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This article provides an overview and analysis of transformations of the Belarusian political soundscape. Based on the author’s archive of audio recordings made in Minsk and other Belarusian cities in 2016-2023, the article analyzes how protesters and the authorities used voices, noises, and music during the major political protests of recent years. The field recordings became the starting points for a further discussion on the multifaceted role of sound, music, and silence in contesting for urban and political space in Belarus. The “loudest” period in the country’s recent history is then put in a wider context of studying the clashing ideologies of the authoritarian regime and the democratic, pro-independence movement. The study of audio materials is accompanied by participant observations, interviews, and an extensive analysis of Belarusian and international media that reveal various sonic practices used by the country’s and its critics. The primary goal of this article is to address the gaps in studies of the contemporary Belarusian political soundscape and independent music scenes.
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Acknowledgment
During the final editing stage, this research was funded by the VisiBYlity for Belarusian Democratic Actors project.
Transliteration Note
For the transliteration of the Belarusian sources I have used the traditional Belarusian Latin script (currently used, for example, by Naša Niva). For the Russian sources I used the Library of Congress romanization table (ALA-LC Russian).
