The future of the Belarusian language: is it doomed to extinction? Controversies and challenges in the language maintenance and revitalization

• Authors: Komorovskaya Viktoria
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

The article analyses the controversial bilingual situation in Belarus. Although Belarusian is an officially recognised mother tongue and the titular language of the state, it is also a minority language viewed as endangered due to the discriminating language policies and general population’s indifference. This article reveals the discrepancies between the declared national identity and linguistic behaviour of Belarusians. Furthermore, it investigates the gaps in the language management policies and the obstacles in reversing the language decline. Finally, it attempts to predict the future development of Belarusian and concludes that the language shift requires a change in nation’s attitude and groundbreaking political reforms.

PL

Celem artykułu jest próba analizy kontrowersyjnej dwujęzycznej sytuacji na Białorusi. Mimo że białoruski jest oficjalnie uznanym językiem ojczystym niepodległego państwa, jest on również językiem mniejszościowym, uważanym za potencjalnie zagrożony, ze względu na dyskryminującą politykę językową i indyferencję społeczności. Artykuł przedstawia socjolingwistyczną sytuację na Białorusi i uwidacznia rozbieżności pomiędzy tożsamością narodową a zachowaniem językowym. Ponadto omówiono luki w polityce zarządzania językiem i trudności w odwróceniu tendencji obniżania poziomu językowego. Co więcej – w opracowaniu podjęto próbę określenia kierunku rozwoju języka białoruskiego. Wnioski z przeprowadzonej analizy pozwalają stwierdzić, że odrodzenie języka białoruskiego wymaga zmiany nastawienia narodowego i przełomowych reform politycznych.

Keywords

EN

future of Belarussian language; Belarussian language; languace politics in Belarus

• Publisher: Wydział Neofilologii, Uniwersytet Warszawski
• Journal: Acta Philologica
• Year: 2016
• Issue: 48
• Pages: 15-28

Contributors

author

Komorovskaya Viktoria

• Uniwersytet Warszawski

References

• Basch, R. M. (1998). The effects of ethnic separation on democratization: a comparative study. East European Quarterly, XXXII, 221–242.
• Bieder, H. (2001). Der Kampf um die Sprachen im 20. Jahrhundert [The fight for the languages in the 20th century]. D. Beyrau (Ed.) Handbuch der Geschichte eissrusslands [Handbook of the history of Belarus] (465). Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.
• Bilaniuk, L. and Melnyk, S. (2008). A tense and shifting balance: Bilingualism and education in Ukraine. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 11 (3&4), 340–372.
• Bulavatski, M. P. (1998). Беларуская мова ў сістэме сярэдняй адукацыі [Belarusian in the secondary school system]. S. Ivanova, Y. Ivanov and N. Miachkouskaya (Eds.) [Іванoва С. Ф., Я. Я. Іваноў і Н. Б. Мячкоўская (рэд.)], Сацыякультурная прастора мовы. (Сацыяльныя і культурныя аспекты вывучэння беларускай мовы) [Sociocultural dimension of language (Social and cultural aspects of the study of Belarusian)] (100–104). Vedy: Minsk.
• Crystal, D. (2000). Language death. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Fishman, J. A. (1991). Reversing language shift: Theoretical and empirical foundations of assistance to threatened languages. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters Ltd.
• Fishman, J. A. (Ed.) (2001). Can threatened languages be saved? Reversing language shift, revisited: A 21st century perspective. Clevedon, Avon, UK: Multilingual Matters.
• Gorenburg, D. (2006). Soviet nationalities policy and assimilation. D. Arel (Ed.) Rebounding identities: The politics of identity in Russia and Ukraine (273–303). Washington, D.C.: Woodrow Wilson Center Press.
• Hall, J. (1995). After the Vacuum: Post-Communism the Light of Tocqueville. B. Crawford (Ed.), Markets, States and Democracy (82–100). Boulder: Westview Press.
• Hirsch, F. (2005). Empire of nations: Ethnographic knowledge & the making of the Soviet Union. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
• Ioffe, G. (2003). Understanding Belarus: Question of Language. Europe–Asia Studies, 55 (7), 1009–1047.
• Kennedy, M. (1991). Professionals, power, and solidarity in Poland: A critical sociology of Soviet-type society. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Kittel, B. et al. (2010). Mixed language usage in Belarus. The sociostructural background of language choice. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 206, 47–71.
• Kloss, H. (1969). Research possibilities on group bilingualism: a report. Unpublished ms.: Quebec.
• Kruchkou S. (2002). Open Letter of the Vice-Chairman of the Belarusian Language Society (BLS). International Symposium Diversity of the Languages and Cultures in the Context of Globalisation June 25. Kuzio, T. (1998). Ukraine: State and nation building. London: Routledge.
• Laitin, D. D. (1998). Identity in formation: The Russian-speaking populations in the near abroad. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
• Li Wei (2000). Towards a critical evaluation of language maintenance and language shift. Socio-linguistica 14, 142–147.
• Marti, R. (1998). Sprachenpolitik im slavischsprachigen Raum. Das Verhältnis ,,großer” und ,,kleiner” slavische Standardsprachen [Language policy in the Slavic area. The relationship between “great” and “small” Slavic standard languages]. Zeitschrift fur Slavische Philologie [Journal of Slavic Philology], 57, 354–361.
• Martin, T. (2001). The affirmative action empire: Nations and nationalism in the Soviet Union, 1923–1939. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
• Ministry of Education (2005). Higher Education Institutions of the Republic of Belarus as of the beginning of the 2005–2006 Academic Year (a Statistical Reference Book).
• National Statistical Committee [Nacionalʹnyj Statističeskij Komitet Respubliki Belarus’] (2010). Population of the republic of Belarus: size and composition [Naselenie Respubliki Belarus’ Ego čislennost’ isostav] Minsk: Perepisi naselenija 2009.
• Potocki, R. (2002). Dark Days in Belarus. Journal of Democracy, 13 (4), 144–166.
• Radzik, R. (2001). Belarus between the east and the west: The Soviet-Russian option versus the nationalist option in Belarusian society. International Journal of Sociology, 31 (3), 11–45.
• Rzetelska-Feleszko, E. (1997). Zagrożone języki słowiańskie: łużycki i białoruski [Endangered Slavic languages: Sorbian and Belarusian]. Lětopis, 44, 194–197.
• Schöpflin, G (2000). Nations, Identity, Power: The New Politics of Europe, London: Hurst and Co.
• Slezkine, Y. (1994). The USSR as a communal apartment, or how a socialist state promoted ethnic particularism. Slavic Review, 53 (2), 414–452.
• Sloboda, M. (2006). Folk views on linguistic variation and identities in the Belarusian–Russian borderland. F. Hinskens (Ed.) Language Variation – European Perspectives (217–231). Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
• Sloboda & Giger (2008). Language management and language problems in Belarus. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 11 (3&4), 315–339.
• Sloboda, M. (2009). A language management approach to language maintenance and shift: A study from post-Soviet Belarus. J. Nekvapil & T. Sherman (Ed.), Language Management in Contact Situations: Perspectives from Three Continents (Prague Papers on Language, Society and Interaction 1). Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 15–47.
• Smith, M. (1998). Language and power in the creation of the USSR, 1917–1953. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
• Smolicz J. J. and R. Radzik (2004). Belarusian as an endangered language: can the mother tongue of an independent state be made to die? International Journal of Educational Development, 24 (5), 511–528.
• Smolicz, J. J. (2002). Core values and nation-states. Li Wei, J.-M. Dewaele and A. Housen (Eds.) Opportunities and Challenges of Bilingualism (70–85). Berlin/New York: Mouton de Gruyter. The Law on Languages (No. 187-3/1998). The National Legal Internet Portal of the Republic of Belarus [Национальный правовой Интернет-портал РеспубликиБеларусь]. http://www.pravo.by
• Woolhiser, C. (2003). Constructing national identities in the Polish-Belarusian border lands. Ab Imperio, 3, 293–246.
• Yaukey, D. (1985). Demography: The study of human population. New York: St Martin’s Press.
• Zaprudski, S. (2007). In the Grip of Replacive Bilinguism: The Belarusian Language in Contact with Russian. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 183, 97–118.