Struggle over Identity : The Official and the Alternative "Belarusianness" / / Nelly Bekus.

• VerfasserIn: Bekus, Nelly,
• Place / Publishing House: Budapest, Hungary: : Central European University Press,, 2010.; ©2010.
• Year of Publication: 2010
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (312 pages)

Describes how the ethno-symbolic nation of the Belarusian nationalists, based on the cultural capital of the Golden Age of the Belarusian past (17th century) competes with the nation - institutionalized and reified by the numerous civic rituals and social practices under the auspices of the actual Belarusian state.

Table of Contents

pt. 1. Nation in theory -- Nation-formation strategies in contemporary nation-studies -- State and nation -- Nationalism, capitalism, liberalism : the East European perspective -- Nationalism and socialism : the Soviet case 41 -- pt. 2. The rise and development of the Belarusian national idea -- The first Belarusian nationalist movement : between national and class interests -- Byelorussian Republic within the Soviet state -- Post-Soviet conditions for independence -- pt. 3. Belarusian post-communism -- The election of the first Belarusian president as a mirror of Belarusian preferences -- "Labels" of the Belarusian regime -- "Triple transformation" and Belarus -- Prerequisites of democratization and authoritarianism in Belarus -- pt. 4. Arguments and paradoxes of weak Belarusian identity -- Belarus as an example of national and democratic failure -- The Russian factor in Belarusian self-perception -- The paradox of "national pride" -- Paradoxes of political and linguistic Russification -- Lack of religious basis for national unity -- pt. 5. The struggle over identity -- Two ideas of "Belarusianness" -- Belarusian-specific nature of the public sphere : "invisible wall" -- Belarusian history : the alternative and official historical narrations -- Political discourses of the alternative Belarusianness -- National ideology of the Belarusian state as a political articulation of official Belarusianness -- pt. 6. Cultural manifestation versus social reification -- Two approaches to the politics of identity -- Belaruski globus : an encyclopedia of what existed before communism -- The Belarusian National Film Misterium occupation : distancing themselves from Soviets and Russians -- The "Free theater" or the alternative Belarusianness on stage -- Independent rock music : critical reflection and protest -- Medieval reenactors : a manifestation of Belarus's European history -- The official politics of identity : social reification strategy.