Review of Belarusian Culture: Literature (May-August '22)
REVIEW OF BELARUSIAN CULTURE: LITERATURE (MAY-AUGUST '22)
REVIEW OF BELARUSIAN CULTURE: LITERATURE (MAY-AUGUST '22)
REVIEW OF BELARUSIAN CULTURE: LITERATURE (MAY-AUGUST '22)
REVIEW OF BELARUSIAN CULTURE: LITERATURE (MAY-AUGUST '22)
REVIEW OF BELARUSIAN CULTURE: LITERATURE (MAY-AUGUST '22)
REVIEW OF BELARUSIAN CULTURE: LITERATURE (MAY-AUGUST '22)
REVIEW OF BELARUSIAN CULTURE: LITERATURE (MAY-AUGUST '22)
REVIEW OF BELARUSIAN CULTURE: LITERATURE (MAY-AUGUST '22)
REVIEW OF BELARUSIAN CULTURE: LITERATURE (MAY-AUGUST '22)
REVIEW OF BELARUSIAN CULTURE: INTRO (MAY-AUGUST '22)
On the Verge of Great Silence: the Belarusian Book under Conditions of Total Relocation
The Main Trends of the Season:
On the Verge of Great Silence: the Belarusian Book under Conditions of Total Relocation
The Main Trends of the Season:
- A dramatic stratification of the literary field into the "inside" and "outside".
- Rapid scattering of the reader community across the world.
- Almost a complete impossibility of book publishing in Belarus under conditions of the economic collapse and cultural terror.
- The need to choose between publicity and silence equals to the choice between "going away" and "staying".
The Map of Meanings
The Map of Meanings
At the end of February 2022 the "brain drain" from Belarus sped up. If in 2020–2021 the leaving of the middle class and intellectuals had an individual-forced character, the explosion of the new Russian aggression in Ukraine made the relocation large-scale and systemic — as a step ahead. In 2021 NGO and independent media gradually left the country due to the risk of imprisonment. In 2022 in the face of complete economic blockade connected to the status of Belarus as a co-aggressor country, IT companies started to rapidly relocate.
What's going on with literary figures and publishers in this context?
It's worth noticing that we can't see a mass departure of writers as a whole. The relocation of authors, hidden or visible, happens mostly because of life circumstances rather than the inability to create. It can be concluded from the latest repression (2020–2022).
Despite the active persecution of people of culture (699 cases for January-June 2022; 98 people of culture in June 2022 were in the list of 1236 political prisoners), nobody was punished directly for their creativity. The reason for attacking them is their active citizenship and protesting in 2020. But there is a noticeable exception which is harassing literary celebrities. Those few who can claim to be influential are comparable with TV stars or sportsmen and they are a subject to symbolic and physical political purges inside the country.
The following were considered to be "extremist": the book project "The Belarusian national idea" (a collection of conversations with public figures interviewed by Maxim Gorunov and Zmicier Lukašuk for "Euroradio") and the novel "The Dogs of Europe" by Aĺhierd Bacharevič. A publisher Andrej Januškievič, who was setting the tone for the book publishing industry in recent years, was imprisoned for a month after attempting to open a book store in the centre of Minsk. At the end of August 2022 after the journalists' phone call to the Ministry of Culture they started "extremism checks" of Sviatlana Alieksijevič's books.
Besides the aforementioned, Aĺhierd Bacharevič, Tacciana Niadbaj, Andrej Chadanovič, Julija Cimafiejeva, Voĺha Šparaha are those well-known authors who made the fact of their exile public. The public status of regime refugees gives them an opportunity to speak about the Belarusian agenda in blogs, YouTube channels, in the media, at the international congresses and festivals, publish books in European languages while advocating Belarus and reminding about our national literature when the country is hardly mentioned in the international agenda. Apparently, an important mission of literary figures who stayed vocal in summer 2022 was to explain the difference between "Belarusians" and "Lukašenka's regime".
What's going on with literary figures and publishers in this context?
It's worth noticing that we can't see a mass departure of writers as a whole. The relocation of authors, hidden or visible, happens mostly because of life circumstances rather than the inability to create. It can be concluded from the latest repression (2020–2022).
Despite the active persecution of people of culture (699 cases for January-June 2022; 98 people of culture in June 2022 were in the list of 1236 political prisoners), nobody was punished directly for their creativity. The reason for attacking them is their active citizenship and protesting in 2020. But there is a noticeable exception which is harassing literary celebrities. Those few who can claim to be influential are comparable with TV stars or sportsmen and they are a subject to symbolic and physical political purges inside the country.
The following were considered to be "extremist": the book project "The Belarusian national idea" (a collection of conversations with public figures interviewed by Maxim Gorunov and Zmicier Lukašuk for "Euroradio") and the novel "The Dogs of Europe" by Aĺhierd Bacharevič. A publisher Andrej Januškievič, who was setting the tone for the book publishing industry in recent years, was imprisoned for a month after attempting to open a book store in the centre of Minsk. At the end of August 2022 after the journalists' phone call to the Ministry of Culture they started "extremism checks" of Sviatlana Alieksijevič's books.
Besides the aforementioned, Aĺhierd Bacharevič, Tacciana Niadbaj, Andrej Chadanovič, Julija Cimafiejeva, Voĺha Šparaha are those well-known authors who made the fact of their exile public. The public status of regime refugees gives them an opportunity to speak about the Belarusian agenda in blogs, YouTube channels, in the media, at the international congresses and festivals, publish books in European languages while advocating Belarus and reminding about our national literature when the country is hardly mentioned in the international agenda. Apparently, an important mission of literary figures who stayed vocal in summer 2022 was to explain the difference between "Belarusians" and "Lukašenka's regime".
Publishers/Expats: What to Do and How to Earn Money
Publishers/Expats: What to Do and How to Earn Money
The situation with book business appears to be quite different. As opposed to the authors who export quite a symbolic capital (if they have it) from the country, a laptop or a notebook with sketches, publishers are the entrepreneurs who have material resources. The minimum is the warehouses with unsold books, the maximum is the purchased paper and printing presses. Even realizing the danger looming over the independent book publishing inside Belarus, having the real pressure (the suspension of the license, "extremism checks" of some book releases), publishers can't leave the country immediately like other culture actors. One of the reactions is the self-destruction ("Limaryjus", "Halijafy").
The major issue of both forced relocated publishers (Zmicier Višnioŭ, Andrej Januškievič) and those who stayed (there will be no examples) is how to work with the scattered audience. The first answer is given by the cultural periodicals: the liquidated in 2021 "Literary Belarus" is released in the electronic format. At the beginning of September the magazine "Our history" announced the renewal of publication in the electronic format. But nowadays the market of electronic books is antonymous to the word "sales". That's why let's look at this tendency sceptically even realizing that its goal is to consolidate the lovers of the Belarusian literary language in actual conditions.
You can also suppose that a de facto ban on public activities inside Belarus and the pressure on traditional book stores will contribute to the launch of new Internet stores, in addition to the range of retail book shops. Including the delivery of paper books across the world. The book retailer Alfavit.eu https://alfavit.eu/ is already functional and also the Belarusian Book can be ordered in Poland via Allegro.pl https://allegro.pl/.
Another answer which is given by the literary process in June-August 2022 is the book release in two formats — "internal" and "external": there was a summer double release of the book project by Hanna Jankuta "Geology: the poems written in the museum" (Minsk: Zmicier Kolas, 2022) and "Constitution" (Bialystok, foundation "Kamunikat", 2022).
One more answer is the turn to the popular format of an audio book. The voicing of Belarusian books activated during summer 2022. We can name two projects in this regard: "Book cart" https://knizhnyvoz.by/app/ (with an emphasis on children's literature) and "Belarusian audio books" https://audiobooks.by/ . The foundation "Kamunikat" announced the release of books in the audio format.
The major issue of both forced relocated publishers (Zmicier Višnioŭ, Andrej Januškievič) and those who stayed (there will be no examples) is how to work with the scattered audience. The first answer is given by the cultural periodicals: the liquidated in 2021 "Literary Belarus" is released in the electronic format. At the beginning of September the magazine "Our history" announced the renewal of publication in the electronic format. But nowadays the market of electronic books is antonymous to the word "sales". That's why let's look at this tendency sceptically even realizing that its goal is to consolidate the lovers of the Belarusian literary language in actual conditions.
You can also suppose that a de facto ban on public activities inside Belarus and the pressure on traditional book stores will contribute to the launch of new Internet stores, in addition to the range of retail book shops. Including the delivery of paper books across the world. The book retailer Alfavit.eu https://alfavit.eu/ is already functional and also the Belarusian Book can be ordered in Poland via Allegro.pl https://allegro.pl/.
Another answer which is given by the literary process in June-August 2022 is the book release in two formats — "internal" and "external": there was a summer double release of the book project by Hanna Jankuta "Geology: the poems written in the museum" (Minsk: Zmicier Kolas, 2022) and "Constitution" (Bialystok, foundation "Kamunikat", 2022).
One more answer is the turn to the popular format of an audio book. The voicing of Belarusian books activated during summer 2022. We can name two projects in this regard: "Book cart" https://knizhnyvoz.by/app/ (with an emphasis on children's literature) and "Belarusian audio books" https://audiobooks.by/ . The foundation "Kamunikat" announced the release of books in the audio format.
Theatre Plays and Hide-and-seek
Theatre Plays and Hide-and-seek
The festival of the intellectual book «Pradmova» was held in June 2022 in 4 major centres of Belarusian emigration (Tbilisi, Krakow, Warsaw, Vilnius) and revealed the demand for the books in Belarusian among the emigration community. As an illustration for that, "Zhyveteka" — a library of Belarusian books based on one of public libraries - opened in the centre of Warsaw which is today's significant centre of cultural initiatives. The first offline book shop opened in August 2022 (Belarusian Youth Hub, plac Konstytucji, 6). If the reader doesn't come to the book, the book must go to the reader. Aliaksandr Čarnucha demonstrated the example of the promotional tour in summer 2022 when he presented his debut novel "Pigs" in the cities of Poland, Lithuania, the Czech Republic and Germany.
The main principle "inside" becomes "it should be quiet". It's a well-tested survival strategy which has been practiced by Belarusians for about 200 years.
It comes into conflict with "the theatre society" in the ХХІ century when something is considered to be existent only when it is seen and heard. It seems that if something is not discussed publicly, it doesn't exist, which increases the frustration level in the Belarusian-centric environment. That's why an important trend from "outside" is the creation of the Belarusian picture by diasporas - from the manifests on holidays (their canon is being created rapidly: October 29, March 25, July 7, August 9 (16)) to the organizing of literary events in honour of birthdays of the classics of literature alongside holding literary events in the foreign centres where Belarusians are concentrated. As a result, the projects of the Belarusians living abroad activated and modernized the mission in the field of literature: The Skaryna Library (London), an already mentioned foundation "Kamunikat" (Bialystok), a publishing house "Viasna" (Prague), etc.
The main principle "inside" becomes "it should be quiet". It's a well-tested survival strategy which has been practiced by Belarusians for about 200 years.
It comes into conflict with "the theatre society" in the ХХІ century when something is considered to be existent only when it is seen and heard. It seems that if something is not discussed publicly, it doesn't exist, which increases the frustration level in the Belarusian-centric environment. That's why an important trend from "outside" is the creation of the Belarusian picture by diasporas - from the manifests on holidays (their canon is being created rapidly: October 29, March 25, July 7, August 9 (16)) to the organizing of literary events in honour of birthdays of the classics of literature alongside holding literary events in the foreign centres where Belarusians are concentrated. As a result, the projects of the Belarusians living abroad activated and modernized the mission in the field of literature: The Skaryna Library (London), an already mentioned foundation "Kamunikat" (Bialystok), a publishing house "Viasna" (Prague), etc.
Conclusions and Predictions
Conclusions and Predictions
- Recent 20 years have been severely disadvantaged for the book in Belarusian. Contrary to the trend of development of national systems of book publishing in the post-Soviet countries, the Belarusian Book experienced stagnation through the constant control and pressure of the authoritarian system. However, the past three months have demonstrated a rapid deterioration of political and economic conditions which were rather harsh even before that. Paradoxically, today's kicking publishers out of Belarus into the neighbouring countries with more favourable conditions can push the development of Belarusian book publishing.
- The search for the consolidation of Belarusian literary process and assembling of the scattered readership on online and offline platforms will continue to be the primary concern for publishing houses and literary communities in the upcoming months in order to save the Belarusian book and literature in the chaos of total relocation.
- Finally, in a climate of censorship and self-censorship inside Belarus, in the situation of waning interest to the Belarusian theme on the part of the international community, without a change of the political situation in Belarus and the region in general we can predict the Great Silence of Belarusian Literature outside and inside the country in the upcoming months and years. And it's a personal choice of every author whether it is leaving the profession or the partisan writing for the desk drawer.