Cultural and Linguistic Minorities in the Russian Federation and the European Union

This is the first comprehensive volume to compare the sociolinguistic situations of minorities in Russia and in Western Europe. As such, it provides insight into language policies, the ethnolinguistic vitality and the struggle for reversal of language shift, language revitalization and empowerment of minorities in Russia and the European Union. The volume shows that, even though largely unknown to a broader English-reading audience, the linguistic composition of Russia is by no means less diverse than multilingualism in the EU. It is therefore a valuable introduction into the historical backgrounds and current linguistic, social and legal affairs with regard to Russia's manifold ethnic and linguistic minorities, mirrored on the discussion of recent issues in a number of well-known Western European minority situations.

Inhalt

Part I Languages, identities and human rights 1. Change and maintenance of Plurilingualism in the Russian Federation and the European Union by Janne Saarikivi and Reetta Toivanen.- 2. The Global Extinction of Languages and its Consequences for Cultural Diversity by Suzanne Romaine.- 3. The Death of Languages; the Death of Minority Cultures; the Death of a People's Dignity by Theodore S. Orlin.- Part II Case Studies on Cultural Change and Minority Language Maintenance: 4. Obstacles and Successes by Reetta Toivanen.- 5. Fallen ill in Political Draughts by Indrek Jääts.- 6. Finnic Minorities of Ingria by Natalia Kuznetsova, Elena Markus and Mehmed Muslimov.- 7. The Challenge of Language by Lennard Sillanpää.- 8. Uneven Steps to Literacy by Florian Siegl and Michael Rießler.- Part III Why some Languages Survive. On Language Laws, Policies and Changing Attitudes.- 9. Explaining Language Loss by Ekaterina Gruzdeva.- 10. Parliamentary Structures and their Impact on Empowering Minority Language Communities by Heiko F. Marten.- 11. Evolution of Language Ideology in Post-Soviet Russia by Konstantin Zamyatin.- 12. The Impact of Language Policy on Language Revitalization by Xabier Arzoz.- A List of Relevant Agreements, Charters, Conventions, Declarations, Legal acts, Protocols, Treaties and Other Official Documents.- A.1 International.- A.2 European and Russian.- A.3 List of Russian Regional Documents.- Index of Languages and People(s).- Subject index.- Person index.- Place index. <