{"title":"The Book of Miracles of the Bernardines of Minsk (1672)","authors":"Vaida Kamuntavičienė","doi":"10.30965/20526512-12350016","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30965/20526512-12350016","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000This article focuses on the Book of Miracles (Morze łaski Bozey Maria Panna przy obraźie swym cudownym w kościele mińskim Panien Zakonnych S. Franciszka) printed at the Vilnius Jesuit printing house in 1672 on the initiative of the mother superior of the Bernardine nunnery in Minsk, Franciszka Judycka. The book depicts miracles which occurred after prayers were said in the presence of the painting of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Child of the Bernardines of Minsk. It portrays the illnesses and everyday life of the sixteen nuns. The book was dedicated to the castellan of Minsk and the elder of Josvainiai, Aleksander Judycki and highlighted the merits of Judycki who offered shelter for the Minsk Bernardines in his Josvainiai manor in Samogitia during the war with Russia in 1654–1667. The article shows the beliefs of society in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania during the Baroque epoque.","PeriodicalId":277512,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Belarusian Studies","volume":"54 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125678527","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Jewish Population of Brest-Litovsk during the Period of German Occupation, 1915–1919: Analysis and Perspectives","authors":"Boris Czerny, Efim Basin","doi":"10.30965/20526512-12350013","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30965/20526512-12350013","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000The present work aims to fill a gap by analyzing the situation facing the Jewish population of Brest between 1915 and 1919. It is based on unpublished documents and an accurate account of events in Yiddish. It further endeavors to outline the perspectives offered by the examination of the documents over a longer period of time, taking into account the early years of the Polish period. We believe that such an approach will not only allow us to stop considering the period 1915–1919 as an “empty” period, but also contribute to a better understanding of the situation of the Jewish population in Brest-Litovsk after 1919. This epigraphic analysis of the documents presented by the inhabitants of Brest when returning to obtain Polish nationality is a novel study of materials that have not previously been investigated.","PeriodicalId":277512,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Belarusian Studies","volume":"220 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-11-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"133966630","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Reading Belarus: The Evolving Semiosis of Belarusian Textiles","authors":"A. M. LaVey","doi":"10.30965/20526512-12350011","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30965/20526512-12350011","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000This paper analyses the communicative features of traditional Belarusian textiles and embroidery, exploring their history and their use as cultural code from the earliest times to the present. Using cultural semiotic analysis, the article highlights the evolving statements textiles make in regard to contemporary Belarusian culture, with specific attention being paid to the use of textiles in the months surrounding the 2020 presidential election and its aftermath, as well as engaging current fashion design. This paper, combating ideas of Belarusian invisibility, brings to light how textiles are and continue to be symbols and visual expressions of Belarusian cultural identity, and will be useful to scholars and students in the fields of art history, Belarusian studies, cultural studies, semiotics, Slavistics, and textile, costume and fashion studies.","PeriodicalId":277512,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Belarusian Studies","volume":"27 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-10-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124108060","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Humor and Rumor in the Post-Soviet Authoritarian State, written by Anastasiya Astapova","authors":"Sofie Bedford","doi":"10.30965/20526512-12350012","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30965/20526512-12350012","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":277512,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Belarusian Studies","volume":"4 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-10-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128670031","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Domestic Constraints on Foreign Policy Change in Belarus","authors":"Paul Hansbury","doi":"10.30965/20526512-BJA10014","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30965/20526512-BJA10014","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000After 2014 the relationship between Russia and its ally Belarus was strained. Russia was dissatisfied with Belarus’s foreign policy and sought to influence the latter’s international affairs. This article considers the extent of change and continuity in Belarus’s foreign policy, and thus whether Russia’s criticisms reflect consequential shifts, covering the period 2016–2019. The analysis begins with the removal of EU sanctions, which afforded Belarus new opportunities, and ends before the protest movement that emerged ahead of the election in 2020. The study considers three policy areas: international trade; diplomacy more broadly; and foreign policy concerns for prestige. The article argues that Belarus made appreciable policy changes in response to structural pressures in the period 2016–2019, but the parameters of these foreign policy shifts were necessarily highly constrained by domestic interest group competition which prevents Belarus distancing itself from Russia. It concludes with a brief reflection on how the 2020 election protests and repressions affect the dynamics described.","PeriodicalId":277512,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Belarusian Studies","volume":"7 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-07-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121922912","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Stalin’s Ghosts, Parasites, and Pandemic: The Roots of the 2020 Uprising in Belarus","authors":"David R. Marples","doi":"10.30965/20526512-12350008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30965/20526512-12350008","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000The 2020 presidential election in Belarus was different from previous elections in the independence period. Three candidates emerged from the economic and political elite, and several factors reduced the popularity of the incumbent president Aliaksandr Lukashenka, particularly his so-called Parasite Laws of 2016, his dismissal of Covid-19 as a psychosis, and the destruction of crosses at the Kurapaty memorial site. Though several candidates were barred from running, the campaign of Svjatlana Cichanoŭskaja emerged as a serious challenge, with popular mass rallies and support from the other two major campaign teams. Yet the announced results gave Lukashenka over 80%. The response was the largest mass demonstrations seen in Belarus since the late 1980s, to which the government responded with repressions and arrests. The paper discusses the various analyses of the election results and whether the “national awakening” can herald real political change.","PeriodicalId":277512,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Belarusian Studies","volume":"711 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-06-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123840341","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}