Lukashenka & "Nasha Niva"

[curt fredric woolhiser]

>Dear Seelangers:
>
>The debate over Belorusian orthography has proved to me one thing: that in
>Belarus herrings are still red. Surely the real issue is that a repressive
>regime is using the orthographic stick to beat dissenters. They are not
>being persecuted for using a particular language norm, but because they
>challenge the squalid neo-Soviet regime of Lukashenka. The imposition of a
>spelling norm, the dismissal of the head of a Belarusian-language school,
>the beating by police of young people when they speak Belarusian - this is
>all the depressingly archaic power-politics of a neo-Stalinist dictator.

Doug,

The issue of orthography is, as you suggest, entirely secondary here. After
all, last year Lukashenko managed to close down the opposition newspaper
"Svaboda", which used the official Belarusian "narkomauka" orthography (and
even ran some articles in Russian!), without having to resort to such
tactics. What is really interesting about all this is what it says about
normative attitudes in this part of the world -- that the use of a
non-official orthography could be used in all seriousness as a pretext for
banning an opposition publication.

>
>Our colleague Mr Katkouski is right - Slavists should be protesting all
>this, in the name of human rights and intellectual freedom. My best hope is
>that Mr Lukashenka will soon be swept into the ash-can of history. My worst
>fear - and it is one that we should all share, is that his ideas spread to
>other areas of the FSU, including the Russian Federation, where he has a
>very considerable following. That could have very grave consequences for
>even Russocentric Slavists.
>
>Doug Clayton
>

Hear, hear! One way for the international Slavic studies community to make
itself heard on this matter would be to sponsor a resolution condemning
Lukashenko's linguistic and cultural policies at the upcoming International
Congress of Slavists in Cracow. The resolution could make reference to the
Universal Declaration on Linguistic Rights which was adopted at the 1996
World Conference on Linguistic Rights in Barcelona (sponsored by UNESCO and
the International PEN Club). The text of the declaration can be viewed at:
http://www.partal.com/ciemen/conf/deng.html.

========================================
Curt F. Woolhiser
Dept. of Slavic Languages
University of Texas
Austin, TX 78713-7217

Tel. (512) 471-3607
Fax: (512) 471-6710
Email: cfwoolhiser at mail.utexas.edu
========================================

P.S. Lest we get too self-righteous, however, those of us in the U.S. would
do well  to consider what is going on in our own neck of the woods (i.e.
the "English Only" movement -- see article below). Incidentally, does
anyone know if there are (or were) any Russian bilingual schools in LA or
SF?


In Calif. Classrooms, A Troubled Transition

LOS ANGELES, August 4 -- The sweeping social experiment known as
bilingual education officially ended today in the state where it began.
Confusion reigned in many California school districts and defiance in
others as teachers struggled to switch from Korean, Armenian and Spanish
to all-English, all the time, often without the help of textbooks or
lesson plans. In Oakland and San Francisco, where schools do not open
for another few weeks, officials were still holding out against
implementation of Proposition 227, the voter initiative that passed with
overwhelming support on June 2. The initiative, sponsored by Silicon
Valley software entrepreneur Ron Unz, replaced bilingual education with
a year of English language immersion. Except in charter schools,
students are then to be pushed into mainstream all-English classes. The
end of bilingual education in California, the largest state in the union
and the one with the largest immigrant population, is being closely
watched by other states also facing influxes of immigrant children.
Reflecting resentment over the spreading challenge, a bill curtailing
funding for bilingual education has been introduced in Congress. But in
the meantime, the change began today in Los Angeles. (Washington Post)