Tatsiana Vadalazhskaja: Alexievich’s Nobel Prize distances us from the “Russian World”

The Nobel Prize that Sviatlana Alexievich won is the reason to discover the best among Belarusans; not in everyone individually, but on a national level.

On December 10, the Nobel Prize 2015 for achievements in various fields – from medicine to literature – will be awarded in Stockholm and Oslo. On the eve of the ceremony, on December 7, all winners, including the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature Sviatlana Alexievich gave a so-called “Nobel Memorial Lecture”.

The Belarusian Television- and Radio Company, ONT, and STV channels won’t broadcast the 2015 Nobel Prize Awards Ceremony that is to take place at the Stockholm Concert Hall on December 10 “due to a number of organizational, technical, financial and legal issues and aspects.”

The state ignores the Nobel Prize Award, while the citizens celebrate it. The flash mob that aims at celebrating Sviatlana Alexievich’s Nobel Prize has united numerous Minsk bars.

Why is the attitude of the state and the Belarusans to the Nobel Prize that Alexievich won is so different?

The coordinator of the Flying University and methodologist Tatsiana Vadalazhskaja answered the questions of the “EuroBelarus” Information Service.

- What does the Nobel Prize in Literature that Sviatlana Alexievich won mean for Belarus?

- First of all, the Nobel Prize that Sviatlana Alexievich won means equality of Belarusan culture amongst European and world countries. The Nobel Prize asserted that we are none the worse and none the better – we stand on a par with European cultures.

Secondly, it is a very important assessment of dignity for Belarus, not the historical, but the modern one: our contemporary deserves being marked with a world award.

Third, the Nobel Prize is just a good reason for Belarusians to feel as a whole, to be a community, to see something bright, and see hope for the better.

- How can you explain indifferent, if not offensive, relation of the state to the country's first Nobel Prize winner? None of the Belarusian TV channels will broadcast the Award Ceremony; de jure, Sviatlana Alexievich is not the cultural figure, not the artist. The next step might as well be the recognition of Sviatlana Alexievich as a freeloader?

- It seems to me that the question "Why did this happen?" is wrong today: as if anyone was expecting something different. If such reason appears, we shouldn’t waste our time thinking what the authorities didn’t do but better think about what we do, what we feel. We didn’t expect anything different from the authorities – it is an absolutely logical continuation of the policy that the Belarusian government has been pursuing for the past 20 years: it does not accept an authority, especially in the intellectual and cultural sphere; it does not respect opponents, it doesn’t look for something profound but tends to the simple. All that is perfectly logical in the Belarusian situation.

Frankly, it is more important to look at citizens than to assess what the authorities do or not do reactionary. We must look into ourselves: to see if we celebrate, if we get new wings of hope, if we get new ambitions... This is an opportunity to understand ourselves, not the authorities.

- By December 10 Belarusians spontaneously gather in public places to watch the Nobel Prize award ceremony, to express solidarity with Alexievich, and to support her. What is such self-organization evidence of? Can we hope that the Nobel Prize of a Belarusian writer will give impetus for the unity of Belarusians?

- It seems to me that this is the reason to discover the best among Belarusans; not in everyone individually, but on a national level. Indeed, to see themselves. Belarusians are normal people; in spite of all the circumstances, we are capable of feeling something nice, bright, we are able to get together to celebrate - we do not need orders or official holidays.

- Will the Nobel Prize become an impetus for Belarus and Belarusans to distance themselves from the “Russian World”?

- It turns out that we should view the situation systemically. It seems to me that over the past two years a lot of things distanced us from the "Russian World", not even politically engaged part of the society, but ordinary people. Of course, the Nobel Prize, not even the Prize itself but the reaction to it of the Russian media and Russian artists, adds a sense of alienation and reveals the border between Belarus and the "Russian world". But it is not a Nobel Prize that works for it, but the geopolitical situation; the Nobel Prize only contributes to this.