"Born in Belorussia", "USSR-Time Belorussia": Belarusian ESC 2011 Entries as Reflections of Clashing State Propaganda Narratives

peer-reviewed article

Wojciech Artur Pietrucha

wa.pietrucha@uw.edu.pl
Uniwersytet Warszawski (Poland)
https://orcid.org/0009-0006-9265-5419


Abstract

The aim of the paper is to analyze all the texts of a series of song choices for the 2011 Belarussian Eurovision Song Contest entry to discern different propaganda strategies, from presenting the Belarusians as open-minded and friendly, yet faithful to “traditional values,” to evoking feelings of Soviet nostalgia—with close-reading as the analytic tool. The influence of the geopolitical situation ca. 2010 on the Eurovision acts of CEE countries will be a crucial context that will allow assessment of whether Vinnikova’s entry was an unprecedented mix of authoritarian propaganda content with the form of a Eurovision song, a reflection of a broader trend, or a foreshadow of new pop-cultural poetics.


Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Keywords:

Belarus, Eurovision 2011, Anastasia Vinnikova, Post-Sovietness, state propaganda

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Published
2026-09-17

Cited by

Pietrucha, W. A. (2026) “"Born in Belorussia", ‘USSR-Time Belorussia’: Belarusian ESC 2011 Entries as Reflections of Clashing State Propaganda Narratives”, Pamiętnik Teatralny, 75(3), pp. 121–141. Available at: https://www.czasopisma.ispan.pl/index.php/pt/article/view/4657 (Accessed: 18 September 2026).

Authors

Wojciech Artur Pietrucha 
wa.pietrucha@uw.edu.pl
Uniwersytet Warszawski Poland
https://orcid.org/0009-0006-9265-5419

Wojciech Artur Pietrucha – Architectural historian, Cracovian, Sanremo Music Festival enthusiast and a PhD student at the University of Warsaw, currently working on a thesis devoted to post-1918 Polish orthodox church architecture. Privately, undoubtedly the biggest fan of Loredana Berte in whole Eastern Europe.



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