Andrei Hadanovіch: Everyone knows us only because of one politician’s name

Euroradio: Which famous Belarusians are taking part in the congress?

Andrei Hadanovіch: Thinker Valyantsin Akudovich, independent publisher and owner of a publishing house Ihar Lohvinau, representative of the “Let’s Be” campaign Sevyaryn Kvyatkouski and Andrei Hadanovich, poet and translator, are the famous Belarusians who have joined the congress.

Euroradio: What is being discussed?

Andrei Hadanovіch: Let’s start with the topics that have already been discussed – culture and the today’s’ challenges between the European Union where everything seems to be civilized and our culture that has faced the market and has “to be sold” because our time demands it. On the other hand, here we are – we have to live on the territory of Russian chanson and struggle with the russianization of Belarusian officials and with the authoritarian and sometimes totalitarian state…

There is a certain survival strategy. Six members of the Eastern Partnership are Poland’s close neighbours. We all have issues of mutual interest. We know more or less what we need in our political endeavours but we hardly ask what our culture needs. That is why the forum in Lyublin gives us an opportunity to see what we need in this field.

The Belarusian participants of the forum would also like to demonstrate that Belarusians would like to show themselves to the West that has some simplified ideas about us. Everyone knows us only because of one politician’s name. Truth to tell, it is primitive. Political prisoners, repressions and pressure exercised on dissidents are important but they are only part of the today’s Belarus. There is a great cultural legacy that has nothing to do with the current situation. And they start thinking that we are offended “conformists” or some opposition activists.
 

 I think that we are a normal European community with a normal discourse and modern cultural processes although we live in “partisan conditions”. The state is repressive as regards the culture and a lot for conformists have appeared among cultural workers. It is clear that the culture will answer with a snarl. However, it is essential not to lose your sphere of action because of this “snarl”, not to lose something that needs our attention, not to lose the eternity because of the daily life. Something that is called the eternal.


Euroradio: Julian Barnes who won the Man Booker prize said that the West had elaborated a special approach to writers from totalitarian countries like ours and that they are more “readable”. For example, if two books are out in Great Britain and in Belarus, the Belarusian book will find a better market. Can you explain it?

Andrei Hadanovіch: It is true to some extent. Of course there is something magnetic about the places where human rights are violated, it draws attention. However, it does not require any literary talent. But the author’s talent and the quality of the book are important. Sometimes we are stuck in the circle of our own interests and Western readers may not find us interesting. To tell the truth, we are not convertible. That is why we need to pay attention to the unique and international aspect of our culture. I will not say anything new, it is my advice to young writers in the today’s mercantile world: write the way it would touch people’s hearts so that no publisher would doubt whether your work is worth publishing.