Valjancin Akudovič
Valjancin Akudovič is one of the central figures of the Belarusian rebirth of the transition period, whose representatives were concerned with national self-determination, overcoming the colonial legacy and establishing Belarusian culture. “The time when Belarus happened”, as Akudovič describes the unexpected attainment of state sovereignty, was a time of great hope and cultural upswing. Over the next few decades, the representatives of the national revival had to renounce many of their dreams. For some, this led to massive disappointment, while others tried to hold on to something that never really existed. Akudovič takes this situation as an opportunity to reflect on the location of a person in many dimensions: interpersonal, political, cultural, existential. This common thread of Akudovič's thinking also runs through the volume Das Rascheln des Schweigens, which contains various texts from different years: from the programmatic essay “Eines Morgens im eigenen Land aufwachen” to the poems dedicated to his friends and the humorous aphorisms about God and the world. Biblical motifs meet jokes about God, the personal story about the left eye that Akudovič lost in the Soviet army stands alongside a profound treatise on language as one of the most important elements of human existence. Anyone who reads this book will not only immerse themselves in the world of thought of one of the most important Belarusian philosophers, but also in his biography, which is closely linked to the history and present of the Belarusian cultural area.
Valjantsin Akudovich, born in 1950 in Svislach, in the Belarusian Soviet Republic, is a Belarusian philosopher, author and literary critic. In the 1990s he worked for the daily newspaper Culture, and at the end of the 1990s he was editor of the “Philosophy and Modern Literature” section of the daily newspaper Krynitsa and for a time of the weekly newspaper Literature and Art.
His first book Мяне няма was published in 1998. Роздумы на руінах чалавека (There is no me. Thoughts on the ruins of a human being), followed in 2004 by Разбурыць Парыж (Destroying Paris), in 2006 by Дыялогі з Богам (Conversations with God) and in 2007 by Код адсутнасці. Асновы беларускай ментальнасці (The Absence Code. An Attempt to Understand Belarus). This was followed in 2012 by Кніга пра нішто (The Book About Nothing) and in 2015 by Прачнуцца ранкам у сваёй краіне (Waking Up One Morning in Your Own Country). Some of his books have been translated into Polish, Lithuanian, Russian and German. There is no English translation yet. Together with Ales Antsipenka, he also wrote the Анталёгію сучаснага беларускага мыслення (Anthology of Modern Belarusian Thought) in 2003 and the book Невядомая Беларусь (Unknown Belarus) in 2008.
Halijafy was an independent Belarusian publishing house founded in 2007. On April 16, 2022, it had to cease its publishing activities by decision of the Belarusian Ministry of Information.
For 15 years, the Halijafy publishing house has published books by contemporary Belarusian authors who are part of the independent literary and art scene in Belarus. Among the authors published by Halijafy are Volha Hapeyeva, Alhierd Baharevič, Julia Cimafeeva and Valiancin Akudovič, who have also been translated into German. Halijafy's publications have been awarded several non-governmental literary prizes in Belarus, and two of the books were voted “Book of the Year”.
Goten Publishing](https://www.gotenpublishing.com) was founded in Skopje in 2010.
The employees and translators of Goten Publishing have been working in the publishing and cultural sector since the mid-1990s - in the editorial offices of several magazines, in publishing houses and NGOs; in the implementation of cultural and publishing projects, the organization of readings, public debates and cultural and art events.
Goten Publishing is a permanent partner of the Traduki network, often the national organizer of the program at the Leipzig Book Fair and organized the first literary residency “Absolute Modern” in Skopje.
Goten Publishing shares the vision of a developed, intercultural, polyvalent world in which cultures and literatures communicate, complement and influence each other, exchange and share experiences.
The book was published in 2025 with the support of Goethe in Exile and the Litar Foundation in Zurich.