Ukrainian books in Belarus

Kyiv-Minsk-Kyiv – Ukraine’s participation in the 18th Minsk International Book Fair would probably have been unnoticed, as every year Ukraine takes part in similar events in Frankfurt, Moscow and Warsaw, if not for the letter signed by prominent Ukrainian writers asking to boycott the exhibition in Belarus. As a member of the Ukrainian delegation in Minsk I can share my personal conclusion: the writers did the right thing when they wrote that letter, and the State Television and Radio Committee also did the right thing when they decided to take part in the exhibition.

It’s interesting that similar discussions, on whether or not to go, were also held in Germany, whose representatives were also invited to the Minsk exhibition as guests of honor. The Germans, just like the Ukrainians, decided that culture doesn’t have anything to do with politics, and they brought their books in support of freedom. However, such discussions show that society is able to think critically, to react and feel a place and time. Our society is open. Certainly, it’s too early to rejoice at our “openness,” especially considering the latest events, but it’s important to keep at it — to criticize, react and discuss. Believe me, there’s nothing similar in Belarus.

The arrival of our delegation was especially important for the Ukrainians living in Belarus. Officially, there are 237,000 Ukrainians in this nine-million-strong country; unofficially there are over 300,000 of them. Representatives of the Ukrainian community say that many people believe that it is better not to introduce oneself as being Ukrainian. The Ukrainian population is mostly concentrated in the border regions of Gomel and Brest, there are few Ukrainians in Minsk. However, during the six days of the book fair (February 9-14) those people came to the national Ukrainian stand every day. They bought Ukrainian books, asked questions about Ukraine, and were very surprised when they heard someone from our delegation speaking Russian and not Ukrainian.

The capital of their native country is only several hundred kilometers away, but they often feel isolated from their homeland and mostly have a distorted view of the events happening there. First, there isn’t a single Ukrainian school in Belarus, not a single cultural center, library or church with services in Ukrainian. All the Ukrainian life is concentrated in eight NGOs and communities acting in different regions of Belarus, which make up the Belarusian Social Union of Ukrainians “Vatra.” All the “Vatra” activists work on a voluntary basis and don’t get any support, other than moral, from Ukraine. In an interview to appear soon in The Day, the Ambassador of Ukraine to the Belarusian Republic Roman Bezsmertny remarked that the embassy is currently working on the creation of a library and a real cultural center.

Second, nobody would be surprised by the fact that Belarusian and especially Russian television offer Belarusians a slanted picture of the situation in Ukraine. “I don’t watch television at all,” admits Nelia Nazina, born in Ukraine. “It’s impossible to communicate with those who watch Belarusian television, they are zombies.” Don’t these words remind you of anything?

So, in such conditions the Ukrainian stand (modest compared to the Russian, German or French ones), the books that it presented, the talks with the delegation participants were a real gulp of fresh air and a source of the positive information not only for the Ukrainians present but for the Belarusians, too. I won’t comment on the design of the national stand as the recently appointed head of the Administrative Department for Publishing at the State Television and Radio Committee Oleksii Kononenko promised to work on this issue before the next exhibition. I should obviously say another thing: the Ukrainian books excited interest and drew a wide response in Minsk. The publishing house Baltia-Druk presented a unique joint project by the publishers and historians from Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania called “The Battle of Grunwald, a Battle of Nations.” In July 2010 the European community celebrated the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Grunwald that had stopped the expansion of German crusaders to the East and changed the course of the European history. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania, a multiethnic state that united Lithuanian, Belarusian and Ukrainian duchies had become a shield protecting the Eastern European nations from the crusaders. In 1410 the army of the Duchy of Lithuania and of the Kingdom of Poland destroyed the army of the Teutonic Order near Grunwald. The representatives of more than 30 ethnic groups took part in that battle, which is why in Europe their victory was considered a victory of the Balto-Slavic civilization. By the way, today this book will be presented to Ukrainian journalists in the National Press Office of the Television and Radio of Ukraine. On February 20 the Lithuanians will also see this book during the 12th Vilnius International Book Fair.

A new Ukrainian product, the electronic books Pocketbook, caused a furor in Minsk. Few people know that the software for the electronic books gaining popularity all over the world is created by Ukrainian programmers that have their offices in Moscow, Hong Kong, Germany and the US. None of the 23 countries present at the Minsk exhibition offered anything similar.

The books from The Day’s Library excited a special interest. The Ukrainians living in Belarus, as well as the Ukrainians living in Ukraine, are interested in their real history, which is why the historical books from The Day’s collection were all bought on the first days. It’s interesting that Belarusians, like other nations that left the “prison of the peoples,” are looking for their place in history; progressive Belarusian historians are fighting for it mainly with the Lithuanians. Many Belarusians think that the heritage of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania should go to the Litvins, the modern Belarusians, rather than Muscovy, which has erased both their past and their names. The Day is going to discuss this issue in detail with competent historians.

It should be noted that despite the letter by the Ukrainian writers concerning the boycott, the fact that the representatives of the panel of the Ukrainian Association of Publishers and Booksellers didn’t come with the Ukrainian delegation did not arouse controversy. The Association explained to The Day that they just didn’t have money to come to the exhibition and recommended visiting their website. “The publishing statistics by the State Scientific Institution ‘The Ivan Fedorov Book Chamber of Ukraine’ show that over the last 20 years the number of editions has fallen from 3.3 to 1 book per capita. Even in 2008, which was the most favorable year over the last 15, the number of books was only 1.26 per capita. Last year this rate fell below one book,” reads the text written by the President of the Association Oleksandr Afonin and the First Assistant of the Director of the Book Chamber of Ukraine Natalia Petrova. Compared to Belarus, Russia and Western Europe, those numbers look miserable. There’s no doubt that high quality books are published in Ukraine. The world has to see them. However, our homework is to admit that publishing deserves more governmental support and if it remains the same, next year in Minsk or Moscow we might not have anything to rejoice about.

The next exhibition where Ukraine will present its national stand will be held in Warsaw in May. We still have time for conclusions and new ideas.