The Rusin question in the socio-political discourse of Belarus (1990s)

Abstract

The article considers the rendition of the Rusin question in the socio-political discourse of Belarus in the 1990s. The author's attention to the Rusin question is closely connected with the analysis of the West-Polesian ethnopolitical movement in Belarus in the late 1980s - first half of the 1990s. The author has selected and analysed various materials (manifestos of political parties, journalism,analytical notes) to determine what motivated various public forces in Belarus (representatives of the academic community, activists of the West-Polesian and Ukrainian ethno-political movements in Belarus, proRussian political forces) to address the Rusin problem. He has also identified the main mechanisms used by those forces to represent the Rusin question. The main inrerest in the Rusin question came on part of the pro-Russian party Slavic Sobor Belaya Rus, since its activists wanted to use the Rusin factor to construct a negative image of the ruling elites of post-Soviet states by accusing them of discriminatory national-cultural policies. The author concludes that the Rusin question was poorly represented in the public and political discourse of Belarus. The peak interest to it was in 1991-1993. The attention to the problem decreased as the West-Polesian movement faded. Now, the Rusin question is discussed by Belarusian historians (K.V. Shevchenko, O.G. Kazak, A.P. Salkov, etc.) and is virtually absent in the Belarus media.