1. In Quest of Lost Heritage, Ethnic Identity, and Democracy: The Belarusian Case
| Dublin Core | PKP Metadata Items | Metadata for this Document | |
| 1. | Title | Title of document | 1. In Quest of Lost Heritage, Ethnic Identity, and Democracy: The Belarusian Case - Vernacular Knowledge |
| 2. | Creator | Author's name, affiliation, country | Anastasiya Astapova; University of Tartu; |
| 3. | Subject | Discipline(s) | Religious Studies; Ethnography |
| 4. | Subject | Keyword(s) | ethnic identity; post-Soviet nationalism; conspiracy theories; alternative history |
| 5. | Subject | Subject classification | vernacular religion |
| 6. | Description | Abstract | In the middle of the 20th century, one of the most celebrated Belarusian writers, Uladzimir Karatkevich, wrote a novel dedicated to the national uprising of 1863. The book was planned to be published in three parts: the first two parts were about the organizers of the uprising, their childhood, education, and preparation for the protest, while the third one was planned to be dedicated to the uprising per se. According to the official version, the third part was never written: it appeared as a short novel, which didn’t justify the hopes of the readers and was not very successful. However, as stated by intellectuals, the third part of the book existed but was stolen by the KGB, and is still kept in the closed archives; its publication may cause ethnic consolidation and democratic changes in contemporary Belarus. Departing from the example of this lost book, I will proceed to similar cases, e. g. search for another Belarusian relic – Cross of Saint Euphrosyne lost in the 20th century; and further relate it to other narratives debunking Soviet evil and blaming Soviet authorities for today’s Belarusian cultural and political decline. They emerge in the context of Belarusian belated search for ethnic identity and become one of the few tools available in the struggle for democracy. This paper analyses action undertaken by searchers of stolen masterpieces, stories rising around them, and hopes laid on how Belarus might change in case they are found. |
| 7. | Publisher | Organizing agency, location | Equinox Publishing Ltd |
| 8. | Contributor | Sponsor(s) | |
| 9. | Date | (YYYY-MM-DD) | 24-Oct-2022 |
| 10. | Type | Status & genre | Peer-reviewed Article |
| 11. | Type | Type | |
| 12. | Format | File format | |
| 13. | Identifier | Uniform Resource Identifier | https://journals.equinoxpub.com/index.php/books/article/view/29208 |
| 14. | Identifier | Digital Object Identifier | 10.1558/equinox.29208 |
| 15. | Source | Journal/conference title; vol., no. (year) | Equinox eBooks Publishing; Vernacular Knowledge |
| 16. | Language | English=en | en |
| 18. | Coverage | Geo-spatial location, chronological period, research sample (gender, age, etc.) |
world, contemporary |
| 19. | Rights | Copyright and permissions | Copyright 2014 Equinox Publishing Ltd |