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Language & Nationalism in Europe

Language & Nationalism in Europe. Chapter 12: Coming to terms with the past: Language & nationalism in Russia and its neighbors. Overview. Discussion limited to: Ukraine, Belarus, Russian Federation (European part only) = East Slavs Moldova (ties to Romania) Estonia (ties to Finland)

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Language & Nationalism in Europe

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  1. Language & Nationalism in Europe Chapter 12: Coming to terms with the past: Language & nationalism in Russia and its neighbors

  2. Overview • Discussion limited to: • Ukraine, Belarus, Russian Federation (European part only) = East Slavs • Moldova (ties to Romania) • Estonia (ties to Finland) • Latvia, Lithuania (historically tied to Poland & parts of Ukraine) = Balts

  3. Russian influence in the region • Russia, as a major Orthodox power since 15th c, has influenced Greeks, Bulgarians, Serbs, and Romanians • All of the states discussed in this chapter were provinces of the Romanov empire until 1917, and then parts of the former Soviet Union • Large numbers of Russians settled in all of these states, esp. since WWII

  4. Jews and Germans in the region • All states in the region have small minorities of Jews • 1648-1654 100K Jews massacred in Ukraine • Persecution of Jews (pogroms) continued up through WWII • Huge numbers of Jews emigrated • Germans invited to settle in Russian empire under Catherine the Great, persecuted in WWII, many emigrated in 1980s

  5. The East Slavs • 989 Kievan Rus and conversion to Christianity • 1240 State collapsed, center of literacy moved to Novgorod, then capital moved to Moscow under Ivan the Terrible • Rulers became protectors of Orthodoxy after fall of Constantinople in 1453

  6. The East Slavs, cont’d. • Old Church Slavonic, with South Slavic features, functioned as the literary language until 18th c • Alphabetic divide between Orthodoxy with OCS and Cyrillic alphabet vs. Latin church & alphabet

  7. Expansion of Russian Empire • 17th-19th c Romanovs expand to East, incorporate Siberia • 18th c Southward expansion to Black Sea • 1703 Founding of St. Petersburg by Peter the Great (multinational center) • 1721 Russian conquest of Baltic region (previously in German hands) • 1762-95 Acquisition of Ukraine, Belarus, part of Poland • 1861 Emancipation of serfs

  8. Russification policies • From Catherine the Great through the Romanovs, all Russian rulers enforced Russification (Russian in schools, administration, etc.) in all acquired territories • Russian becomes lingua franca of the area

  9. Russification policies, cont’d. • Soviet Period: Originally there was some commitment to self-determination for the various nationalities, but then Stalin reintroduced the idea that language was one of the constitutive elements of nationhood • Russian chauvinism prevailed and most languages suffered serious decline in Soviet period • 1991 Disintegration of Soviet Union

  10. Post-Soviet states & their languages • Belarus, Ukraine, & Russia are all E Slavic, use Cyrillic and show OCS influence • 1755 Lomonosov codified modern Russian • 19th c Ukrainian codified • 1906-14 Belarusian codified • Some ideologues (Solzhenistyn, Rutskoi) have suggested unification of the three E Slavic countries

  11. Post-Soviet states & their languages, cont’d. • Russian Federation is extremely linguistically diverse • Ukraine 73% Ukrainian, 22% Russian • Belarus 78% Belarusian, 13% Russian, but Belarus was intensively Russified and most Belarusians are more comfortable with Russian than with Belarusian

  12. Post-Soviet states & their languages, cont’d. • Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania • Estonian is close to Finnish, most are Lutheran • Lithuanian & Latvian are close to each other, but Lithuania is Catholic, Latvia is Protestant

  13. Post-Soviet states & their languages, cont’d. • Estonia 64% Estonian, 30% Russian; fluency in Estonian required for citizenship • Latvia 54% Latvian, 33% Russian; the number of Russians who can apply for citizenship is limited numerically every year • Lithuania 81% Lithuanian; less strict citizenship policies

  14. Post-Soviet states & their languages, cont’d. • Moldova • Romance language related to Romanian • Turkish & Yiddish minorities

  15. Post-Soviet states & their languages, cont’d. • 1859 Romania discarded Cyrillic & switched to Latin, but Moldova kept Cyrillic • Soviet Union encouraged distinction between Moldovan & Romanian • 65% Moldovan, 13% Russian, 14% Ukrainian, 4% Gagauz (Turkish), 2% Bulgarian • 1988-9 switch to Latin alphabet & recognition of identity with Romanian

  16. Post-Soviet states & their languages, cont’d. • Ukraine -- particularly complex, many dialects are very close to Russian, many people are bilingual, close ties also to Polish • Ukraine was breadbasket of Russia/Soviet Union • Ukrainian often identified as “Little Russian” or “South Russian” • Multiple loyalties are the norm, Ukrainian nationalism is “a minority faith”

  17. Concluding notes • Economies have declined in post-Soviet era, creating potential for trouble that could be exploited by nationalists. With some terrible exceptions (Chechnya), much violence has been avoided

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