FROM THE ‘IMPOSSIBLE’ LUKASHISM TO THE NEW BELARUS: ON THE WAY TO OVERCOMING POST-AUTHORITARIAN CULTURAL TRAUMA

Abstract

The article analyzes the phenomenon of the “impossible” stability of the authoritarian regime of A. Lukashenko, as well as the key reasons for its deep crisis, which led to the protests of 2020. The events of 2020 became a stressful “bifurcation point” in the evolution of lukashism and led to its transformation into a harsh repressive regime. Based on the concept of cultural trauma by P. Sztompka, the authors analyze how traumatization of Belarusian society occurred during the period of lukashism. The cultural trauma of lukashism becomes the most important sociocultural task in the process of transition to the New Belarus.

The ambivalence of the events of 2020 for Belarusian society is shown: they became a strong socio-cultural factor of both situational national unity, on the one hand, and a strong trigger for internal polarization, on the other. Based on the ideas of K. Mannheim, the authors believe that this polarization is an example of “normal” intergenerational cultural dynamics. However, as the experience of post-communist Poland shows, a rapid overcoming of such a long-term intergenerational cultural trauma is possible, but it is not granted.

Based on memory studies ideas, the authors show that overcoming authoritarian cultural trauma requires the development of a systematic “cultural policy” (in fact, “memory policy”). The experience of overcoming the authoritarian past in the FRG, the GDR and France shows that overcoming the legacy of lukashism in Belarus risks being (1) a long, (2) conflictual and (3) fundamentally “unfinished” process. It should include two parallel vectors of movement (dismantling authoritarian institutions and building democratic structures) happening within the frame of a new Belarusian identity. Such an identity will allow reworking the problematic past and set foundations for future national self-identification. Some versions of such identity are briefly reviewed, their similarities and relevance for modern sociocultural trends are revealed.