Union of Belarusian Writers Protests against Amendment of School Programs on Literature

Source: www.charter97.org

On 13 March the leadership of the Union of Belarusian Writers (UBW) adopted an appeal regarding the amendments to school syllabi on the Belarusian literature envisaged by the Belarusian authorities, BelaPAN informs .The appeal to citizens of the country, teachers, literature scientists and parents of Belarusian schoolchildren dwells on preparation to ‘large- scale ideological’ revision of the school syllabi on the Belarusian literature”.

The UBW leadership pays attention to the fact that ‘styles of certain documents prove: Belarus is returning to the gloomy times when officials intoxicated by revolutionary events fought madly against the national literature; and that resulted in 1920-1930 repressions against a hundred of the Belarusian writers whose works had been prohibited for decades’.

As it is mentioned in the appeal ‘nowadays after forced amendment of the Syllabus on History of the Belarusian Literature of the XX century for Students of the Philology Department, developed at the Belarusian State University in 2003, the local ideologists have turned to school syllabi’.

It is stressed in the appeal that ‘the Belarusian officials have reached the extreme degree of meanness and Pharisaism when in the anniversary year of the National genius Ianka Kupala they intend to prohibit some of his works,’ among them the Tuteishyia play; Vasil Bykau’s novel Ablava was also prohibited for learning (and, finally, for publishing).’

’It is ordered to mention in the new syllabi the establishment of the Union of Writers of Belarus and its role in the development (!) Of literature’ .The authorities intend to substitute our Union of Ianka Kupala, Kolas, Brouka, Tank, Karatkevich, Melezh, Bykau, Bryl, Shamiakin, Navumenka for this union,’ is said in the appeal.

Its authors state that ‘only the national literature can bring up real patriots of the country’ as ‘the only criterion of importance and artistic value of literature is not either slaving for the authorities or ‘oppositional tendency’ but the extent of love for the Motherland and mother tongue, artistic ability to tell the truth to your people’.

The leadership of the Union considers it necessary to demand official explanations from the officials of the chief ideological department of the Presidential Administration, ministry of education and Union of Writers of Belarus.

The information about the amendments to school syllabi on Belarusian literature was distributed by national Internet resources.