CULTURE: Belarus's 'National Conscience'

Elena Chinyaeva, March 22, 1996 in TOL

Writer Vasil Bukau was at the forefront of the Belarusian national revival of the late 1980s. In an interview with Elena Chinyaeva, he discussed his views on today's Russia-oriented regime and on the future of the Belarusian language

BELARUSIAN WRITER Vasil Bykau has earned various appellations over the past decade or so. "Conscience of the nation" and "spiritual leader of the democratic opposition" are perhaps the most widespread, reflecting the strong moral standing and high political profile he enjoys in his native country. Co-founder of several anti-communist, democratic opposition groups, Bykau is closely associated with the Belarusian national revival of the late 1980s. At the same time, his novels and short stories - translated into various languages - have won him international recognition. He has been nominated several times for the Nobel Prize in literature.

Born in Bychky, Vitsebsk Oblast, in 1924, Bykau fought against the Germans during World War II. The theme of war and its impact on individual lives permeates his books, whose anti-fascist, anti-dictatorship focus lends a humanist strain to his writing. At times, he was criticized by the communist authorities for not abiding by officially accepted norms; the 1966 novella The Dead Feel No Pain, for example, was condemned for its "abstract and generalized depiction of negative characters." In 1987, he helped found the Belarusian Popular Front, and two years later, he was elected a deputy of the People's Congress of the Soviet Union. His written appeal to the military not to take part in the August 1991 coup attempt was distributed throughout Moscow and the entire Soviet Union.

Today, Bykau is a vocal and tireless opponent of Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka and what Bykau calls his "undemocratic" regime. Writing in Moscow News after the third round of elections to the Belarusian legislature in fall 1995, Bykau described a population that had become "tired, overstrained, humiliated, and deceived, not only during the 70 years of communist domination, but also during the five years of the new, ... undoubtedly anti-people rule." He spoke out strongly against the war in Chechnya, arguing that it revealed imperial superpower ambitions "from behind which peeks the face of fascism." And he has frequently adopted the cause of Belarusian national literature, which he sees as oppressed politically, impoverished economically, and humiliated morally.

In February 1996, Bykau visited Prague to broaden contacts with local intellectual circles and thereby give new impetus to the centuries-old tradition of cultural cooperation between Belarus and Bohemia. While in the Czech capital, he met with Russian specialist Elena Chinyaeva to discuss, among other things, Belarus's current political situation, its relations with Russia, and its place in Europe today.

Chinyaeva: What do you think about the results of the May 1995 referendum in Belarus, in which the electorate voted in favor of both closer cooperation with Russia and granting Russian the status of a second official language?

Bykau: The results have been catastrophic for Belarus. It is difficult for the European public to comprehend the situation, because it is looking at it from the outside. But one has to understand that the results of the referendum were falsified. The vote was initiated by our president, and its results do not reflect the real political and social situation in Belarus.

Chinyaeva: It is said that Belarus was more russified than other parts of the former Soviet Union, such as Lithuania or western Ukraine. Do you agree? If so, how do you explain such a development?

Bykau: That is absolutely correct. While there are many reasons that might explain why it happened, ethnic and linguistic affinities between Russia and Belarus perhaps played the most important role. Besides, Belarus was more engaged in military production than any other republic, with the possible exception of Ukraine. Up to 80 percent of Belarusian industry was [devoted to] supplying the military complex of the Russian empire. This inevitably affected all aspects of our relations with Russia.

Chinyaeva: What are the prospects for the political opposition in Belarus, given that no representative of the Belarusian Popular Front - the main opposition bloc - was elected to the parliament in the fall 1995 elections?

Bykau: The prospects for the opposition have lately been undermined, particularly since last year's elections. Under the pressure of President Lukashenka's totalitarian methods, the possibilities for the opposition to exert a direct influence over the political process have been reduced. Nevertheless, the opposition continues its work, and we hope that at a certain, propitious moment, our efforts will produce political results.

Chinyaeva: Is there any connection between political developments in Belarus and the personalities of political leaders - particularly Zyanon Paznyak, leader of the Belarusian Popular Front, and President Alyaksandr Lukashenka?

Bykau: The connection is indirect. President Lukashenka, using dictatorial political means, has a greater impact on the current political and economic situation than does the opposition, which uses only democratic methods. Obviously, the president's methods and those of the opposition cannot be compared. It has always been my opinion that democracy has no adequate measures against totalitarianism.

Chinyaeva: A few years ago, Zyanon Paznyak published an article in Narodnaya hazeta in which he discussed Russian imperialism and even made territorial claims on Russia. What is your opinion about this?

Bykau: Russian imperialism is a well-known phenomenon that has long been studied by modern intellectual thought. As far as Belarusian territorial claims on Russia are concerned, it is an artificial problem. There are problems of a historical and ethnographic nature, but they do not affect current political developments in Belarus. This is a problem for historians rather than for contemporary politicians. Paznyak only outlined the problem as a historical one. But in no way has this problem become part of the current political agenda.

Chinyaeva: What are the prospects for the Belarusian language in view of Russian's status as a second official language?

Bykau: This decision is fraught with danger, given that the current state of the Belarusian language - at the end of the 20th century - is catastrophic. It is clear that unless Belarus becomes a sovereign state, it will lose its national language. Recently, there were desperate attempts to revive the Belarusian language. But I am afraid that, given the policy of our president, those attempts will have no visible results in the immediate future. The logic of historical development suggests that the Belarusian nation will sooner or later revive its statehood, and that will inevitably involve the revival of the Belarusian language. A national state cannot exist without a national language. If Belarus loses its statehood - although I don't think that will happen - the revival of the Belarusian language will of course be minimal.

Chinyaeva: How do you think Russian-Belarusian relations will develop?

Bykau: The prospects for developing those relations have been overshadowed by the revival of neo-imperialist ideology in Russia and by the conspicuous rise of imperialist and communist elements in Russian politics. Obviously, the fate of Belarus is connected to that of Russia. We are still, in fact, a dependent state - above all, dependent on Russia - and our development is greatly influenced by the Russian political environment. The situation there is far from stable, and that can be dangerous for Belarus as well.

Chinyaeva: How would you explain the spread of nostalgia for the Soviet era evident in Russia and also in other post-Soviet republics?

Bykau: A certain sector of the population is nostalgic for the Soviet era because the reforms, which are only nominally democratic, have not changed the lives of the majority of people in Russia for the better. Logically enough, the stability of the communist past is now being remembered by some with fondness. Similarly, the culture of the Soviet era also evokes nostalgia among certain sectors of the population. But I would not say that there is a great nostalgia for Soviet culture, with its canons of socialist realism. The general development of Russian culture has taken another route, which has not necessarily been preferable. On the contrary; the current explosion of mass culture can hardly be taken as evidence of the flourishing of culture. In fact, it is a reaction to the Soviet past and also to Western mass culture, and, as such, it has many negative features. Nevertheless, there are still positive elements rooted mainly in Russian classic culture. Since this culture has a constant value based on Christian traditions, it should produce new results, but it is most unlikely that this will happen in the near future.

Chinyaeva: How do you see the place of Belarus in Europe?

Bykau: Ideally, we would like to see Belarus in the "European home." Geographically, Belarus belongs to Europe. But politically, it has not yet been a European country, largely because it has not yet been a sovereign, independent country. It was a satellite of the Russian empire, and that affected the development of Belarus throughout the 20th century. Nevertheless, we believe that we are an independent nation, with our own interests and traditions, and that we are connected more to Europe than to Asia. Therefore, following the collapse of the Russian empire, our priorities have dramatically changed and are now largely reoriented toward Western Europe.

Chinyaeva: What are you currently working on?

Bykau: I am about to finish a story that is set at the end of World War II and takes place in Central Europe, in Austria. It is, to a large degree, an autobiographical story, which I hope will shed more light on the problem of relations at that time between Europe and the Soviet army. In short, it is about Soviet man in Europe.

Elena Chinyaeva has a doctorate in history from Oxford University and writes frequently on Russian affairs.

This article was first published by Transitions Online (TOL) at www.tol.cz. TOL is a nonprofit Internet magazine and media development organization based in Prague and with branch offices in Moscow, Sarajevo, and London. TOL produces timely, original news and analysis, covering all 28 countries in the post-communist region through its network of local journalists and editors."


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