Sociolinguistics Symposium 19
Freie Universität Berlin | August 21-24, 2012
Programme: accepted abstracts
Abstract ID: 462
Part of Session 133: Ethnicity, Language and Culture in a Post-Soviet Multi-Ethnic City (Other abstracts in this session)
Young urban Russian-speakers in Estonia: Language and identity
Authors: Zabrodskaja, Anastassia
Submitted by: Zabrodskaja, Anastassia (Tallinn University / University of Tartu, Estonia)
Although Estonian urban spaces are not shaped by international migration, one could speak about diversity in two urban environments: bilingual capital Tallinn and predominantly Russian-speaking North-Eastern border town of Narva; both are characterized by the size of the Russian-speaking population whereas, in Tallinn, there are areas with the majority of the Russian-speaking population (e.g. Lasnamäe) and West-Tallinn areas where there are more Estonian-speakers than Russian-speakers. Russian-speaking local majoritized minority are descendants of those who came to live here after World War II during the period of Soviet occupation (1940-1941; 1944–1991).
The purpose of the present study is to analyze ethnic and linguistic affiliations by young Russian-speaking urban-dwellers who have a better command of Estonian than their parents and use the Russian language as a strategy to communicate with their parents but are essentially moving towards the primary use of Estonian as they become socialized into the larger society. Due to such rapid bilingualisation and the lack of oppositional identity, these young Russian-speakers in Estonia have acquired a more diffused character of ethnic and linguistic identities, whose result can be seen in the emergence of non-monolingual varieties of Russian. Their Estonian Russian varieties exhibit increasing Estonian influence in lexicon (code-switching), morphosyntax (bilingual constructions, word order, argument structure), and discourse pragmatics. What makes the research of identity construction by younger generation of Russian-speakers particularly interesting is the context in which they were formed, namely the turbulent transition from Soviet to post-Soviet independent Estonia.
The qualitative research was carried out through oral individual and in-group interviews held in Russian among Russian-speaking youth. Contributing to the research on identity construction, the present study takes a closer look at features of their emerging identities such as: 1) variation depending on regional context, 2) variation depending on a level of official language proficiency, 3) language choices, 4) language attitudes, 5) social networks, 6) cultural preferences, 7) perceptions of Estonia, 8) informants’ view of themselves and of other Russian-speakers in the rest of Estonia, 9) informants’ assumptions of what surrounding people think about them.
According to Johnstone (2004: 69), ‘regions have come to be seen as meaningful places, which individuals construct, as well as select, as reference points. Identification with a region is identification with one kind of “imagined community”.’ The findings show that the Russian-speaking youth is not homogeneous in terms of ethnic and linguistic identity. The Narva informants have a very strong local identity. Other identity categories identified in the responses may be summarized as “Estonian Russian”, “Estonian”, “European” and “Russian”. To get voice and agency in Estonian-speaking linguistic environment, Russian-speaking youth have to change their language behaviour and social networks, switching from Russian to Estonian. Russian-speaking young people change their cultural behaviour to position their new identity, new ethnic status – Estonian Russian.
In general, not only has the Russian-speaking North-Eastern border town remained a country inside the country with its own customs, cultural preferences, behaviour patterns but many Russian-speakers who live in Tallinn celebrate differing from Estonian mainstream events, anniversaries, and/or memorial days.