Bialiatski: "Books should be published in Belarusian. Books in Russian should be published in Russia." Fiaduta outraged

Photo: "Nasha Niva", "Belsat"

During a meeting with Nobel laureate and founder of the Viasna Human Rights Center Ales Bialiatski at Warsaw University on April 20, attendees could ask him questions. Yaroslav Ivanyuk, founder of the "Komunikat" online library, asked whether Belarusian publishers abroad should publish books only in Belarusian or also in Russian.

Bialiatski noted that the Belarusian language is an element of our spiritual culture. "Without the Belarusian language, we will become diluted, we will be torn apart. The Russian language can be used by those who speak it. It's absolutely correct there: books should be published in Belarusian. Books in Russian should be published in Russia. That's where Belarusian writers should be published in Russian," he answered.

Bialiatski's answer later outraged political scientist and literary critic Aliaksandr Fiaduta on Facebook.

"Am I to understand this to mean that my books in Russian are not recommended for publication by independent Belarusian publishers in Poland (I deliberately did not use the word 'forbidden')?

I would still like to know to what extent Mr. Bialiatski's words concern members of those writers' organizations in which both he and writers who wrote and write in Russian are members? And what does the chairman of Belarusian PEN think about this? Should I not leave, or at least suspend my membership in the organization?" wrote Fiaduta.

"I will find a publisher in many countries — including in Russian, that's not the issue. The issue is whether I can be published by Belarusian publishers outside Belarus. Because in modern Belarus, neither Bialiatski nor Fiaduta will be printed — and here the issue is not about language," he continued his thought in another post.

The Chair of Belarusian PEN, Tatsiana Niadbai, reacted to the comment.

"As a publisher, I set the clear priority of publishing books in Belarusian for myself. I know my resources are limited and I won't be able to do and publish everything that needs to be published, so I consciously direct my finite human resources to what, in my opinion, requires the most support. But I also make exceptions — and publications in Russian pass for me precisely as exceptions if they carry clear additional value in the form of socially significant works, themes, phenomena," wrote Niadbai on Facebook.

"I don't want to pretend I didn't notice Aliaksandr Fiaduta's concern regarding possible (non-)funding 'after the Nobel laureate's statement.' I think the concern is exaggerated; nevertheless, I will answer that too. Today, there are generally no significant financial flows for book publishing. Each of them (at least in my case) is partially supported; for each book, sometimes several sources of support have to be found, piecing together like a puzzle the possibility of paying for the work on the book for proofreaders, editors, layout designers, graphic designers, and printers. A separate topic is author and translator fees. Payment for such work is far from market rates; for all those I work with, it remains a mission. It would be good to organize at least some truly tangible financial flow to support Belarusian books.

Personally, I consider books by Russian-speaking Belarusian authors to be part of Belarusian literature (to deny this, in my opinion, is to deny reality).

But, Mr. Aliaksandr, let's 'compare.' A book in Russian today has more opportunities — both to be published (yes, not all Belarusian publishers take books in Russian, but there are some that do), and to be sold (a larger market, a significantly larger number of potential readers, a larger print run, lower production cost, and as a result — a better price for the reader).

At the same time, publishing today is impossible without external support. And if I were personally asked what I consider more important to support under conditions of insufficient funding (and it has always been insufficient, and it's decreasing every year), I would unequivocally say — Belarusian-language books, because they are in the worst situation."

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