Language "Purity" and the De-Russification of Tatar

Suzanne Wertheim

Program in Soviet and Post-Soviet Studies, Working Paper Series from Institute of Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies, UC Berkeley

Abstract: Tatar is a Turkic language spoken in Tatarstan, Russia, by one quarter of its four million residents. Tatar ethnic identity, as constructed through linguistic performance, is inextricably linked with orientation towards or away from Russian language and culture, such that the integrity and cultural "purity" of post-Soviet Tatars -- thought by many to be necessary for the survival of the Tatar language, culture, and nation -- is equated with de-Russification. "Purification" practices usually involve the cleansing of Russian influence, while the influences of other cultures (e.g., Persian, Arabic) are allowed to remain. This de-Russification, as expressed through a variety of purification movements, takes place in a post-Soviet sociolinguistic setting where, although the climate is more conducive to the use of Tatar than in years past, language shift to Russian continues apace.

Keywords: Tatarstan; post-Soviet; ethnic identity; language; purification; linguistic performance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2002-05-01
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/81z5217g.pdf;origin=repeccitec (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cdl:bpspss:qt81z5217g

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Program in Soviet and Post-Soviet Studies, Working Paper Series from Institute of Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies, UC Berkeley
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Lisa Schiff ().