Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya: “Lately, the regime has been attacking the works of “disloyal” contemporary authors and “inconvenient” classics.
In November, the regime labeled collections of Vintsent Dunin-Martsinkyevich’s works as extremist. Earlier, the novel “Kalasy pad Siarpom Tvaim” by Uladzimir Karatkevich was removed from the school curriculum. Books by Nobel laureate Svetlana Alexievich and writers like Uladzimir Arlou, Uladzimir Nyaklyayeu, Viktar Martsinovich, Alhierd Baharevich, and others have been confiscated from school libraries and deemed extremist. A play based on the novel “Byly Syn” by Sasha Filipenko has been banned from theaters.
The regime fears that these works might help children and adults strengthen their national identity and develop immunity to the regime’s propaganda and falsehoods.
So I wondered: What do ideologists think our children should read? Propagandist articles or books by [Lukashenka supporter] Mikalay Charhinets are hardly of interest to them.
On the contrary, children and adolescents should read literature that teaches them to think critically, enriches their perspective, and instills pride in our culture and history.
For this, Belarusians have launched numerous platforms where you can read and even listen to works by Belarusian authors, as well as foreign literature translated into Belarusian. I want to recommend to you internet libraries like Kamunikat and Belaruskaya Palichka, audiobook publishers like Knizhny Voz, the audiobook collection of the PEN Center, as well as projects like Kazki Dzetkam and Belarusian Audiobooks
Read Belarusian books by yourself and together with children! Because it’s the best way to both enjoy your time and learn more about our native culture”.
