Paul Goble
Staunton, Aug. 8 – Officials have put up signs in the Moscow metro that transliterate place names into Latin script, an action that linguists believe makes it easier for tourists to find their way if they ask to Park Pobedy rather than Victory Park and one that Russians accept as acceptable.
But when Minsk follows the same principle in its subway system and on street signs as well, one Russian commentator, Artyom Agafonov, sees this as a dangerous concession to Belarusian nationalists and an attack on “the great Russian language” (politnavigator.net/komu-nuzhna-latinka-ili-zachem-russkijj-vytesnyayut-s-belorusskikh-ulic.html).
He bases his argument on the fact that Belarusian was originally written in Latin script when the Polish state controlled much of that land and that the restoration of the Latin script was a key demand of Belarusian nationalists a century ago because they wanted to separate themselves from Russian as much as possible.
According to Agafonov, when the Belarusians use Latin script now, they aren’t helping tourists, they are simply attacking Russian. And consequently, he says, Moscow and Russians in Belarus, as well as Russian-speaking Belarusians must seek to reverse a policy that undermines the fundamental Russianness of Belarusians.
The appearance of this article highlights just how sensitive some Russians are to what is done elsewhere even if it is something they ignore when it happens within their own country and how many problems lie ahead if Moscow were to succeed in occupying and integrating Belarus once again.
Would it then be all right for Belarusians to do what Russians do? Or would this double standard continue, only further exacerbating tensions between Russians and Belarusians, two very different nations whom the Kremlin claims are only one?
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