67 research outputs found

    The Sociolinguistic Landscape of the Island of Sakhalin

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    This paper deals with the current sociolinguistic situation among the indigenous peoples living on the island of Sakhalin, the Russian Far East. The discussion is based on the criteria developed by the UNESCO project on endangered languages for the assessment of language vitality and usage of minority languages in different domains, such as home, education, and media. The paper also discusses language and identity issues, especially the problem concerning the applicability of official statistical data to the description of language shift in multiethnic societies of the type present on Sakhalin.Статья посвящена социолингвистической ситуации среди коренных малочисленных народов, живущих на Сахалине, на Дальнем Востоке России. Она базируется на критериях, разработанных группой ЮНЕСКО по языкам, находящимся под угрозой исчезновения, для оценки языковой ситуации в целом и изучения использования языков меньшинств в различных сферах: дома, в системе образования, в СМИ и т.д. Кроме того, в статье обсуждаются вопросы соотношения языка и идентичности, в частности проблема применимости официальной статистики к описанию языкового сдвига в таких многоэтничных сообществах, каким является Сахалин

    The Nuclear Anthropocene of the Soviet North: Cold War vernacular collecting and mining uranium, and its legacies

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    This paper explores the production of vernacular geological knowledge about uranium during the Cold War. In particular, it investigates uranium gathering practices in Siberia as a form of geopower exercised where Soviet citizens were encouraged to participate in geological exploration of the ‘bowels of the Earth’ for national benefits. This paper further discusses a novel theorization of the early Soviet understanding of the Anthropocene concept in its relation to the notion of nuclearity as formulated by Soviet scholar Vladimir Vernadsky (1863-1945). Finally, the Soviet nuclear project's legacies are analyzed through indigenous experiences of living near the uranium mine in Siberia. The material used for this research comprised a selected set of youth magazine articles and guidelines issued in the 1930s-1950s by Soviet geological agencies with the aim of promoting vernacular geological practices among Soviet citizens, as well as archival materials and field data collected from geologists and indigenous people in Transbaikalia, eastern Siberia, in 2021. This paper shows that Soviet citizens were a crucial part of the nuclear ideology and, at the same time, were treated as the means of nuclear production because of their ability to search for and extract uranium. It further shows how nuclear discourse in the Soviet Union and modern Russia has been shaped by Vernadsky's ideas about the role of nuclear power in the transformation of society

    Naming the Arctic and Siberia:The Role of Cartographic Agencies in the Soviet Toponymic Policy and Practice

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    The chapter proposes to examine the role of the Supreme Geodetic Administration (VGU or Vysshee Geodezicheskoye Upravleniye), its successors, and related cartographic agencies in the production of toponymic knowledge and space in Soviet Russia, with a focus on the inscription and mapping of indigenous place names in the Arctic and Siberia. Despite the VGU’s century-long history, there is still a lack of research on its contribution to the Soviet place-naming policy and practice. This chapter aims to investigate the involvement of Soviet cartographic agencies in the production of indigenous toponymic knowledge as part of the Soviet nationality policy and evaluate its significance for the current indigenous toponymic policy in Russia. It also examines the evolution of place names’ mapping practices by analyzing toponymic guidelines and instructions, field research practices, and cartographic ideologies. The material for this chapter was collected from the Russian State Archive for the Economy and the Russian Academy of Sciences

    Sociolinguistic Landscape of the Island of Sakhalin

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    This paper deals with the current sociolinguistic situation among the indigenous peoples living on the island of Sakhalin, the Russian Far East. The discussion is based on the criteria developed by the UNESCO project on endangered languages for the assessment of language vitality and usage of minority languages in different domains, such as home, education, and media. The paper also discusses language and identity issues, especially the problem concerning the applicability of official statistical data to the description of language shift in multiethnic societies of the type present on Sakhalin.<br/

    Yazykovye kontakty i sotsiolingvisticheskaya situatsiya

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