Белорусский ориентализм и «белорусско-еврейская утопия» (к постановке проблемы)

Аннотация

The author of the paper draws up an outline of his theories of Belarusian Orientalism and “Belarusian-Jewish Utopia”. Belarusian Orientalism is the discourse provided by the Belarusian local intellectuals based on the strong opposition between the West and the East putting Belarus in the center of that opposition. The papers studies a vision of Jews proposed by that discourse since the mid-19th century. The author of the article also presents the concept of “Belarusian-Jewish Utopia”, which is a particular view on the history of Belarusian-Jewish coexistence. Literary writings, as well as political journalism and historiography form “Belarusian-Jewish Utopia”. The followers of the “Utopia” assert that Jews and Belarusians had common destiny, whereas Jews got asylum in the Belarusian lands in 11th–12th centuries, and the Russians and Poles were persecuting them both. The “Utopians” state that Belarusian ethnicity influenced the formation of the Jewish nation. The paper also analyses contemporary Belarusian historiography concentrating on the “Utopian” line. The author of the paper pays attention to the fact that the proposed article just outlined the issues, and those problems need further detailed examination.