Abstract
The article aims to systematize the current academic discussion about the essential elements of the idea of the Belarusian nation. Within the framework of the analysis, the author identifies "semantic baskets", based on which he divides the current controversy into theoretical schools and thematic clusters. The designated semantic baskets are identified based on the attitude to the language issue and culture, history and historical memory, the essential interpretation of the Belarusian nation, territory, and sovereignty. The author concludes that the current academic discussion on this issue is represented by three theoretical schools – nativists, the “Moscow Project” and neo-constructivists. Nativists emphasize the importance of the ethnic element in the Belarusian nation. The foundation of the "Moscow Project" is the ideology of pan-Slavism, highlighting bilingualism as a natural state of Belarusians as well as the Soviet period of history with invaluable experience in state-building. Finally, the concept of the “third way” is neo-constructivism, the ideas of which are reduced to building the Belarusian nation as a civil one. The constructed theoretical framework allows us to analyze the national policy of the Republic of Belarus, as well as approaches to the definition of the “Belarusian nation” in public discussion.
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