Until recently, not only students of the titular nationalities (ethnicities) learned their native language but also ethnic Russians and other nationalities in some ethnic republics of Russia had to learn titular state languages of those republics. The political campaign in Russia against the compulsory teaching of state languages of republics started two years ago and culminated in the adoption of the amendment to the Russian education law on 3 August 2018. 1 The law enacted some additional mechanisms to ensure the voluntary study of non-Russian languages. 2 The law adoption signified the escalation of the conflict around linguistic rights and the compulsory study of state language. The problem is that the official discources typically overshadow the discourses of individuals and non-govenrmental ogranization who have their own language attitudes and agendas, which distorts the depiction of the conflict. In this paper, we will study official and public discourses together, combining the 'top-down' and 'bottom-up' perspectives, in order to explore both the language policy and language ideologies, and, thus, to provide a multifaceted picture of the conflict. We use policy analysis and discourse analysis to study official documents, surveys, mass media, social media discussions.
The article analyzes the meanings given by experts to the Russian language in the all-Russian identity based on the materials of in-depth and expert interviews and focus groups. The experts were humanities scientists, university and school teachers, journalists, public and ethnic activists from Moscow, Kazan, Ufa, Nalchik and some other Russian cities. The analysis of the discourses of these translators of the meanings of Russian identity is important for creating a picture of the meanings of the national language of Russians disseminated and supported by them, since they participate in the formation of mass consciousness and can set the directions of perception of Russian identity in the circles covered by their influence. The key sets of ideas about the Russian language in the Russian identity are associated with the following interpretations of it. Russian language is considered by universalist discourses as the cultural code of Russians, often associating it with the literary-centricity of all-Russian and Russian ethnic culture. Such discourses note the importance of its functionality and influence, and also regard it as the language of Russian everyday life and the life of the state, in which school education plays an essential role, thus “cementing” society. In the discourses of experts in the republics, other facets of the perception of the Russian language are also important. First of all, it is considered as a “language of interethnic (interethnic) communication”, which is the result of the influence of Soviet national policy, established terminology, in particular, in the understanding of the nation, most often in the ethnic sense and the opposition of Russian and native languages. In the historical context, it can be considered as an intermediary language, an instrument of familiarization with world culture. Ethnocentric discourses often emphasize the role of the Russian language as the language of the state and/or the language of the dominant people, including actively contrasting it with native languages and emphasizing the damage to them. The interpretation of the Russian language as the national language of Russians, its positive perception as an all-Russian integrator in such discourses are complicated.
Институт социологии Федерального научно-исследовательского социологического центра Российской академии наук (ФНИСЦ РАН).
The article is devoted to some aspects of the role of the Russian language in the Russian identity. It analyzes the main concepts of civil nationalism in the Western scientific literature, identifies their elements associated with giving the national language one of the key roles in the formation of civil nations as a special type of solidarity (the concepts of E. Gellner, B. Anderson, E. Hobsbawm, M. Billig, etc.). It is shown that national languages, formed under the influence of certain economic and political circumstances, continue to be reproduced as linguistic constructs in the modern conditions of fragmentation of space, trends in the recognition of the rights of linguistic and other minorities, and transformations of the ideas of nationalism. Based on the materials of representative sociological studies in different countries, it is shown that language is the “cornerstone” of national (civil) identity in people’s perceptions – national or nationally dominant languages in different countries are perceived as necessary to be considered part of a civil nation. Russian surveys also show that the Russian language is one of the most important identifiers of Russian identity in the mass representations of our fellow citizens at the moment, which is much more noticeable in the Russian ethnic environment. Russian language potential in the Russian identity is negatively influenced by both long-standing factors (in particular, the opposition of Russian and native languages in language policy and education) and recent factors related to the emphasis on the role of the Russian language as the language of the state-forming people. The article concludes that the potential of the Russian language in the Russian identity is negatively influenced by the long-standing factors (in particular, the opposition of Russian and native languages in language policy and education).
В книге представлены результаты исследования консолидационного потенциала российской идентичности в контексте межнациональных отношений. В разделах монографии рассматриваются динамика распространённости и текущее состояние общероссийской идентичности на общероссийском и региональном уровне, процесс обновления ценностных маркеров общероссийской идентичности, роль языковой политики, взаимосвязь межэтнических установок, обобщённого и межэтнического доверия, воспринимаемого этнического неравенства. Книга будет интересна специалистам, работающим в сфере регулирования межэтнических отношений, преподавателям школ и вузов, студентам и аспирантам, а также всем интересующимся вопросами российской идентичности и межэтнических отношений.
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