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Abstract
This paper discusses how the Internet can facilitate cultural expression that resists the homogenizing effects of globalization. It examines how local cultures adapt their linguistic behavior and language choices to the Internet and express themselves in culturally meaningful ways without being subsumed by a global agenda. The research reported in this paper is based on a survey administered in Uzbekistan, a post-Soviet, multilingual society that is experiencing the pressures of global culture as well as Russian culture. Literature about language, nationalism, and Internet use in multilingual societies is presented, and the linguistic setting of Uzbekistan is described. The results of the survey relevant to Internet use, online language choices, and perceptions of language on the Web are reported here.
The study reported in this paper is part of an ongoing study of the transformative effects of information technology on society by the Central Asia & Information and Communication Technologies (CAICT) project at the University of Washington in Seattle. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grants No. 0219350 and 0326101. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. For more information about the CAICT project, see http://depts.washington.edu/caict/.
This paper was based on a presentation at the Cultural Attitudes towards Technology and Communication Conference (CATAC) in Karlstad, Sweden, 27 June–1 July 2004, (Wei Citation2004). We thank Jan Spyridakis, Alys Weinbaum, and the three anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments on earlier drafts.