Traces of the Avant-garde in Soviet Belarus in the Context of East and Central Europe.  Reconfiguration of Identity, Space and Memory

The thesis explores the field of the avant-garde in Soviet Belarus during Interwar period (1918-1939), focusing on performances, theatre productions and manifestos that occurred in theatre, literature, and art. Despite the established tradition of the avant-garde theory, over the past decades, scholars have proclaimed the need of re-thinking of this social and cultural phenomenon from the perspective of non-Eurocentric experiences. It is a question of alternative theoretical models of the avant-gardes, which are essential for the determination of the phenomenon beyond the Western European borders, and especially in such countries like Belarus, where the avant-gardes emerged at a moment of formation of a new state and culture. Using the model of pluralities of the avant-gardes by James M. Harding and the postcolonial approaches, the thesis analyzes some cases of the avant-garde in Soviet Belarus as social and political programs asking about the relationship of the transnational agenda of the avant-gardes and processes of decolonisation of the Belarusian culture.