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Belarus
Culture & Identity
Belarus's Personality
Belarus is a country that has not been able to escape
their past, as even their name as Belarusian contains the name of their neighbor,
Russia. The Belarusians (meaning White Russians) changed
over time into a distinct ethnicity and gained an individual language, culture,
and history, but they have not yet become an independent unit acting on their own
behalf for their own benefit.
Historically, the Belarusians were rural farmers and
herders who never truly unified or sought independence, meaning they fell under
foreign rule for much of their existence and rarely ever fought to alter this. When
the people finally began a push for self-definition, they were taken over by the
Soviets, who brutally destroyed these ideas and their uniqueness unless it benefitted
the Soviet government. In this environment, the government actually encouraged the
people to view themselves as "Belarusian," while defining this only as
the government saw fit.
Identity
Today the Belarusians identify as being "Belarusian,"
but few people know what exactly that means as their history has meddled with their
identity quite drastically. Having been primarily a rural people under foreign rule,
the Belarusians have, more often than not, been dominated by outside influence while
unique traits were condemned or demolished. Since the fall of the Soviet Union the
people have been trying to define their identity and, while there's no consensus,
it seems most people see being Belarusian as also being Christian Orthodox and ethnic
Belarusian. However, many people prefer the Russian language
to Belarusian so not even the language can truly be included as an integral aspect
of who they are.
This page was last updated: February, 2012