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- Title
A politics of language: language as a symbol in the dissolution of the Soviet Union and its aftermath.
- Authors
Marshall, David F.
- Abstract
Language was a crucial symbol in the dissolution of the Soviet Union and continues to be so as nationalities attempt to gain their independence in member nations of the Commonwealth of Independent States. Both centripetal and centrifugal social forces operated on the Soviet Union, and these forces are examined from eight perspectives: a. the Communist Party of the Soviet Union vs. nationalist fronts; b. the imperial legacy vs. national identity; c. Soviet language policy vs. language preservation; d. Soviet education vs. nationality language perception; e. nationality cadres vs. mass politicization; f religion (or its lack) vs. national religious traditions; g. the military vs. itself h. centralized economic planning vs. nationality environmentalism. In each of these eight areas, the political, economic, social, and sociolinguistic forces brought about the dissolution of the Soviet Union; today, the same forces are operative on a smaller scale in the individual CIS republics, as evidenced by movements for independence in most areas of the CIS. The sociolinguistic dynamics of these forces are examined to see why language became a political symbol for self-determination and independence.
- Subjects
SOVIET Union; LANGUAGE &; politics; POLITICAL science; SOCIOLINGUISTICS; LANGUAGE &; culture
- Publication
International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 1996, Vol 1996, Issue 118, p7
- ISSN
0165-2516
- Publication type
Article