Features of ethnocultural identity of Belarusian Tatars through the content of the images of “Own” – “Other”

Abstract

This article is the first in ethnological science to examine the issues of ethnocultural identity of “Belarusian Tatars” at the present stage and their perception of other Tatars, both those living in the Republic of Belarus and in other countries. There are two Tatar communities living in Belarus, in relation to whom the author uses the following concepts: “Belarusian Tatars” (local Tatars – descendants of the Tatars of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania) and “Tatars of Belarus” (Tatars of the diaspora who moved to Belarus in the Soviet and post-Soviet periods). The peculiarities of the ethnocultural identity of the “Belarusian Tatars” are considered through the content of the images of “Oneself ” – “Another” and the concepts of “homeland” and “historical homeland”. The author’s study of the peculiarities of the ethnocultural identity of Belarusian Tatars through the content of the images of “Own” – “Other” and the concepts of “homeland” and “historical homeland” also constitutes the novelty of the study.

The work is based on the author’s field materials collected in 2021–2025 from representatives of two Tatar groups living in Belarus. In this article, survey data are introduced into scientific circulation for the first time. The author used qualitative research methods (a survey in the form of an in-depth autobiographical interview, expert interviews, etc.).

It is concluded that the ethnoregional community of “Belarusian Tatars” is based on linguistic, cultural and other characteristics. According to the ethnocultural criterion, respondents include in the category “Ours” first of all “Belarusian Tatars”, then “Lithuanian” and “Polish Tatars”, as well as Belarusians. Other Tatars are perceived by them in a more distant way. In the current conditions, such ethnocultural markers as ethnic language and traditional rituals play a disintegrating rather than a consolidating role.