BeloRUSSIAN vs. Belarusian

[Natalia Pylypiuk]

In view of the recent discussion, may I draw the attention of SEELANGERS
interested in Lukashenka's activities to the following article:

LANGUAGE ON TRIAL by Jan Maksymiuk
RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 2, No. 152 Part II, 10 August 1998

********* A few excerpts follow: ************

        In 1997, the Belarusian National Assembly passed a
law "On the Press and Other Media," which allowed the
government in May 1998 to issue a warning against the biweekly
"Nasha Niva." An independent newspaper published entirely in
Belarusian and with a circulation of some 5,000, "Nasha
Niva" ...uses the traditiona Belarusian orthography, which was
changed by decree under Joseph Stalin's regime in 1933.

 ...The state, which from 1991 to 1994 did a great deal to promote
both the formerly neglected Belarusian culture and education in
the Belarusian language, has practically ceased to support
either under Lukashenka.
        For example, in 1994 there were 220 schools in
Minsk whose language of instruction was Belarusian. Two years
later, their number had shrunk to fewer than 20. ...
        Lukashenka has made a point of ostentatiously
promoting Russian-language and  Soviet culture in Belarus. In a
widely quoted statement, he once asserted that "one cannot
express anything deep in Belarusian."
...
        Dubavets is not the only one to oppose the 1933
orthography reform. The "Belarusian Language
Encyclopedia," published in Minsk in 1994, states that the 1933 reform
focused "not so much on reflecting the specifically
national character of the Belarusian language as on bringing its
orthography in line with the Russian orthographic
tradition." In a wider sense, the 1933 ban on the traditional
Belarusian spelling reflected Stalin's idea of merging the globe's
cultures into one with a single language. Presumably,
that culture was to be Soviet and the language Russian. In
this way, the Belarusian language became a victim of Stalin's
futuristic vision.
        Some of the best-known Belarusian linguists have
come out in support of the spelling used by "Nasha Niva."
International human right organizations have protested,
pointing that the State Press Committee's warning
violates international law--in particular, the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Belarus is a
signatory. But..."no linguistic or even
legal arguments are of any importance" in this case. It is the
language that is on trial, not the spelling.

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