ISSN online: 2221-1616

Bulletin of the Institute of Sociology (Vestnik instituta sotziologii)

Research Article

Guzel I. Makarova, Doctor of Sociology, Associate professor, associate of other organizaiton, , Doctor of Sociological Sciences, Assoc. Prof., Chief Researcher Institute of History named after Sh. Mardjani, Kazan, Russia
mailto: makarova_guzel@mail.ru
The ethno-linguistic behavior of Kazan’s young residents (based on materials from half-formalized interviews).
Vestnik instituta sotziologii. 2017. Vol. 8. No. 3. P. 32-52


This Article is downloaded: 149 times
Topic: The Theme of the Issue: Grounds of identity

For citation:
Makarova G. I. The ethno-linguistic behavior of Kazan’s young residents (based on materials from half-formalized interviews). Vestnik instituta sotziologii. 2017. Vol. 8. No. 3. P. 32-52
DOI: https://doi.org/10.19181/vis.2017.22.3.467


Abstract

This article examines how the change in the Tatar language’s status (which occurred after the collapse of the Soviet Union), together with the introduction of its mandatory study in the republic’s schools, effects the ethno-linguistic behavior of youths living in Kazan. It is based on texts from 20 half-formalized interviews (with biographical elements) with Tatars and Russians aged 18-29. Three groups were selected among those interviewed, based on their attitude towards the Tatar language, which can be nominally designated as such: “oriented towards the language”, “moderately oriented” and “nihilists”. The conducted analysis shows that Russian has been and still remains the dominant language in Tatarstan’s capitol when communicating at work. The exception being people whose professional activity is directly connected with Tatarstan’s language and culture. In a number of fields – for example, politics, civil service – the Tatar language remains important as a symbolic resource. It is used fragmentarily in fields having to do with working with the population, especially when it comes to visiting rural areas of the republic. Those specialists who work in the technical fields (especially IT) are the ones who use it the least. Kazan youths also tend to use the Russian language for informal communication. However, those who moved from Tatarstan’s villages and are studying at urban Tatar schools and gymnasiums use the Tatar language as well as Russian. Other members of the younger generation (both Tatars and Russians) usually tend to limit themselves to using individual phrases and expressions. Meanwhile Tatars often use their native language at home. Lots of people choose one tactic or another for teaching it to their children, since they see it as a means for conserving their ethnic identity. Most Russians encourage the study of the Tatar language in schools, as a display of tolerance towards their neighboring ethnos, and respect for the ethno-cultural specificity of the region that they live in.

Keywords

ethno-linguistic behavior, linguistic practices, Russian language, Tatar language, youths.

 

References

Appel R., Muysken P. Language contact and bilingualism. London, Arnold, 1987. 213 p.

Burykin A. A. Mental'nost', jazykovoe povedenie i nacional'no-russkoe dvujazychie: Yazyk men'shinstva kak "tayny yazyk" v otechestvennom sociokul'turnom context [Mentality, linguistic behavior and national-Russian bilingualism (the minority language as a "secret language" in the domestic sociocultural context)]. Online Library “LITSOCH.RU”. URL: http://www.litsoch.ru/referats/read/364001 [date of visit: 01.09.2017]. (in Russ.)

Garipov Y. Z. Etnojazykovye processy v mnogonacional'nom rossiyskom regione: tendencii razvitija i osobennosti social'nogo proektirovanija (na primere Respubliki Tatarstan) [Ethno-linguistic processes in a multinational Russian region: development trends and features of social design (on the example of the Republic of Tatarstan).]. Avtoreferat dissertacii na soiskanie uchenoy stepeni doktora sotziologicheskih nauk. Ufa, 2017. 50 p. (in Russ.)

Gumperz J. J. Discourse Strategies. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1982. 225 p.

Ishakova Z. A. Funkcional'noe vzaimodeystvie tatarskogo i russkogo yazykov v sovremennom Tatarstane [Functional interaction of Tatar and Russian languages in modern Tatarstan]. Yazyk i etnos na rubezhe vekov. Kazan', Magarif, 2002, pp. 13–41. (in Russ.)

Klement'ev E. I. Karelija: identichnost' i yazyk v zerkale perepisi 2002 g. [Karelia: identity and language in the mirror of the 2002 census]. VI Kongress etnografov i antropologov Rossii. Working papers. Saint-Petersburg, 2005. P. 460. (in Russ.)

Makarova G. I. Yazykovye praktiki molodiozhi v dosugovyh prostranstvah Kazani [Language practices of young people in the leisure spaces of Kazan]. Gosudarstvennye yazyki Respubliki Tatarstan: mnozhestvennost' izmereniy. Ed. by. G. F. Gabdrahmanova, G. I. Makarova, A. R. Muhametzianova. Kazan Institut istorii im. Sh.Mardzhani, 2016, pp. 104–120. (in Russ.)

Muhariamova L. M. Yazykovye otnoshenija: politologicheskiy analiz [Language relations: political analysis.]. Kazan, KSU publ., 2003. 276 p. (in Russ.)

Nam I. V. Etnojazykovye processy v Tiumenskom regione: Ozhidanija i itogi [Ethno-linguistic processes in the Tyumen region: expectations and outcomes]. VI Kongress etnografov i antropologov Rossii. Working papers. Saint-Petersburg, 2005, p. 461. (in Russ.)

Namrueva L. V. Sostojanie kalmyckogo yazyka (po itogam sociologicheskih issledovaniy 2008, 2013 gg.) [The state of the Kalmyk language (based on the results of sociological research of 2008, 2013]. Pozitivnyj opyt regulirovanija jetnosocial'nyh i jetnokul'turnyh processov v regionah Rossijskoj Federacii. Conference working papers. Ed. by G. F. Gabdrahmanova. Kazan', Institut istorii Sh. Mardzhani, 2014, p. 312. (in Russ.)

Rechevoe obschenie v uslovijah yazykovoy neodnorodnosti [Speech communication in conditions of linguistic heterogeneity]. Moscow, Editorial URSS, 2000. 224 p. (in Russ.)

Salihova E. A. , Iskuzhina N. G. Parametry var'irovanija russkogo yazyka v uslovijah gorodskogo bilingvizma [Parameters of variation of the Russian language in urban bilingualism]. V mire nauchnykh otkrytiy. Krasnojarsk, Nauchno-innovacionny centr, 2013, no 5.1 (41), pp. 134–154. (in Russ.)

Zakon «O jazykah narodov Respubliki Tatarstan» [The law "On the languages of the peoples of the Republic of Tatarstan"]. (8.07.1992 # 1560-XII). (in Russ.)

Zasedanie Soveta po mezhnacional'nym otnoshenijam. 20.07.2017 goda [Session of the Council on Interethnic Relations]. Russian President official website. URL: http://www.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/55109 [date of visit: 28.08.2017]. (in Russ.)