European Belarus versus State Ideology: Construction of the Nation in the Belarusian Political Discourses

Public space of the post-communist Belarus can be viewed as a public and cultural space, where the “struggle over identity” between the official and the oppositional political discourses takes place and where both discourses claim their right to be the only voice of genuine Belarusianness. Articles presents the study of the definitions of the political identity of major “collective actor” of the Belarusian political sphere-“Belarusian nation.” The image of “Belarusianness,” on which an appropriate political ideology is built upon, was obtained from the official Belarusian ideology and the oppositional political ideologies. For analytical purposes texts were selected which deal with defining the Belarusian nation, describing the national idea, designating Belarus’ civilizational orientation.