ANNUS ALBARUTHENICUS 2007 ГОД БЕЛАРУСКІ 2007 VILLA SOKRATES ANNUS ALBARUTHENICUS 2007 ГОД БЕЛАРУСКІ 2007 ВОСЬМЫ ТОМ Рэдактар САКРАТ ЯНОВІЧ KRYNKI 2007 Выдавецкае афармленьне: ЮРКА ХМЯЛЕЎСКІ Рэцэнзенты: prof. dr hab. Jerzy Tomaszewski prof. dr hab. Antoni Mironowicz Editor: STOWARZYSZENIE VILLA SOKRATES 16-120 KRYNKI POLAND Phone: (+48 – 85) 722 81 44 E-mail: [email protected] Друк: OFFSET-PRINT BIAŁYSTOK © Copyright by Villa Sokrates ISSN 1640-3320 Zrealizowano dzięki dotacji Ministra Spraw Wewnętrznych i Administracji ЗЬМЕСТ – CONTENTS Yury Vashkievich, Metamorphoses of Sovietism..................................................7 Ryszard Radzik, Der weißrussische und tschechische nationsschöpferische Prozess im 19. und zu Beginn des 20. Jahrhunderts: Ähnlichkeiten und Unterschiede............................................................................................29 Aliaksandar Smalianchuk, Belarusian National Idea in the Early Twentieth Century ..........................................................................................................55 Pavel Tserashkovich, Social Preconditions of National Revival of the Peoples in the East of Central Eastern Europe in the 19th – early 20th Centuries (Belarusians, Ukrainians, Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians)........................69 Miroslav Hroh, Nation as a Product of Social Communication? (Report on the issue of comparison of the Czech and Belarusian „models”) .......... 111 Miloš Řezník, Historische Staatlichkeit und Nationalbewegung: ein weißrussisch-tschechischer Vergleich.....................................................131 Ewa Bacia, Entstehung des Sozialkapitals als Folge der historisch-kulturellen Bedingungen (am Beispiel einer Vergleichsuntersuchung zwischen zwei Ortschaften: Krynki/Ostpolen und Letschin/Ostdeutschland)......................145 Michael Fleming, Talking about Białowieża: Recent problems and issues .....163 Arnold McMillin, Three poets of the future: Valžyna Mort, Volha Hapiejeva and Vika Trenas ...........................................................................................173 Alena Tabolich, Sakrat Yanovich’s Prose: Stylistic Peculiarities in Translating ...............................................................................................201 Алена Таболіч, Пераклады паэзіі..................................................................207 Eva Stsepaniuk, A hole into the sky .................................................................221 Sakrat Yanovich, No regret... ...........................................................................225 Pálfalvi Lajos, Müvek a fehérorosz irodalom poszttotalitárius korszakából ...237 З іспанскай паэзіі .............................................................................................283 З ірляндзкай паэзіі ...........................................................................................285 З цыганскай паэзіі ...........................................................................................287 Карліс Скалбэ, Цудоўная скрынка................................................................289 Алеха Карпенцер, Выбраныя ........................................................................297 Rezensionen ......................................................................................................307 Skizze ................................................................................................................347 Varia ..................................................................................................................357 6 Yury Vashkievich Юры Вашкевіч Metamorphoses of Sovietism elarus is experiencing a diffi cult period of its development. The consequences of a long-term reign of totalitarianism in this country proved much more serious than initially expected. The B prospects of political, economic and social changes also proved more complicated than assumed. Numerous arising diffi culties, the problem of democratisation of Belarusian state and social institutions as well as the nature of development of political processes may be to a considerable extent explained by the heavy burden of the communist system legacy. A further devel- opment requires not only delineation of goals but also a precise analysis of the totalitarian past. This is not possible without being aware of the basic peculiarities of the Soviet communism as a political, sociological and cultural phenomenon. Neo-communist tendencies resurging recently in Belarusian society increase inter- est in the analysis of problems connected with the way it is functioning. Part of it is the phenomenon of Sovietism, the Soviet man that revealed itself on a massive scale and developed in the time of USSR but still exists losing, however, its close connection with the „maternal womb.” This means it is still alive. Therefore an 7 Yury Vashkievich understanding of the phenomenon of „Sovietism” itself has not only a cognitive and theoretical, but also a quite practical meaning. It is necessary to emphasise that as far as the Soviet society is concerned, paral- lels with other societies, both in historical and social-political respect, often fail. The Soviet society was a new historical type. Therefore its accurate description requires focusing especially on terminology and meaning since the system created by the Bolscheviks differed considerably from previous formations. It was found- ed on communist ideology and class struggle theory, it introduced state-exclusive property, one party dictatorship, absolute centralisation of power and abolition of distribution of authority. Together with a complex chain of state and party control it constituted a perfectly tailored set of tools for the party dictatorship. The abso- lute power of the communist party facilitated an effective elimination of noncon- formism. At the same time, a careful selection elevated bureaucrats, role models of a perfect Soviet man for millions of its co-citizens, to the top of the party hierarchy. For the Bolsheviks, the justifi cation of the coup d’etat was the power that made the building of utopia possible. They also believed they had on their hands the key to the secret of social development and a magical recipe for a miracle. They needed the man, inhabitant of this utopia, a man-cogwheel of the state machine. The idea of this type of individual was nothing new; it came from the nineteenth-century Russian theories of socialism. Its then-contemporary prototype was the „new man” intended to carry out a revolution in tsar’s Russia and to introduce socialism. It is of this kind of man that the Russian „Narodniks” dreamed trying to unite with the people to enlighten them and prepare them for the revolution. Their activity in this direction amounted mainly to attempts at forming the new mentality. Its manifestation was to be a negative attitude towards Christian tradition and its spiritual values. It was an activity of the new type of people that considered every way of fi ghting for their ideals to be right. This model of the new man found its incarnation in the attitudes of activists and ideologists of the Bolshevik coup. The Soviet man of the post-revolution era took to creating a new social-political order. In reality, it was a struggle with the world of universal values in the name of rela- tive ones subordinate to the idea of socialism-communism. In the mature period of totalitarianism, „Sovietism” spread wider and wider, engulfi ng greater and greater number of people that did not have any infl uence on politics, economy or social life. They were characterised by conformism and acquiescence of the existence of the ruling system. The totalitarian system formed individuals that reasoned in categories detached 8 from reality and closely connected with the ideology. Soviet people constituted a Metamorphoses of Sovietism collective founded on a specifi c ideology, because the latter had a decisive infl u- ence on moulding their outlook on life. It was thanks to this ideology that they possessed a few constant peculiarities. The basic ones were the lack of individuali- sation of person, which results from the fact of „collectivist” upbringing, and the all-relativising ideologized consciousness. In this consciousness, there is no place for absolute values of a metaphysical-religious dimension, nor is there a place for such freedom that would serve those values. The Soviet man was enslaved spir- itually to such an extent that he no longer felt the very need for liberty. A typical manifestation of this enslavement was a total lack of responsibility. „A Soviet” did not feel responsible for anything or anyone. If he was a part of the state machinery, he justifi ed everything he did in terms of his mission for the society; he thought he understood the meaning of history, calling for creation of a bright future. If, on the contrary, he was an ordinary citizen, he became an obedi- ent executor of decisions of the leaders. That is why a long-term functioning of the communist system was possible only under the condition that „new man,” was created. In doctrinal terms, this type arose under circumstances of Bolshevism, i.e. Leninism and its logical continuation, Stalinism, established on the national Rus- sian tradition and on a suitably adapted Marxist doctrine. The whole Soviet history eventually amounts to a history of forming the Soviet man, creating conditions under which an individual loses his or her primary motivation to act, begins to absorb and to accumulate dogmas delivered by the newly created