How interesting is Belarus
for Europeans?
Having searched
through the internet we found out some figures
describing what foreigners think about Belarus and its people nowadays.
Group 1
The most popular
answer was politics (20%). Besides Europeans are interested in tourism (11%), language
(6%), culture (15%). and Belarusian
cuisine (18%). Some people wrote about Belarusian nature and geography (18%). About
12% of respondents considered interesting the history of Belarus, in particular
its Soviet period. Great interest was also drawn by the replies that compared Belarus to Russia
saying that 'it is almost the same as Russia,
but less interesting', or for example that other neighboring countries
(obviously meaning Ukraine)
get more attention.
Group 2
We also wondered what foreigners would like to learn
about Belarus.
Roughly 30% expressed a will to find out more about Belarusian culture,
from the language to the food and history. Particularly interesting was the
origin of the name of the country 'Belarus'
and the difference of the nation compared to Russia(32%). Besides the position
on the map, there were questions about the Belarusian civil society(18%),
economic situation(10%) and everyday life of Belarusians(10%).
Culture
Being
a component part of the world culture heritage, the Belarusian culture
preservers the best national traditions which borrowing the experience of other
cultures. The challenges of learning and preserving the traditional culture
have become part and parcel of government strategy in the field of culture.
Libraries are centers of spiritual enrichment, sources of education and
information. There has been a decision by the President of the country to build
a new National Library.
History, tradition and Belarusian mentality are comprehensively shown in
the national literature of Belarus.
Its founders are Y.Kupala, Y.Kolas, M.Bogdanovich, K.Krapiva, P.Glebka,
P.Brouka. There traditions have been picked up by I.Melezh, M.Tank,
I.Ptashnikov, L.Dranko-Maisyuk and others.
The
modern stage of development of Belarusian art is characterized by advance and
improvement of new trends in painting, graphics, sculpture, decorative and
monumental art, design and applied arts.
The Republic’s variety art is represented by
such pop-groups as “Pesniary”, “Siabry” and many others.
The
Belarusian theatrical art traditions are deep-rooted, too. Twenty seven
Republic’s theatres run the best world and nationals plays.
The
international art festival “Slavyansky Bazar” has become a good example of
traditional international cultural cooperation.
The
Belarusian cinema is a self-made, colorful part of its cultural life. One of
the latest interesting films about Belarusian history is “The Legend of
Anastasiya Slutskaya”.
Today
132 independent state museums function in the Republic. Over 2,5 mln exhibits
are kept in them. Being keepers of national culture and customs, the Belarusian
museums maintain close links with the world’s best museum traditions.
Belarusian culture is the product of a
millennium of development under the impact of a number of diverse factors.
These include the physical environment; the ethnographic background of
Belarusians (the merger of Slavic newcomers with Baltic natives); the paganism
of the early settlers and their hosts; Byzantine Christianity as a link to the
Orthodox religion and its literary tradition; the country's lack of natural
borders; the flow of rivers toward both the Black Sea and the Baltic Sea; and
the variety of religions in the region (Catholicism, Orthodoxy, Judaism, and
Islam).
An early Western influence on Belarusian
culture was Magdeburg Law--charters that granted municipal self-rule and were
based on the laws of German cities. These charters were granted in the
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries by grand dukes and kings to a number of
cities, including Brest, Hrodna, Slutsk, and Minsk. The tradition of
self-government not only facilitated contacts with Western
Europe but also nurtured self-reliance, entrepreneurship, and a
sense of civic responsibility.
In 1517-19 Frantsishak Skaryna (ca. 1490-1552)
translated the Bible into the vernacular (Old Belorussian). Under the communist
regime, Skaryna's work was vastly undervalued, but in independent Belarus he
became an inspiration for the emerging national consciousness as much for his
advocacy of the Belorussian language as for his humanistic ideas.
From the fourteenth to the seventeenth
centuries, when the ideas of humanism, the Renaissance, and the Reformation
were alive in Western Europe, these ideas were debated in Belorussia as well
because of trade relations there and because of the enrollment of noblemen's
and burghers' sons in Western universities. The Reformation and
Counter-Reformation also contributed greatly to the flourishing of polemical
writings as well as to the spread of printing houses and schools.
During the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries, when Poland and Russia were making deep political and cultural inroads
in Belorussia
by assimilating the nobility into their respective cultures, the rulers
succeeded in associating "Belorussian" culture primarily with peasant
ways, folklore, ethnic dress, and ethnic customs, with an overlay of
Christianity. This was the point of departure for some national activists who
attempted to attain statehood for their nation in the late nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries.
The development of Belorussian literature,
spreading the idea of nationhood for the Belorussians, was epitomized by the
literary works of Yanka Kupala (1882-1942) and Yakub Kolas (1882- 1956). The
works of these poets, along with several other outstanding writers, became the
classics of modern Belorussian literature by writing widely on rural themes (the
countryside was where the writers heard the Belorussian language) and by
modernizing the Belorussian literary language, which had been little used since
the sixteenth century. Postindependence authors in the 1990s continued to use
rural themes widely.
Unlike literature's focus on rural life, other
fields of culture--painting, sculpture, music, film, and theater--centered on
urban reality, universal concerns, and universal values.
Music
The first major musical composition by a
Belarusian was the opera Faust by Antoni Radziwiłł. In the 17th century, Polish
composer Stanislau Maniushka composed many operas and chamber music pieces
while living in Minsk.
During his stay, he worked with Belarusian poet Vincent Dunin-Marcinkevich and
created the opera Sialianka (Peasant Woman). At the end of the 19th century,
major Belarusian cities formed their own opera and ballet companies. The ballet
Nightingale by M. Kroshner was composed during the Soviet era.
After the Great Patriotic War, the music
focused on the hardships of the Belarusian people or on those who took up arms
in defense of the homeland. This was the time period that A. Bogatyryov, the
creator of the opera 'In Polesye Virgin Forest', served as the
"tutor" of Belarusian composers. The National Academic Theatre of
Ballet, in Minsk,
was awarded the Benois de la
Dance Prize in 1996 as the top ballet company in the
world.[3]
Popular Soviet Belarusian music was composed by
several prominent bands, many of whom performed Belarusian folk music. Folk
rock act Pesniary, formed in 1969 by guitarist Vladimir Mulyavin, became the
most popular folk band of the Soviet Union, and often toured over Europe. Pesniary's example inspired Siabry and Verasy to
follow their way. The tradition of Belarus
as a centre of folk and folk rock music is continued today by Stary Olsa,
Vicious Crusade and Gods
Tower, among others.
Rock music of Belarus arose in Perestroika times.
Bands like Bi-2 (currently living in Russia), Lyapis Trubetskoy, Krama
and ULIS were founded in late 1980's or early 90's. Though rock music has risen
in popularity in recent years, the Belarusian government has suppressed the
development of popular music through various legal and economic mechanisms.
Because of this restrictions, many Belarusian bands prefer to sign up to
Russian labels and to perform in Russia
or Ukraine.
Researchers Maya Medich and Lemez Lovas
reported in 2006 that "independent music-making in Belarus today is an
increasingly difficult and risky enterprise", and that the Belarusian
government "puts pressure on ‘unofficial’ musicians - including ‘banning’
from official media and imposing severe restrictions on live performance."
In a video interview on freemuse.org the two authors explain the mechanisms of
censorship in Belarus.
Since 2004, Belarus has been sending artists to
the Eurovision Song Contest.
Dress
Traditional two piece Belarusian dress
originated from the time of Kievan Rus, and continues to be worn today at
special functions. Due to the cool climate of Belarus, the clothes were made out
fabrics that provide closed covering and warmth. The outfits were designed with
either many threads of different colors woven together or are adorned with
symbols called ornaments. The Belarusian nobles usually had their fabrics
imported and chose the colors of red, blue or green. Males wore a shirt and
trousers adorned with a belt and the females wore a longer shirt, a wrap-around
skirt called a "paniova", and a headscarf. The outfits also were also
influenced by the dress worn by Poles, Lithuanians, Latvians and other European
nations and have changed over time due to improvements in the techniques used
to make clothing.
Literature
Belarusian literature began with 11th- to
13th-century religious writing; the work of 12th-century poet Kiryla Turauski
is representative.[8] Rhyming was common in these works,[citation needed] which
were generally written in Old Belarusian, Latin, Polish or Church-Slavic.[9] By
the 16th century, Polatsk resident Francysk Skaryna translated the Bible into
Belarusian. It was published in Prague and Vilnius between 1517 and 1525, making it the first book
printed in Belarus or
anywhere in Eastern Europe. The modern period
of Belarusian literature began in the late 19th century; one important writer
was Yanka Kupala. Many of the writers at the time, such as Uładzimir Žyłka,
Kazimir Svayak, Yakub Kolas, Źmitrok Biadula and Maksim Haretski, wrote for a
Belarusian language paper called Nasha Niva, published in Vilnius. After
(Eastern) Belarus was incorporated into the Soviet Union, the government took
control of Belarusian culture,[vague] and until 1939 free development of
literature occurred only in the territories incorporated into Poland (Western
Belarus).[10] Several poets and authors went into exile after the Nazi
occupation of Belarus, not to return until the 1960s. In post-war literature,
the central topic was World War II (known in Belarus
as the Great Patriotic War), that had particularly left particularly deep wounds
in Belarus
(Vasil Bykaŭ, Ales Adamovich etc); the pre-war era was also often depicted
(Ivan Melezh). A major revival of the Belarusian literature occurred in the
1960s with novels published by Vasil Bykaŭ and Uładzimir Karatkievič.
After the Partitions of Poland, the Imperial
Russia had a policy of de-polonisation of the Ruthenian people. However, even
after many cases when the Belarusian peoples were subjected to what some call
Russification, it was clear that this created a destinct ethnicity and a
destinct culture that was neither Polish and Russian. In 1897 census most of
the population referred to their language as Belarusian rather than Ruthenian
(and wrongly interpreted as Russian by Tsarist authorities), as they did during
Polish rule.
It was the 20th century that fully allowed Belarus to show
its culture to the world. Notable Belarusian poets included Yanka Kupala, Vasil
Bykau. Also helped was the korenizatsiya policy of the Soviet
Union which encouraged local level nationalism. The Belarusian
language was numerously reformed to fully represent the phonetics of a modern
speaker. However, some contemprory nationalists find that the Russian influence
has taken its toll too much. At present the Russian language is still being
used in official business and in other sections of Belarusian society.
Festivals
The Belarusian government sponsors many annual
cultural festivals: Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk; "Minsk Spring";
"Slavonic Theatrical Meetings"; International Jazz Festival; National
Harvesting Festival; "Arts for Children and Youth"; Competition of
Youth Variety Show Arts; "Muses of Niesvizh"; "Mir Castle";
and the National Festival of the Belarusian Song and Poetry. These events
showcase talented Belarusian performers, whether it is in music, art, poetry,
dance or theater. At these festivals, various prizes named after Soviet and
Belarusian heroes are awarded for excellence in music or art. The contemporary
nationalists argue that most of these sponsoured events have nothing to do with
the Belarusian culture, let alone the culture as such, but such opinions are
not valid, as all the events are subject to the expertise of the Belarusian
Ministry of Culture. Several state holidays, like Independence Day or Victory
Day draw big crowds and include various displays such as fireworks and military
parades. Most of the festivals take place in Vitebsk
or Minsk.
Theatre
Belarusian theater also began gain popularity
in the early 1900s. One of Belarus's
most famous plays, Paulinka (written by Yanka Koupala), was performed in Siberia for the Belarusians who were being sent to the
region. Documentation of Belarusian folk music stretches back to at least the
15th century. Prior to that, skomorokhs were the major profession for
musicians. A neumatic chant, called znamenny, from the word 'znamia', meaning
sign or neume, was used until 16th century in Orthodox church music, followed
by two hundreds of stylistic innovation that drew on the Renaissance and
Protestant Reformation. In the 17th century, Partesnoe penie, part singing,
became common for choruses, followed by private theaters established in cities
like Minsk and Vitebsk. Popular music groups that came from Belarus include
Pesniary, Dreamlin and NRM. Currently, there are 27 professional theater groups
touring in Belarus,
70 orchestras, and 15 agencies that focus on promoting concerts.
Later operas, for
which our opera and ballet theatre was built in 1933, symphonies and chamber
music were born. The pioneers of the musical art were M. Aladov, M. Churkin,
Ya. Tsikotsky and others. In 1932 the Belarusian Conservatoire was opened. A
little later A. Bagatyrev composed an opera called In the Polesye Pushchas about
the civil war partisans, and M. Kroshner created a ballet called The
Nightingale, based on the well-known story by Z. Byadulya about a serf
rebellion against the landowners.
In 2005, playwrights Nikolai Khalezin and
Natalya Kolyada founded the Belarus Free Theatre, an underground theatre
project dedicated to resisting Belarussian government pressure and censorship.
The group performs in private apartments and at least one such performance was
broken up by special forces of the Belarusian police The Belarus Free Theatre
has attracted the support of notable Western writers such as Tom Stoppard,
Edward Bond, Václav Havel, Arthur Kopit and Harold Pinter.
Belarusian Cuisine
Modern Belarusian cuisine
is still heavily influenced by its recent Soviet past, and many local
restaurants feature Russian, or Soviet dishes rather than true specialties of
local cuisine. Belarusians are far more concerned with getting to know Italian,
Chinese,
Japanese
cuisine than with the careful restoration of their own culinary heritage.
However, such national dishes as draniki
(both plain and stuffed), boršč, haladnik, mačanka, zrazy, cold meat rolls,
eggs stuffed with mushrooms, halubtsy, fried ‘shoved-with-a-finger’
pork sausage and bliny are likely to be found everywhere, as well as sour rye
bread.
Typical salads are made of
a fairly short list of ingredients: endless combinations of boiled beef or chicken,
potato, beet, carrot, apple,
herring,
diced cheese, canned peas
and corn,
canned fish, ‘crab fingers’, onions and mushrooms, and are generously seasoned with mayonnaise
or sunflower oil.
Soups are much more authentic, both hot (shchi, boršč, sorrel soup)
and especially cold sour soups which provide cooling relief during the hot
summer. Pork dishes are usually fried or stewed, with cheese or mushrooms
seasoning. Beef steaks are also quite frequent, but mutton, once very popular,
is almost entirely limited to Caucasian or Central Asian restaurants.
Brown rye bread took the first place
in the nourishment. Belarusians brought up respect and thrift for bread from
childhood. There are a lot of proverbs and sayings about bread, for example
"Bread is the head of everything." The Slavs' most ancient
article is a round loaf. It played an important role in ceremonies especially at weddings. A round loaf was decorated with dough figures of birds, animals and men at the top.
article is a round loaf. It played an important role in ceremonies especially at weddings. A round loaf was decorated with dough figures of birds, animals and men at the top.
Historically, Belarusians
had little contact with fish from the sea, and this is still evident in the
cuisine. The most common sea fish (after herring, which has been the most
common appetizer all along the Baltic coast and its vicinity ever since the
14th century) are hake
and cod
and there are relatively few dishes with such fish. Much more traditional and
common are lake fish, notably zander, cooked in endless ways, and carp (especially the
famous stuffed carp, the gefilte fisch of Jewish cuisine). Eels, smoked or stuffed,
are the specialty of the lake country in the northwestern part of Belarus, adjacent to Latvia and Lithuania.
Garnishes
are usually boiled, fried or mashed potatoes, rice or pasta. Meat dishes are
frequently served with bliny or draniki in rounded clay pots. While Belarusians
consider kasha (cereals) as rather ordinary dishes and cook them frequently at
home, they are more rarely found in restaurants.
Kvass is still the main local soft drink, although
it is increasingly made of sugars and flavorings which imitate natural flavorings rather
than with genuine rye malt. Every small town boasts a local variety of mineral water,
which is probably the country’s main mineral resource. Belarusians prefer
carbonated water. Local harelkas (vodkas) are very good, notably those with
birch sap or various forest herbs, and are popular with lovers of strong drink. Mead and
many other similar drinks made of honey and spices, which were very common up
to the 19th century, and then were more or less rarely found until the present,
are mainly represented by krambambula, perhaps better known for its
odd name than for its specific taste. Which also contains fried salmon.
The
last national winter holiday is Maslenitsa. It is celebrated on the eve of
Great Lent which is always follows Maslenitsa. The main attributes of a holiday
are merry songs, sledding, round dancing and pancakes. A pancake is a symbol of
the sun because it is as round and hot as the sun. Our ancestors ate pancakes
with sour cream, caviar, mushrooms, salmon or sturgeon.
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