Belarusian: a Language Once Again Finding its People
/Guest post by SIL LEAD intern Dasha Davidouskaya,* 21 years old
(Dasha, an international student from Belarus, studies at Luther college)
If you meet a Belarusian on the street and ask them their primary language, the majority will most likely tell you it’s Russian. As a proud international student from Belarus, I always take a deep breath and prepare my conversation partners for a mini-history lesson about a very interesting dynamic of bilingual life in Belarus.
Belarus, as a land-locked country in Eastern Europe, has two national languages: Russian and Belarusian. Belarusian or “biełaruskaja mova” is an East Slavic language, which has many similarities to Ukrainian and Russian. Most Belarusians can read, speak, and write in Belarusian, but they do not choose it as the language of everyday life. But why?
The Beautiful Belarusian countryside. Source.
The first reason for the “unpopularity” of the Belarusian language lies in historical discrimination of the language as a part of the “Russianization” of Belarus. Russianization was a set of measures aimed to spread and popularize the Russian language and culture in many countries, including the Belarusian territory. This form of cultural assimilation was initiated by the Russian Empire in the 1860s. It focused on erasing the distinct cultural identity from the minds of Belarusians. “Russianization” continued during the 1940s when Stalin was elected to the government chairmanship. Many Belarusian intellectuals were repressed or even executed for speaking the Belarusian language. Speaking Belarusian was associated with being nationalistic. Many schools, where Belarusian was the primary language, were forced to shut down. The number of Belarusian magazines and newspapers steadily decreased.
Similarly, during the 1960s the Communist party aimed to normalize the Russian language in many other Soviet Republics by eradicating the presence of other languages in society and education. The Communist Party believed "the sooner we all speak Russian, the faster we will build communism." Thus, Belarusian did not have any room for development in the Soviet reality and the language went underground.
After Belarus became independent, the government announced two official languages in the country—Belarusian and Russian. But no institution has ever popularised Belarusian, and Russian remained linguistically dominant. In Belarus, we also have “Trasyanka”—what Belarusians call a mixture of Belarusian and Russian together. Some believe that the phenomena of linguistic fusion is just a natural process of development, but others argue it is an unpleasant result of poor education.
Another reason people use Russian regularly is that doing so gives them a linguistic advantage in most of the post-Soviet countries. They will be understood anywhere from Central Asia to the Baltic areas while traveling, and can easily apply to good regional universities, which offer their programs in Russian.
Neither can Belarusian compete with the Russian media space. The growing industry of Russian-speaking entertainment, news channels, and programs offer an experience of connection with popular culture heroes and stories, something that the Belarusian language cannot yet offer. Nonetheless, Belarusian has a fast-growing music industry with a growing fan base, and a rich body of literature. Authors like Yanka Kupala, Yakub Kolas, Maxim Bahdanovich, Vasil Bukay, and many others are essential contributors to the language we have today; and are part of the required readings at school. There are also many more contemporary writers that have gained popularity among the youth: Svitlana Alexeevich (the Nobel laureate), Victor Martinovich, Lyavon Volsky, and many others.
Belarusian capital city of Minsk - hometown of the author. Source.
The education of school children is performed either in the Russian or Belarusian languages. In my school, we had all subjects in Russian. But I studied Belarusian language and literature as mandatory subjects. As a child, I remember wondering, why do we have to spend so much time studying Belarusian if we have Russian? I thought there would be no use for our Belarusian language in the future.
Despite all these factors, I would argue that many young Belarusians are demanding cultural and linguistic self-determination. I have observed a rise in the popularity of Belarusian language courses and the presence of Belarusian advertisements. There has also been a switch to Belarusian as the dominant language of many public organizations and businesses, and a sincere desire to speak it with each other.
As I have now reached my twenties, it has given me a chance to reflect on the role of Belarusian in my life. I can read books written by Belarusian authors in the original language. I can connect to cultural artifacts through the language. I can listen to Belarusian music. I can speak the language with other Belarusians, having this special connection with the country, land, and rituals. The Belarusian language is my safe space, where I escape from the busy world when I need to. The idea of preserving linguistic diversity, unique cultural features, and the desire to share my culture with the world came to me when I started pursuing my International Baccalaureate degree at United World College Maastricht, surrounded by students from all over the world. This multicultural environment inspired me to embrace my own culture and language. I continue to share my unique cultural experience with my current college community. And I am very happy to do so with the SIL LEAD team.
*Dasha was recently profiled on this website. You can read more of her story HERE.