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- Title
Gender, nationalism and the attempted reconfiguration of sociolinguistic norms.
- Authors
Wertheim, Suzanne
- Abstract
Tatar nationalist men in post-Soviet Tatarstan periodically engage in linguistic practices that are do not adhere to local sociolinguistic norms and can be perceived as face-threatening. Some men signal ideological devotion to the Tatar cause by refusing to accommodate to Russian-dominant public space or Russian speakers and using Tatar instead of Russian. Others engage in monitoring and standards-keeping of Tatar linguistic performance, openly critiquing speech and writing perceived as unduly influenced by Russian. Their linguistic activism, part of the revalorization of this contracting and stigmatized language, takes place in public domains and is not limited to ethnic Tatars. By contrast, their female counterparts index their pro-Tatar ideological stances more diplomatically and only within the Tatar community, with discreet and non-confrontational standards-keeping and critiques. This gendered patterning has parallels documented elsewhere, and is also in keeping with normative gender roles within post-Soviet Russia. These interpersonal interactions are part of the process of masculinizing the nationalist project; less-confrontational women's revitalization work is within community boundaries - in the home, within friendship circles, within the classroom - and so behind the scenes. The Tatar case suggests new avenues of research on the interaction of gender and politeness, nationalism and language contraction.
- Subjects
LANGUAGE &; languages; GENDER differences (Psychology); SOCIOLINGUISTICS; NATIONALISM; IDEOLOGY; TATAR language; LANGUAGE revival; CODE switching (Linguistics); PERFORMANCE evaluation
- Publication
Gender & Language, 2012, Vol 6, Issue 2, p261
- ISSN
1747-6321
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1558/genl.v6i2.261