Programme: accepted abstracts

Abstract ID: 708

Part of Session 133: Ethnicity, Language and Culture in a Post-Soviet Multi-Ethnic City (Other abstracts in this session)

Languages and the reconstruction of national identity in multilingual towns of Lithuania

Authors: Ramoniene, Meilute; Geben, Kinga
Submitted by: Ramoniene, Meilute (Vilnius University, Lithuania)

Our choice of language or linguistic variety or a manner of speaking does not only reflect our personality, but also helps to construct or reconstruct it (Joseph 2004). Neither our identity nor our language is static, both of them are constantly changing in the context of interpersonal communication, and our linguistic behaviour always shows our belonging to a particular social group (Llamas and Wat 2010). Language choice can unite people into a linguistic community of some sort, such as family, ethnic group, nation; conversely, it can distinguish a person from the group and weaken community bonds. Language lies at the core of the construct of identity and often is the key element of acculturation and adaptation.
Lithuania is relatively monoethnic and monolingual in comparison with the other Baltic States as approximately 84 per cent of its population are ethnic Lithuanians. In Soviet times, Lithuania was also distinct from the other Soviet republics – Lithuanian was spoken by as many as 38 per cent of its Russian population (Ramonienė 2010), whereas, for example, in Estonia, Estonian was spoken by only 15 per cent of its Russian population (Verschik 2005). This factor (alongside with other factors such as applying “zero option” citizenship or creating a system for teaching and testing Lithuanian as the state language) facilitated greater social integration of non-Lithuanians since the restoration of Lithuanian independence in 1990. However, in spite of the favourable conditions for a successful integration, the Russian-speaking population of Lithuania have been facing the problems of reconstruction of their linguistic and national identity in a changed sociopolitical situation.
The paper draws on the recent quantitative and qualitative sociolinguistic research in Lithuanian cities and analyses the relationship between the linguistic profile (language learning, attitudes and use) of city inhabitants and their national identity. The paper discusses those aspects of the reconstruction of national identity of multilingual city inhabitants which are connected with learning and using Lithuanian as the state language in public and private life as well as with the factors of age, education and social status. Attention is given to learning and using Russian in relation to the construction of national identity. The paper mainly focuses on the link between national identity and linguistic behaviour and attitudes of the Poles (the largest ethnic group), the Russians and other Russian-speaking ethnic minority groups. The talk compares the sociolinguistic data of cities and towns and analyses the features of the newly emerging identities characteristic mainly of bilingual and multilingual communities including Russians, Poles and other ethnicities. The talk also looks at the civic dimension in the identity of city inhabitants, particularly the younger generation non-Lithuanians, which has already been investigated by sociologists (Leončikas 2007).

Joseph, J.E (2004) Language and Identity. Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan.
Leončikas, T. (2007) Etniškumo studijos 2007/1: Asimiliacija šiuolaikinėje Lietuvos visuomenėje: švietimo sektoriaus pasirinkimas. Vilnius: Eugrimas.
Llamas, C. and Wat, D. (eds) (2010) Language and Identities, Edinburg: Edinburg University Press.
Ramonienė, M. (ed) (2010) Miestai ir kalbos, Vilnius: Vilniaus universiteto leidykla.
Verschik, A. (2005) The language situation in Estonia, Journal of Baltic Studies 36 (3), 283–317.

Sociolinguistics Symposium 19

Programme: accepted abstracts

Languages and the reconstruction of national identity in multilingual towns of Lithuania