a condemnation of England, but also as a universal value-a call to humanity.

Olivia Schreiner's stories were also well known in Russia. They were published not only in the capital, but also in the provincial press. The story "The Hunter" appeared in the newspaper "Nizhegorodsky Listok" in 1898 [Nizhegorodsky Listok, 1898, N 237]. And on February 26 of the following year, Maxim Gorky published her allegorical stories: "The Gifts of Life"," The Secret of the Artist","Three Dreams in the Desert". Gorky gave them an extremely high rating. "Olivia Schreiner excellently manages to combine large-scale ideological content with artistic presentation in her allegories. Simplicity and clarity are the first, external merit of her short stories; cheerfulness of mood and deep faith in the power of the human spirit are the inner meaning of her allegories" [Nizhegorodsky Listok, 1899, N 56].

Other ratings in the Russian press were no less high:

"These stories are somewhat abstract and therefore give little direct artistic pleasure, but they evoke a long and deep reflection, sometimes giving a successful form to what you have already thought, then suggesting unexpected thoughts. From the vehemence and almost painful intensity with which the author speaks of love and truth, of duty and compassion - of all the great things that are so dear to him-it is clear that he resembles the artist whose simple tragedy he has so clearly and concisely told us. He painted his paintings all in one extremely bright color, and no one knew where he got it from. His pictures grew brighter and more beautiful, and he grew paler and paler. And so he died; among his drawing materials and paints there was nothing that his comrades did not have; but on his chest, against his heart, they found an old wound that had not healed all his life... But people still kept asking themselves: "Where did he get this wonderful paint?... "" [Magazine for All, 1900, p. 768].

The author of this article directly identifies the fate of the artist-the hero of the story-with the fate of Olivia Schreiner herself.

Sympathy for Africans-a trait unusual for the literature of those times, also did not pass by the attention of Russian literary critics: "The real sufferers here are those who are layered in an immense mass under the European population of South Africa - those savages, its original inhabitants, who pay so dearly for their impotence and lack of culture. We strongly recommend the story of Olivia Schreiner to our readers" [Magazine for All, 1900, pp. 767-768].

page 82

Olivia Schreiner's collection "Reveries and Dreams" was published in Moscow twice [Schreiner, 1904, 1911].

In 1912, the book "Woman and Labor" was published in Moscow. The preface to the Russian edition is interesting for its inconsistency. On the one hand, we read in it: "It would seem that what can be said at the present time on the women's question in general? Everything was said and retold a long time ago... "And on the other hand, the same" women's issue " is said to exist in Russia and is aggravated by the fact that an extensive literature has appeared with a cynical sermon on immorality. "We all know that everything is far from going well with him, and yet we put up with these "Anfis", "Sanin", Verbitsky and their offspring as "Cinder Blocks", attributing them to the unstrung nerves of young people and consoling ourselves with the fact that when the "general conditions" of our life change, then sexual relations will become normal, but for now, they say, do not charge...".

What is the conclusion? That in these circumstances, Olivia Schreiner's book, with its sound, wise, and genuinely humanistic reasoning, has proved extremely useful. "So Schreiner shows up and says loudly and boldly,' You can't wait! It is impossible to subordinate this fundamental question to any extraneous motives - this would mean risking both the mental and physical health of future generations! A woman-no matter what race or nation, if she only stands at the height of her world vocation, cannot and should not put up with this - her maternal heart should not allow her to do this, because it has already matured and developed in her." That is why if O. Schreiner had asked me who to dedicate her book to, I would have persuasively asked her to dedicate it to a Russian young woman" [Tchaikovsky, 1912, pp. 5-9].

The Russian reader also received from Olivia Schreiner the image of an African woman, which was extremely rare in the world literature of that time. Throughout the book, Olivia Schreiner's analysis of the status of women in various societies around the world showed respect for representatives of each of the peoples, regardless of skin color, which was extremely rare in the world at that time. And Russian critics paid tribute to this.

And how many stories about the life of Olivia Schreiner herself appeared in the Russian press in those years! They quoted her prophetic words about the bloody Boer War and other tragedies that befell South Africa. The World of God magazine, recalling someone's comparison of Olivia Schreiner with Cassandra, says: "She also preached in the desert." And with sympathy - that during the war, the British " treated her very harshly: she was not allowed to see her husband, her manuscripts were burned... and the sentry was ordered to shoot at her at the first attempt to escape" [Oliva Schreiner, 1901, pp. 41-42].

On the pages of Niva and other Russian magazines, photos of Olivia Schreiner are placed next to bearded Boer fighters hung with bandoliers. She was one of the heroes of that war.

* * *

Well, did Olivia Schreiner herself take an interest in life in faraway Russia?

It is known that she knew the Kreutzer Sonata very well, although she did not agree with Leo Tolstoy in everything [First, Scott, 1980, p. 21]. She called Sofya Kovalevskaya one of the greatest women in history. I read the diaries of Maria Bashkirtseva. She admired the image of Bazarov in Turgenev's "Fathers and Children".

On February 3, 1905, shortly after the "Bloody Sunday" in St. Petersburg, the Cape Town Social Democratic Federation organized a rally to protest against the repressions in Russia. Olivia Schreiner was sick and couldn't come, but she sent a letter. It was published. "I deeply regret not being able to be with you on the

page 83

at a rally on Sunday to express my solidarity with the Russian strike movement. If I am physically absent, I will be with you in my heart; and even more so with those who are now in distant Russia taking on the burden of the eternal war of humanity for the highest justice, a war that has been waged for centuries by one nation or another [ ... ] Today the banner has passed into the hands of the great Russian people."

The writer could hardly have known that Maxim Gorky had once published her stories in the Nizhny Novgorod Leaflet and rated them very highly. I thought very highly of him myself. The above-mentioned letter also contains the following words: "I read in the morning newspaper that Maxim Gorky will be hanged. Until a few years ago, I thought that this was impossible at the beginning of the 20th century. I don't think so anymore." Then-an expression of grief, if the newspaper report is true.

The letter also expresses sympathy for Russian Jews and regrets that by not attending the rally, she deprived herself of the opportunity to see "so many Russian Jews, representatives of the great people who gave Europe its religion and the whole world-their sons" [ ... ] "As a South African, I am proud and glad that we We have been able to give shelter and citizenship to many who have been pushed out of their homes by persecution "[South African News, 1905, 6 Feb.].

A rally of solidarity with Russian Jews was held in the center of Cape Town on July 1, 1906. In an address to him, Olivia Schreiner protested against anti-Semitism - both in Russia and in South Africa. "A poor Jew, an exile from Russia, arrived on our shores with only a bundle of clothes and two pence in his pocket, or without a single penny at all; and it is he who is considered here among the undesirable elements that we want to get rid of" [The Letters..., 1924, p.395].

In 1918, after the revolution, she wrote that she "read all the books about Russia" that she "could get during the last year" [Soret, [1943], p. 191]. Although the writer was seriously ill and bedridden, she was concerned about Russian events. Hating the tsarist regime, she hoped that better times were coming for our country. But I couldn't see how the future of Russia will turn out. In 1920, it was gone.

* * *

At the beginning of the essay, I mentioned the best (with all the shortcomings) of the books about Olivia Schreiner [First, Scott, 1980]and that, unfortunately, there is not a single Russian translation or a single Russian response.

I learned about the preparation of this book long before it was published (it was published in 1980). I sent a letter to Ruth Furst, its main author, a well-known South African social activist. I sent her a list of translations of Olivia Schreiner's works into Russian. I also reprinted and sent the text of Maxim Gorky's article and several other Russian articles.

Ruth Furst was living in exile at the time. The authorities of the Republic of South Africa forced her to leave her homeland with repressions and arrests. She moved back and forth between England and Mozambique. I was able to meet her and talk to her only in August 1982 at the University of Mozambique in Maputo, at a conference of scientists from Southern Africa. It turned out that she hadn't received a message about Olivia Schreiner. I gave her two of her books, which were published in Russian translation [Furst, 1965; Furst, 1967], and Olivia Schreiner's Favorites (all with my forewords). All three books were published in Moscow a long time ago, but it was impossible to transfer them to Ruth First before - there was no connection. She was very happy with the Russian translations.

During that brief three-day conference, Ruth Furst and I never really got to talk about the Olivia Schreiner we were both interested in. From morning until late at night, there was a heated debate about urgent political issues.-

page 84

problems. So the conversation about Schreiner had to be postponed until the next meeting, which was scheduled soon.

But the next meeting was not given by fate. Ruth took me to the airfield, and a day later, on August 17, she went to her office and opened the package she had received in the mail. There was a bomb. Ruth died immediately, and those nearby were injured, including Pallo Jordan, my next-door neighbor at the conference table (now South Africa's Minister of Culture). With this bomb, the secret services of the Republic of South Africa reckoned with Ruth Furst for her many years of turbulent activity. Part of this effort, though not so dangerous to the South African authorities at the time, was a book about Olivia Schreiner. A book about a courageous white South African woman, written by another equally courageous white South African woman.

list of literature

Bulletin of Foreign Literature, Moscow, 1893, Sept.

Bulletin of Foreign Literature. St. Petersburg, 1893, September-December.

Bulletin of Foreign Literature. St. Petersburg, 1897, October.

Davidson A. B. Olivia Schreiner and her Books//Introductory article to: Schreiner O. Izbrannoe [Selected works], Moscow, 1974.

Jerome D. K. Should writers write the truth? // Three people in a boat. How we wrote the novel. A haunted house party. Stories. L., 1958.

Home library. 1898. N 10.

A magazine for everyone. 1900, June.

Lenin V. I. Poln. sobr. soch. Vol. 27.

Lesevich Vl. Olivia Schreiner and her works / / Russkaya mysl. 1901. Book VII.

Literary evenings. 1901. N 1 - 9.

Nizhny Novgorod leaflet. 1898. N 237; 1899. N 56.

Oliva Schreiner // Peace of God. 1901, October.

Appendix to the "Pictorial Review". 1898. N 10.

Russian thought. 1900, August.

Twain, M. Collected Works, vol. 9, Moscow, 1961.

Furst R. South-West Africa. Historical and journalistic essay, Moscow, 1965.

First R. 117 days. A story about the experience in solitary confinement, Moscow, 1967.

Tchaikovsky N. Preface to the book / / O. Schreiner. Zhenka i trud [Woman and Labor], Moscow, 1912.

Schreiner O. Son, inspired by wild bees / / Bulletin of Foreign Literature, Moscow, 1893, June.

Schreiner O. Grezy i snovideniya [Dreams and dreams]. Izd. 2-E. M., 1904.

O. Schreiner. From one to another, Moscow, 1929.

Schreiner O. Izbrannoe [Selected works], Moscow, 1974.

Cope K. R. Comrade Bill: The Life and Times of W. H. Andrews, Workers' Leader. Cape Town, [1943].

Ellis H. My Life. Cambridge (USA), 1939.

An English South African's View of the Situation. Words in Season. London, 1899.

Gregg L. Memoires of Olive Schreiner. L., 1957.

First K., Scott A. Olive Schreiner. L., 1980.

The Letters of Olive Schreiner. 1876 - 19201 Ed. by S. C. Cronwright-Schreiner. L., 1924.

Ralph Iron. Dream Life and area! Life. L., 1893, 1897, 1912.

Ralf Iron. The Story of an African Farm. A Novel in Two Volumes. L., 1883.

Schreiner O. The Letters. 1871 - 1899. Cape Town-Johannesburg, 1987.

Schreiner O. Dreams. L., 1890, 1891 (twice), 1892, 1893, 1894, 1895, 1897, 1903, 1905, 1907, 1908, 1912 (twice), 1913, 1914, 1915, 1917, 1919, 1923 (twice), 1930...

Schreiner O. Trooper Peter Halket of Mashonaland.L., 1897, 1899, 1905, 1926 (twice), 1950, 1974...

Schreiner O. Woman and Labour. London-Leipzig, 1911.

Schreiner O. Thoughts on South Africa. L., 1923, 1927.

Schreiner O. Closer Union. Wynberg-Cape, [n.d.].

South African News. Cape Town, 1905. 6 February.

Permanent link to this publication: