Between the ethnographic Belarus and the reestablishment of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania: how the Belarusian nationalism created its "national territory" at the beginning of the twentieth century

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Nacionalinės teritorijos; Lietuvos Didžioji Kunigaikštystė (LDK; Grand Duchy of Lithuania; GDL); Erdvinės koncepcijos; National territories; Spatial concepts; Baltarusija (Belarus).

ENThis chapter concentrates mostly on the discursive practices of early twentieth century Belarusian nationalism in constructing geoimages. The development of the Belarusian national movement is distinguished by several stages, each of which is marked by the formation of suitable images of the territories that were “their very own.” But after 1905, the Belarusian national movement became politicized, and the Belarusian intelligentsia enjoyed more opportunities than before not only to form images of the “national territory” of Belarus but also to use these images in the nationalization of the masses. This chapter begins by asking why the leaders of the Belarusian national movement formed the image of the “national territory,” the criteria they used in doing so, if these images were used in the nurturing of a national consciousness among the people, how the territory of Belarus and Lithuania was defined, and when the idea of restoring the GDL was raised in the Belarusian political discourse. For this purpose author consulted political documents and also mined the periodical press, fiction (including, poetry), and educational literature, which also served the Belarusian nationalists as arenas for the creation of the “national territory”. [Extract, p. 282-283]