To understand Belarus a little more, here are a few things from the nation that make up its national identity: Orthodox religion believers, shared nation colors of green, red and white, and the Russian common language. Shared languages in Belarus are very important and contribute to national identity. 70% speak Russian, 23.4% speak Belarusian, and the rest of the population speak other languages and unspecified languages. Before Belarus was its own nation it was a part of the Soviet Union; therefore, Russian is a very shared and important language. Many people speak Russian in the nation but, Belarus also has its own language. Not as many people speak it – for reasons that I have listed later on – but Belarusian is also a very important language to the national identity. Belarus’s historical moments of being a part of the Soviet Union is also another connection to their idea of national identity. The historical connection to the Soviet Union is a shared linked between the people of Belarus; this connection can be a ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ for the nation. The fall of the Soviet Union is a shared story that everyone between ’89 – ’91 went through in eastern Europe – including the people from Belarus. Historical connections are very important to national identity because it’s a way to bring people together. Belarusians have been spread all over Eastern Europe but find a similar connection back to their home country just through ethnicity. Ethnicity creates a soul connection to one’s nation. The similarity shared between everyone whose ethnicity is Belarusian is that they were all born there; this gives all Belarusians the ability to connect through shared historical events, stories, languages and etc. Eastern Orthodoxy dominates throughout the region, and this holds true for Belarus as well. As the study shows, 73% per cent of Belarusians identify themselves as Orthodox” (Borowska). As this study shows, 73% of Belarusians identity as Orthodox, which proves how important this religion is to the nation. There are many Orthodox churches spread around Belarus, so they have the ability to practice their religion. Celebrating the nation of Belarus also help build the idea of national identity; that’s why such things as singing the national anthem and wearing the nations colors for pride is considered part of the national identity concept. Representing the colors of the nation, represents the nation and gives it a sense of identity. Wearing shared colors also gives the people of Belarus a sense of unity – once again relating back to concept of national identity.
Another thing that is connected to the concept of national identity is the concept of ‘othering’. ‘Others’ can be considered as a minority or a different nation within a nation. Things that are considered ‘Others’ in nations are more or less the creation of differences within a nation. Belarus has an unfortunate prime example of ‘othering’. Right now, their nation is divided very politically. President Lukashenko has been president of Belarus since 1994 – turning the democratic country into a dictatorship. His campaign and dictatorship would be considered an ‘other’ since he is representing the nation is a negative way. Over a few months – since the 2020 election – many people have been protesting for the president to step down. Since the president hurt the national identity of the nation by recreating new laws to permenantly implement himself as president, he is considered the ‘other’ of this nation. As I said, these protests have been occurring for a while and have taken over the news. “The mass-protests on Sundays have become a staple of Belarus' beleaguered pro-democracy movement. Every week, despite frigid temperatures, they continue to gather to denounce the country's long-time authoritarian leader, who claimed victory in a disputed August presidential election and assumed his sixth term in office. Every week, hundreds more are arrested for doing so” (Odynova). The political issue of fighting back the ‘other’ started becoming very dangerous and intense; the national dispute becoming worse and prolonged. To be different from the supporters of the President, the protestors use the old Belarus flag as a symbol of protesting. President Lukashenko holds so much power that he got himself secretly inaugurated a few weeks ago. Ignoring the protests and not wanting to do it publicly, he secretly took over the nation once again. It’s a shame this country has been in a national political war for so long. Another form is ‘othering’ can be related to the language aspect of the nation. Over his years of being president, President Lukashenko has managed to keep Russian as the dominant language. Many Belarusians have wanted to change that and been trying to make Belarusian the more dominant language; trying to create Belarus as a more independent nation. “Belarus’ president, Alexander Lukashenko, who is widely criticized for his authoritarian rule, once said “nothing significant can be expressed” in Belarusian. He played a key role in stigmatizing the language in favor of Russian, and in the years that followed, Belarusian became the language of the marginalized political opposition” (Barushka). Not only does this prove the president continues to try and change the national identity of the nation but continues to hold the nation back from true independency from its past with the Soviet Union. Which brings me to my next example of ‘othering’. The president of Belarus tries to keep ties to what the national identity was when the nation was a part of the Soviet Union. As the historical connection to the Soviet Union is a shared past of the people of Belarus – making it a ‘positive’ concept – it’s also considered an ‘other’ because it restricts the nation of today. The connection to the Soviet Union needs to be let go for the nation to be independent and free of ‘others’; encouraging the main language to be Belarusian and encouraging new traditions only related to Belarus would help.
Apart from all of the historical facts of this nation, competitions that the nation participates in can also connect to national identity. Seeing one’s nation join in together to try to win something, creates a stronger sense of national identity and brings the nation together. The Eurovision Song Contest is a prime example of that. Belarus has been incorporated into the competition since 2004 but unfortunately hasn’t had any wins yet. But just participating in the nation brings the nation together: even President Lukashenko has been involved in the competition and the Belarus participants. Today, the people of Belarus are still heavily included into the Eurovision Song Contest and, President Lukashenko hasn’t involved himself in it for a while. Maybe, Belarus will have a stable sense of national identity soon.
References:
Borowska, P. (2017, June 2). Religion in Belarus – from Orthodoxy to Protestantism? Belarus Digest. https://belarusdigest.com/story/religion-in-belarus-from-orthodoxy-to-protestantism/
Barushka K. (2015, Jan 28). After decades Russian dominance, Belarus beings to reclaim its language. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/28/-sp-russian-belarus-reclaims-language-belarusian#:~:text=Belarusian%20and%20Russian%20are%20both,per%20cent%20speaks%20the%20latter.
Odynova, A. (2020, December 14). Protestors keep pressure on Belarus’ dictatorship, and pay the price. CBS News. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/belarus-news-protests-keep-pressure-on-alexander-lukashenko-minks-arrests/
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