Latushka on Nobel Prize for Alexievich: This is a historic event
Belarusian Ambassador to France, Pavel Latushka, told TUT.BY abut his attitude to the Nobel award.
He said that he learned about Svetlana Alexievich being awarded with the Nobel Prize on the road to talks with the mayor of Clermont-Ferrand.
"It was an emotional moment for me. When I came to the mayor, he immediately asked for a photo for his Facebook page that said "The meeting with the Ambassador of Belarus - the country whose citizen today became the Nobel prize winner for literature." This is a historic event for Belarusian culture. It will have an impact on our national self-awareness and awareness of the Belarusian culture in the world. "
Pavel Latushka said that the embassy has acquired all the works published by the Nobel laureate in French and Spanish for the embassy library, so we could show to everyone: it is our Nobel laureate.
Commenting on the ambiguous attitude to Svetlana Alexievich in the Belarusian society, Pavel Latushka cited the example of Vasil Bykau:
"I have no right to evaluate this great man, but we must clearly understand: there is Bykau - an outstanding writer, whose works were published in millions of copies and continue to be published, who had a deep understanding of the importance of spiritual development of the nation. It is probably wrong to make such division, but I perceive him, first and foremost, as a great writer and cultural figure. Political aspects come and go, but the prominent figure remains. History is made up of facts and events that people make. If we want to be a country and a nation, we must have people in the past and today, otherwise they will not be in the future," TUT.BY quoted the ambassador.
Photo: bolshoi.by
