Belarusization vs censorship: Forrest Gump dressed in vyshyvanka unwelcome in Minsk Metro


The poster of iconic Forrest Gump wearing a vyshyvanka, a traditional embroidered shirt, was part of a campaign by Kinakong, a domestic project that contributes to translating popular movies into the Belarusian language and screening them in cinemas. However, the directorship of the Minsk Metro refused to place the poster and recommended Kinakong to make some changes. Recently, the Minsk Metro has rejected several ads and posters in the Belarusian language, which definitely goes against the policy of soft-Belarusization reportedly practiced by the Belarusian authorities during the last years.

Forrest Gump and Belarusian national symbols

“Life is like a box of chocolates,” Kinakong cited Forrest Gump. According to the metro officials, neither text under the picture nor vyshyvanka may be depicted on the poster.

Source: facebook.com/spadar.kim

Andrey Kim, the director of the Kinakong project, said on his Facebook page:

“They did not like the quote from the movie, they did not like the slogan ‘watch movies in Belarusian’ (they demanded to replace it), but the main requirement was to ‘repaint the shirt’ (i.e., remove the vyshyvanka).

‘Long Live Belarus!’ Or not?

Phot. belsat.eu

Another case that clearly demonstrates attempts to censor particular slogans and symbols is the wrapping of the so-called cornflower ice-cream. In May, a Homiel-based ice-cream producer launched a new packing which bore inscriptions in the Belarusian language. One of them, Long Live Belarus (unofficially considered as an anti-governmental slogan), caught the authorities’ eye. As a result, the cornflower ice-cream disappeared from store shelves for several weeks. The sweet product re-entered the Belarusian market, but the ‘controversial’ slogan was removed from the packing. It should be noted that two year ago the Belarusian MPs adopted the law that gives to companies a choice of the language (Russian or Belarusian) of the package.

Limits on Belarusian language

The Belarusian authorities have repeatedly banned advertisements in the Belarusian language as well as using Belarusian national symbols. As such, just two weeks ago, the Belarusian souvenir shop Symbal.by was not allowed to place the poster showing a woman and Pursuit, Belarus’ historical coat of arms, which is recognized and honoured by the democratic forces, but ignored by pro-Lukashenka officials. The explanation of the authorities was very superficial. Over the past months, the above-mentioned directors of the Minsk Metro failed to okay the placement of Belarusian-language posters in the metro, including those containing quotations of famous Belarusian writers and poets.

Source: symbal.by

Interestingly, the authorities avoid limiting the ads in the Belarusian language produced by the bigger companies such as telecommunications provider A1 (earlier Velcom) or Samsung. The festival of advertisement in the Belarusian language aDNaK also demonstrates that there exist quite many examples of qualitative productions. However, the Russian language still dominates in advertising at public places. At the same time, the Belarusian language is breaking new ground: social media, popular online games such as the World of Tanks.

The Belarusian language situation has been worsening ever since the early 2000s. In 1999, the population census showed that 73% of Belarusians considered the Belarusian language their mother tongue, while only 37% actually spoke it. Later, in 2009, only 24% Belarusians indicated that they speak Belarusian at home and for 53% it was a mother tongue. In the population census of 2019 the numbers of those who speak the language and names it as a native might significantly drop. Belsat has launched a campaign Belarkamounyja (Belarusian speaking) in order to raise awareness on the situation with the Belarusian language and attract more Belarusians to name the language as the mother tongue in an upcoming population census.

Mixture of Belarusization and censorship

The censorship of the ads in the Belarusian language demonstrates the authorities’ resolute desire to control the number of public visual symbols associated with democratic forces or opposition. The cases listed abovejust prove the fact of confrontation between the supporters of the Belarusian national idea and those who see it as a threat to the existing government. The officials’ loud statements regarding the national heritage and preservation of the Belarusian culture and language are often nullified by President Alyaksandr Lukashenka whose comment ‘the Belarusians are the Russians with a quality mark’ has become a sad proverb in Belarus. Thus, it is little wonder that that the Minsk Metro, along with many other government agencies, just does not want to take the risk even if the case is a harmless Forrest Gump dressed in a vyshyvanka.

Alesia Rudnik, belsat.eu

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