Language Conflicts in Contemporary Estonia, Latvia, and Ukraine

A Comparative Exploration of Discourses in Post-Soviet Russian-Language Digital Media



Inhaltsverzeichnis
Language Conflicts in Contemporary Estonia, Latvia, and Ukraine
A Comparative Exploration of Discourses in Post-Soviet Russian-Language Digital Media
54,90 €

Paperback 54,90 €

eBook 36,99 €

Zum Buch

Details

Language policy and usage in the post-communist region have continually attracted wide political, media, and expert attention since the disintegration of the USSR in 1991. How are these issues politicized in contemporary Estonia, Latvia, and Ukraine? This study presents a cross-cultural qualitative and quantitative analysis of publications in leading Russian-language blogs and news websites of these three post-Soviet states during the period of 2004–2017. The most notable difference observed between Ukraine and the two Baltic countries is that many Russian-writing users in Ukraine’s internet tend to support the position that the state language, i.e. Ukrainian, is discriminated against and needs special protection by the state, whereas the majority of the Russian-speaking commentators on selected Estonian and Latvian news websites advocate for introducing Russian as a second state language. Despite attempts of Ukraine’s government to Ukrainize public space, the position of Ukrainian is still perceived, even by many Russian-writing commentators and bloggers, as being ‘precarious’ and ‘vulnerable’. This became especially visible in debates after the Revolution of Dignity, when the number of supporters of the introduction of Russian as second state language significantly decreased. In the Russian-language sector of Estonian and Latvian news websites and blogs, in contrast, the majority of online users continually reproduce the image of ‘victims’ of nation-building. They often claim that their political, as well as economic rights, are significantly limited in comparison to ethnic Estonians and Latvians. The results of Maksimovtsova’s research illustrate that, notwithstanding differences between the Estonian as well as Latvian cases, on the one hand, and Ukraine, on the other, there is an ongoing process of convergence of debates in Ukraine to those held in the other two countries analyzed in terms of an increased degree of ‘discursive decommunization’ and ‘derussification’.
Autor/-in

About the author

Dr. Ksenia Maksimovtsova studied sociology and political science in St. Petersburg, Bielefeld, and Giessen. Since October 2014, Maksimovtsova has been a Research Fellow at the International Graduate Centre for the Study of Culture at the Justus Liebig University of Giessen.
Stimmen zum Buch

Stimmen zum Buch

"Without doubt, the book displays a very high quality of theoretical reconstruction, conceptual architecture, methodological scrutiny, and empirical-comparative differentiation. It produces added value not only with respect to its own research questions but also to the broader field of discourse analysis regarding conflicts over language."—Andreas Langenohl, Professor of Sociology, Justus Liebig University of Giessen

“All things considered, Maksimovtsova’s book is a well-grounded, evidencebased, and captivating story about the dynamics of language conflicts in the Russian-speakers’ public conversations in Ukraine during the years 2011–17 in comparison with those taking place in Estonia (2010–15) and Latvia (2003–14).”― The Russian Review, Volume79/Number3
Zusatzinformation

Zusatzinformation

Lieferzeit 2-3 Tage / 2-3 days
Autor/-in Ksenia Maksimovtsova, Ammon Cheskin
Herausgeber/-in Andreas Umland
Anzahl der Seiten 514
Sprache Englisch
Erscheinungsdatum 30.05.2019
Gewicht (kg) 0.6690
ISBN-13 9783838212821