What should we do with this day?

Perhaps, few Belarusans remember the period when the date of the 7th of November was absent in a holiday series of the sovereign Belarus. Why do we go on commemorating Soviet holidays?

  “A symbol of aspiration for the realization of a dream”?

Today the high status and particular importance of the October Revolution day November, 7 is emphasized by the fact that it is a day off.

 On the eve of the 95^th anniversary of the October Revolution the President of Belarus Aliaksandr Lukashenka sent his greetings to the compatriots.  He noted that the 7^th of November remains the symbol of aspiration of millions of people to the realization of a dream about a new world, which is based on the principles of labor, equality and equity.  

 “Our people will never forget that the Great October provided them with a right to self-determination and acquisition of statehood, having become that basis on which we have formed the sovereign Republic of Belarus,” – the greetings say.

Also Aliaksandr Lukashenka paid attention to the fact that by the 7^th of November new stations of Minsk underground railway would have started working, and up-to-date enterprises and social facilities were being put into operation throughout Belarus.

 “It is a good sign which means that our state develops successfully, following the right track towards the main goal – the creation of a strong and prosperous Belarus, a reliable and comfortable home for us and our children,” – emphasized the President.

 Lukashenka wished Belarusans to celebrate this holiday in a good mood.

  “Let it remind you of the Soviet past, where there were quite a few nice deeds and accomplishments, let it give you an opportunity to feel the joy of life on peaceful Belarusan soil stronger and to think over your plans for the future,” – is said in the greetings.

  Why do Belarusans commemorate November, 7?

If we look into the recent history we will find out that from the very first days of the existence of the sovereign Belarus, according to the law dated December 19^th, 1991, a new holiday calendar was set, where the number of holidays was only 10. Out of purely Soviet holidays Women’s Day on the 8^th of March, Labor Day on the 1^st of May and Victory Day on the 9^th of May were left. The holiday of the 7^th of November was eliminated and the country didn’t commemorate it for 4 years. It was returned by the decree of the President in 1995.

The return to the tradition of the commemoration of the Soviet holidays itself began in 1994 after the first presidential elections and the change of power. Why have the Soviet holidays altogether and the 7^th of November in particular come back?

 It can be explained by the fact that the power elite didn’t accept the national revival symbols, which were set by the holiday calendar of 1991 year, says Julia Galinouskaja, a member of the de-sovietization research group (research manager Uladzimir Matskevich). Authorities should have continued that tradition (and they didn’t want to) or suggested something new. But they had no new content.

-In order to cut themselves off that national revival context of the 1991-1994 period, it was necessary to designate new markers of change of power. The most understandable, simple and convenient way was to return in native mire. In 1994 year recollections of many Belarusans of the Soviet holiday culture were alive. It was a habitual calendar for them, a habitual Soviet way of life of weekdays and familiar holidays’ alternation. And people felt at ease, - analyses the researcher.

In one of the aspects a holiday is always authorities’ presentation of their course, policy, ideology.

  Therefore, according to Julia Galinouskaja, the revival of the Soviet calendar was “definitely a political instrument which worked at first for legitimation and then for the ensuring of stability of power. The holiday calendar became one of the ideological supports of the authorities.”

What does November, 7 mean for today’s Belarusans?

Recently in public transport I have heard passengers talking about whether the 7^th of November will be a day off or not. The fact that people don’t know about it indicates their inattention and indifference towards the date. As if you remember something about the holiday it means that it is important in your tradition and you commemorate it.

 The attitude of Belarusans towards the 7^th of November is, on the one hand, formal (there is a holiday and let it be so), on the other hand this indifference is baneful, believes Julia Galinouskaja: “Belarusans don’t throw away this holiday, but keep it just in case as some old thing. They don’t hurry (being afraid?) to sort out their past but also don’t hurry to plan their future.”

Meanwhile we shouldn’t treat the environment of signs indifferently, as if a blank space. One way or another, signs influence our consciousness and subconsciousness and we direct our life according to these markers. And the 7^th of November is a striking marker. It was the main holiday in the Soviet Union. And this holiday keeps on forming our today’s life as a continuing calendar, as a Soviet holiday culture continuing to show its worth, while the Soviet ideology, Soviet heroes and ideals became old-fashioned and exhausted themselves long ago.

  Not elimination, but substitution

As the Soviet holiday culture has ingrained deeply enough in our way of life it is impossible to just eliminate the 7^th of November out of the holiday calendar all of a sudden. It can be fraught: the place of the sign can’t be blank. Let us recall that although November, 7 was eliminated out of the number of holidays it was returned then.

What can be done with the 7^th of November on the de-sovietization side? Surely it is necessary to lower the status, thinks Julia Galinouskaja. For a start, the day off could be eliminated: “There is no need to eliminate November, 7 out of calendar so far, but it is necessary to cancel a day off in this day. Because when this day is a day off, one way or another we think over the meaning of this day and here arises all the attendant Soviet context.”

 In her opinion, we need a new mechanism of substitution of this holiday so that a new date with a strong symbolic meaning will appear. Gradually it could draw attention to itself.

November, 2 - Dziady - could become this date. This holiday began to gain strength as far back as the period of stagnation in Belarus and proved to be Memorial Day of victims of Stalinism. Moreover, in Roman Catholic church November, 2 sets a whole holiday octave.

Dziady could become the central and meaning-formative element for the whole octave, where the 7^th of November would be included, - explains the researcher. – Certainly we shouldn’t forget that it is the October Revolution day but at the same time we should remove all splendor and pompousness from its commemoration. For instance, this day could be devoted to a cycle of round table discussions, meetings, conferences, where the work with the past history would be conducted on different levels, including the reconsideration of the day of the October Revolution. It is necessary to understand which shelf in the history of Belarus this holiday should be placed on.