Cultural and historical problem of self-identification of the Belarusian people: personal and linguistic-geographic theory

The article analyzes the contemporary problem of constructing self-identification, located at the intersection of the civilizational fields of the Belarusian people. The theory of the origin of the Belarusian people imposed by supporters of European integration is analyzed. "Personal" - which is based on a false idea of self-perception by "Belarusian" Lithuanian and Polish aristocrats. "Linguistic-geographical" - based on the historical-cultural and ethnic opposition of the affected Russians and Ukrainians during the Tatar-Mongol yoke. Each of these theories is used by political subjects to justify their desire to separate the community of the Belarusian and Russian peoples and include Belarus first in the civilized and then in the military-political sphere of the Euro-Atlantic world.