Negotiating Diasporic Identity: Cultural Productions and Narratives in Exile after 2020–2022

Nina Weller

Ukrainian and Belarusian Literary Production under Conditions of War, Repression, and Exile: Structures, Challenges, and New Dynamics

The paper examines how the production and reception of Belarusian and Ukrainian literature has changed under the conditions of the Russian war in Ukraine since 2022 and under the conditions of increased repression in Belarus since 2020. One focus will be on publishing work in various cities in Ukraine under war conditions, another on publishing work in Belarus under repressive conditions, and a third on emigrated and newly founded Belarusian publishing houses in exile and their working practices in Berlin, Warsaw, Vilnius, Prague and other places of exile. The role of the internet as an indispensable media space for networking and literary communication, as well as a place for the formation of a new diasporic, transnationally networked (literary and cultural) community, is especially examined. Key questions here are, on the one hand, how the actors involved in literary production establish new structures, distribution strategies and resources under the exceptional conditions of war, repression and exile, and what challenges, but also what new productive dynamics, they encounter in the national and transcultural exchange of literary production. On the other hand, the question is asked to what extent reflections on the relationship between literary life in and outside the home country take shape, to what extent a reflection on national and diasporic identities and (literary) communities is part of the literary discourse itself, and how networking with translators, publishers and recipients takes place beyond the exile communities in the countries of refuge and exile.

Ulyana Veryna

Echoes of Protest, Voices in Exile: Solidarity Translation in Contemporary Belarusian Poetry

This paper examines literary translation as a form of political and cultural solidarity that became visible during the Belarusian protests of 2020 and subsequently transformed under the conditions of exile, labeling a shift from being objects of international solidarity in 2020 to agents expressing solidarity with Ukraine after 2022. The term “solidarity translation” refers not merely to a communicative act but to a performative gesture that publicly signals political alignment, and contributes to the formation of cultural communities in moments of collective rupture.

The first part of the paper focuses on the wave of politically engaged Belarusian poetry that emerged in response to state violence in 2020 and on its rapid translation into multiple languages. These translations—carried out by writers, poets, and activists both inside and outside Belarus—were shaped by a strong international impulse of solidarity. They made the protest visible abroad, challenged the regime’s attempts to marginalize it, and helped establish the early contours of a transnational network surrounding Belarusian literary production. Social media enabled poetry and its translations to circulate in real time, turning them into shared political practices and tools of community-building.

The second part considers how these translational practices evolved both in exile and within Belarus, where repression intensified following the failure of the Belarusian revolution and the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. For Belarusian poets—whose public cultural activity is severely restricted within the regime-controlled environment—translation remains one of the few avenues for participating in the global movement of literary and political solidarity. This includes engagement with Ukrainian war poetry, which has become a major international phenomenon, actively translated and discussed worldwide. The complex landscape of Belarusian poetry, now divided between those inside the country and those in exile, makes solidarity translation an important means of sustaining connections across these separated communities.

Ultimately, the paper argues that these evolving translational practices constitute a form of identity work, revealing how cultural actors negotiate belonging, responsibility, and collective self-understanding in the realities of exile, through ethically motivated silence or as a response to censorship and restrictions on freedom of speech—in all the conditions under which Belarusian culture currently exists.

Pavel Niakhayeu

People from beyond the Bug: Belarusian and Ukrainian Diasporas and their Popular Cultures in the Polish Media and Public Discourse

As of 2025, Ukrainians and Belarusians are the two largest migrant communities in Poland - and are sizable diasporas in other EU countries too. But for a significant part of Polish society they remain unidentified people "from the East", "from beyond the Bug" or "from Kresy (Borderlands)". Public opinion about them is often manipulated by right-wing politicians, media - and Russian propaganda influence - and is recently changing to a less favourable one. Controversial political and even cultural events - like the August 2025 concert of a Belarusian rapper Max Korzh in Warsaw - only heighten tensions, not just in the (social) media, but on the political level as well.

The political relations between the official Belarus and Ukraine are hostile due to the former's assistance to the Russian invasion. Intercultural contacts are mostly severed - with Ukrainian artists, scholars and civil society activists refusing to participate in the same events with Belarusian ones. But at the interpersonal level and on the level of small cultural operators of the Belarusian and Ukrainian diasporas in the EU there's both communication and, if not direct cooperation, then at least coordination - even if it's just about choosing non-overlapping dates for their festivals.

This paper, based on analysis of Polish surveys, think-tanks reports, media and interviews, will study the public / media discourse on the Belarusian and Ukrainian migrants and their cultural, primarily musical, events in Poland.

Tania Arcimovich

Shifting Stages: Narratives, Identities, and Political Engagement in the Belarusian Theatre and Performance Scene in Exile

The Belarusian theatre and performance scene in exile after 2020/22 is characterised by diverse forms heavily influenced by popular culture products, images, and formats. The research focuses on the narratives these theatre and performance productions propose and the contradictions, such as the differing perceptions of migration and its relation to ‘Belarusian’ as identity and/or belonging, including contested reference to pop-culture formats.

The paper investigates the evolving landscape of Belarusian theatre and performance in exile following the events of 2020/22, emphasising its dynamic engagement with popular culture and diverse expressive forms. The research analyses the narratives constructed by these productions, focusing on the complexities and contradictions inherent in the experiences of migration, identity, and belonging among Belarusian artists. Three primary perspectives structure the inquiry: the politics of identity—highlighting culture’s pivotal role in contemporary civic debates; the politics of representation and voicing – examining questions of agency and division within the Belarusian cultural field; and the interplay between Belarusian self-positionality and the frameworks of Western contemporary theatre, particularly transnationality and mobility. Drawing on several performances and productions created by Belarusian artists in Poland, Germany, Lithuania, and Georgia, this paper further explores how the Belarusian performance and theatre scene in exile reflects shifts in identity related to migration and displacement. It also examines how these productions narrate and contribute to the emergence of a new subject in exile, including the expansion of the epistemic landscape on the issue.

Chair: Matthias Schwartz