Ever More Belarusians Using Their National Language Among Themselves Because They View Russian as ‘Language of Oppressors,’ ‘Novaya Gazeta’ Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Oct. 13 – Diana Dzis of Novaya Gazeta Yevropa provides “a short history of the Belarusian language from the first Bible and the Arabic alphabet to the declaration of the poems of Yanka Kupala extremist under Lukashenka,” who has been more repressive toward the language than even Stalin.

            But this complicated history, one during which the national language has been “on the brink of disappearance” for the last five centuries,” Dzis says, is now experiencing a remarkable development, one not intended by its oppressors but the result of their actions (novayagazeta.eu/articles/2024/10/13/ne-byts-skotam).

            Belarusians have little choice but to use Russian in their interactions with officials; but precisely because they feel that that language is “the language of oppression” both there and in Ukraine, many of them are now using Belarusian even more actively among themselves as one of the ways to protest against that fact.

            This trend has been intensified by the Belarusian opposition abroad which is using Belarusian and encouraging Belarusians to use it as well, something that recalls the explosion of interest in Belarusian after 1991 and again in 2020 when Lukashenka’s opponents used the national language while he chose to use the language of those who oppress Belarus.

            Whether this unintended consequence of Russianization will be enough to save Belarusian this time around likely depends on just how long Lukashenka and his repressive policies remain in place. But what Dzis points to serves as a reminder that in some cases, people can ignore government mandates in their private lives and keep a language going.