Historical lessons of the implementation of language policy in a national situational context

Research Article
How to Cite
Ivanova D.N., Polenova A.Y. Historical lessons of the implementation of language policy in a national situational context. Humanities of the South of Russia. 2025. Vol. 14. No. 1. P. 148-157. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18522/2227-8656.2025.1.10 (in Russ.).

Abstract

The objective of the study is to examine the socio-historical lessons of the implementation of language policy in a national-situational context using the case of the USSR and the post-Soviet space. Methodological basis of the study. The article attempts to draw certain conclusions based on the analysis of specific practical solutions in the field of language policy and planning in different historical periods in our country. The main methodological tool in this work is the historical method, and the authors focus on a brief description of various aspects of the conventional historical paradigm, as well as problems and paradoxes arising in the designated field of research. Results of the study. The authors of the article note that in the context of the rapidly changing geopolitical situation, the issues of language policy as an important part of national policy acquire a special sound. The article offers insight into the next stages in the implementation of language policy: the alphabetic revolution, linguistic assimilation, implemented mainly through russification, the transformation of the Russian language into a second native language and, finally, orientation towards ethnic revival through the development of minority languages. In unstable periods of history, calls for the revival of ethnic identity became dominant in public attitudes. In such epochs, the symbolic role of minority languages, of course, increased from the point of view of the distinction between "friend and foe". The authors conclude that the essence of language policy at all historical stages was not to solve language issues, but mainly to ideologize through language and culture. Prospects of the study. We believe that it is quite difficult to draw the right conclusions and develop effective mechanisms for solving problems in a specific regional and historical context without a detailed analysis of domestic and foreign experience. We also hold the opinion that research from the Soviet period on this issue cannot be ignored. In the future, it would be interesting to study in more detail the methodological tools for solving sociolinguistic problems. Only the most complete and accurate methodological picture can help find optimal ways to resolve ethnic differences in the language field.
Keywords:
language policy, language planning, language assimilation, russification, ideologization, second mother tongue, ethnocracy, majority language, minority language, language rights

Author Biographies

Dinara N. Ivanova, Southern Federal University, Rostov-on-Don, Russia
Candidate of Sociological Sciences, Associate Professor, Institute of Philology, Journalism and Intercultural Communication
Anna Yu. Polenova, Southern Federal University, Rostov-on-Don, Russia
Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences, Associate Professor, Institute of Philology, Journalism and Intercultural Communication

References

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Article

Received: 19.12.2024

Accepted: 22.02.2025

Citation Formats
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APA
Ivanova, D. N., & Polenova, A. Y. (2025). Historical lessons of the implementation of language policy in a national situational context. Humanities of the South of Russia, 14(1), 148-157. https://doi.org/10.18522/2227-8656.2025.1.10
Section
CULTURE AND GLOBALIZATION