Language policy and post-Soviet identities in Tatarstan

Abstract

This paper examines language policy and language use as identity technologies in the Republic of Tatarstan approximately 23 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Although Tatarstan is an autonomous republic politically situated within the Russian Federation, it has its own language policy which was implemented in 1992 and which declares Russian and Tatar as the official state languages having equal status in all spheres of language use. Additionally, as a result of an education policy implemented in 1997, Tatar language learning was made a compulsory subject in schools for all nationalities. This research examines how these policies have legitimized the Tatar identity alongside Russian from the top-down perspective, but how these legitimacies are not reflected from the bottom-up perspective [Graney 1999. “Education Reform in Tatarstan and Bashkortostan: Sovereignty Projects in Post-Soviet Russia.” Europe-Asia Studies 51 (4): 611–632; Yemelianova 2000. “Shaimiev's ‘Khanate’ on the Volga and its Russian Subjects.” Asian Ethnicity 1 (1)]. The focus of this research was to find out how effective these language and education policies as top-down identity technologies have been in post-Soviet Tatar society. An empirical research was carried out in Kazan in 2013 and revealed that asymmetrical bilingualism still prevails in contemporary Tatar society: Russian is used for everyday purposes by all nationalities, whereas Tatar is used as an in-group marker among Tatars within informal settings.

Keywords:

• language policy
• post-Soviet identities
• Tatar
• Russian
• Tatarstan
• quantitative research

Funding

This work was supported by The Centre for East European and Language Based Area Studies (CEELBAS) under the CEELBAS Internship scheme with the cooperation of the Department for Culture and Development of the Languages of the Peoples of the Republic of Tatarstan within the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Tatarstan.

Notes

1. 2010 Census Information http://www.tatstat.ru/VPN2010/DocLib8/%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%86%20%D1%81%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%B2.pdf

2. The cultural sphere in this paper is defined as incorporating features of shared Tatar identity such as Tatar history, myths, legends, art, ethnography, and language which symbolize Tatar ethnic belonging. These features can be seen on display in public places, for example on multilingual street signage around Kazan, through the presence of monuments of national Tatar heroes, Tatar cuisine in restaurants, and in the Tatar National Museum near the Kremlin complex. The Tatar culture is promoted through these physical displays of Tatar national identity, but it is not so visible in spheres of work and officialdom.

3. The term “native language” (rodnoi iazyk) is generally perceived as being synonymous with ethnicity among the Tatar population (Giliazova in Minzaripov 2013; Khabenskaia 2002; Laitin 1998; Shevel 2002). It is used as a symbol of ethnic identity. This does not have anything to do with fluency or how it is actually used. Tatar is often reported as the native language by Tatars when filling in census forms. It is used as a way to strengthen their identity and set themselves apart from the Russian population. On the other hand, Russians perceive it differently; although it is still a part of their ethnicity, it does not seem as big an issue as it is among the Tatar population. According to the 2010 census results, 92.4% of Tatars reported that Tatar was their native language and 99.9% of Russians claimed Russian to be their native language.