Филологические науки/ 9. Этно-, социо- и психолингвистика

Cand. of Sociology Shelyakhina N.V.

Saratov State Technical University named after Gagarin Yu.A., Russia

Language racism in a new world

In this article we would like to raise the issues of the languages’ interaction in the modern world. It is a rather complicated problem, as some languages are expanding their uasage area currently while the others are being oppressed and discriminated in conditions of the global culture development.

Currently the importance of national self-identity of minorities is growing in the whole world as the threat of complete disappearance in the global peoples’ mixing is getting more and more distinguished. In this connection we’d like to raise the questions of self-identification, self-determination of representatives of different ethnic groups. Therefore, there is a surge of interest in the native culture, traditions, and growth of recourse practices to social memory in minorities’ groups. These practices are classified into different types: from following native cultural and religious traditions in everyday life to holding and participating in global events, national movements to draw attention to minor ethnic groups.

Firstly, many works in ethnosociology reveal the issues of minor peoples’ interacions between each other and with majorities’ representatives in different regions of the Russian Federation and on the Postsovjet territories. In this connection the problems of self-identification of representatives of different ethnic groups are highlighted here. Also the dilemma of the native culture safety and therefore the language safety as its main component or integration into the ethnic majority is appearing.

The socail etnic memory is being formed on the base of historical and cultural heritage, ethnic self-identification development in interacion with other ethinc groups. Developing ethnic consciousness causes the ambitions of independence from the ethnic majority. Ethnic convergence brings to ethnocultural identity suppression, as A. Saveljev says [1; P.371]. At the times of the Russian Empire and the Sovjet Union there were some assimilation endeavors, integration of minorities with majorities that was the cause of the cultural and language oblivion. In the first half of the last century due to the language policy there was the forced abandonment of the national writing and transition to the Cyrillic of many ethnic languages. Russian language became the national communication language.

It is important to note that the language is the source of socio-cultutral and historical memory of any ethic group that reflects all the cultural transformations, ethnic community development. For example, A. Sergeyeva underlines the fact that characteristics of national culture are reflected in speech, they enrich society, therefore they form certain ethnic type with its inherent set of socio-psychological mentality [2; P. 32]. So the loss of the native language causes the national culture loss and gradual minority assimilation with majority. Being aware of this fact currently the most minor ethnic groups are taking measures to stimulate their recourse practices to social memory within their ethnic groups.

All these data prove the growth of ethnic identification of indigenous peoples, its greater importance than civil identification importance for small ethnic groups and, on the whole, the current construction of ethnic groups at the state level. Researchers of the Finno-Ugric movement notice the language component importance in the evolution of the national identity of small nations. In Komi republic the laws on languages and on the Congress status of the Komi people were adopted, the state development program of the Komi language, its obligatory teaching at schools was approved. According to the Law on Presidential Elections adopted in republic Mari El President must be only Mari speaking. On the whole, we can note the development of a new architecture of ethnonational movements of the Finno-Ugric peoples of Russia, their updated ideology which leads to strengthening native culture and language.

The language policy and the language situation has been changed during last 20 years on the territory of the former USSR. The Ukrainian situation was special during the period of the former government, when they were pursuing deliberate policy of suppression and depression of the Russian language in all controlled areas. As a result the number of Russians identifying themselves as Ukrainian citizens has increased significantly [3; P. 89-95]. Nowadays “smeared” identity, inferiority complex, feeling of ”unnecassary” citizens, non-citizens are typical for Ukrainian Russians. Under these circumstances Russians have to get assimilated with the majority, that means to adapt to the realities. This way stability of the Russian ethnic identity has been lost.

This language policy was being pursued in the context of “forced integration“, negative attitude to everything “Russian” declared in mass media, the Russian language was excluded from school curriculum although some Ukrainain territories were historically bilingual. It is interesting to note that there’s been a special language ”surzhik” since the XVII. century in the Ukraine that is a mixture of languages spoken by 11-18% of the population with the most part of Russian vocabulary and little influence of Russian grammar. This dialect is fixed as Ukrainian one and is used mostly in the spoken language. So assimilation of Russians, their integration in major community on the territories of the former Sovjet republics takes place when they are in minority.

Similar processes take place in Estonia where the Russian minority are non-citizens of Estonia and are deprived of national minority rights and protection, right of participating in national policy. But in contrast to the Russian minority in the Ukraine Russians in Estonia are protesting very actively in these circumstances: 60,2% are ready to participate in protests, according to the survey of 2010. These data are characteristic especially for the Russian youth in Estonia [4; P.139-143]. Educational policy of Estonia is aggravating this situation that is supplanting the Russian language from education: Russian schools are being closed or education in Russian is being restricted. Besides the rights of youth are discriminated in the labour market. The author of the research comes to the conclusion that Estonia is a country where two cultures are coexisting, where the majority wouldn’t like to negociate with ethnic minority.

One more model of ethnic interaction is presented in republic Tatarstan. In the 90-s the regional policy of the Tatar national and language culture revival was pursued there, as a result they have got the Tatar identity growth and the Russian ethnocentrism decline. The regional authorities pursue the policy of ethnocentric development realized in Tatar language support. Tatar language proficiency brings certain benefits in many important life areas [5; P. 71-77]. This policy has caused an active Tatar ethnocentrism growth. Russian identity growth was fixed only in 2010. Only this century Russians began to feel more protected, Russian culture became consolidated in the republic. Now we can talk ablout development parity of two cultures in the republic as Russian nation formation was declared at the state level, and since 2001 the Russian identity importance as well as the regional one has been growing in Tatarstan. Consolidation of two cultures is based on historical basis: memorable uniting events in history of both peoples. This model can be characterized as an integration pattern of two ethnic groups. As as a result of a good ethnocultural policy we can see the Russian identity growth as well as importance of the regional identity of both peoples.

So it’s obvious that there is a display of language nationalism as a component of religious or political extremism in different regions where clash of cultures is especially tough. The more obvious is the danger of loss of functional languages of some indigenous peoples of Russia the more acute is the language nationalism.

Literature:

1. Savelyev A.N. Image of the Enemy. Racial Studies and Political Anthropolgy. M. : Knizhniy Mir, - 2010.

2. Sergeyeva A.V. The Russians: Behaivior’s Stereotypes, Traditions, Mentality/ 7. Edition – M.: Flinta: Naouka, 2010.

3. Gorodnyanko V.G. The Situation of Russians in the Ukraine and the Issues of their Identity // The Journal of Social Researches . – 2009 г. – PP. 89-95.

4. Khalliste О.R. Participation of Young Estonians and Russians in Political Life of the Republic // The Journal of Social Researches . – 2011 г. – PP.139-143.

5. Makarova G.I. Dynamics of the Russian, Regional and Ethnic Identities in Tatarstan // The Journal of Social Researches . – 2011 г. – PP. 71-77.