“We are like the Foremothers” : Traces of the Avant-gardes in Soviet Belarus

Abstract

The thesis explores and argues the traces of the avant-gardes in Soviet Belarus during the Interwar period (1918–1939). Because of a particular historical frame, as the dissertation explains, these traces are closely related to the political processes of the 1980s (perestroika and glasnost). The research, therefore, begins, like a travel to the past, by investigating the non-conformist artistic scene of that period. Despite the established tradition of avant-garde theory, recent scholarship proclaims the need to re-think this social and cultural phenomenon from the perspective of non-Eurocentric experiences. It is a question of alternative theoretical models that are essential for determining the phenomenon beyond Western European borders, especially in countries such as Belarus, where the avant-gardes emerged when a new Belarusian state and culture were ‘mapped’. Based on decolonial studies, performative and biographical approaches, the thesis unfolds some cases of the avant-gardes in Soviet Belarus as (un)performed histories problematising the relationship between the transcultural agenda of the avant-gardes and (past and current) processes of decolonisation of Belarusian culture. However, the study reasons that what is identified as (un)performance and incompleteness signifies neither less significance nor less value of those arts. Instead, it problematises the existing “canon” of art history based on different forms of hierarchy (firstly, centre/periphery and gender logic).