Language and Society in Post-Communist Europe: Selected Papers from the Fifth World Congress of Central and East European Studies, Warsaw, 1995 ... for Central and East European Studies)

This book examines some of the important linguistic changes that have taken place in Eastern Europe since 1991. Most of the papers deal with Russia, which has undergone a particularly complex process of re-adjustment. Though it is early to draw definitive conclusions, the contributions provide a preliminary understanding of the new language situation of post-Soviet Russia. Of the remaining papers one compares Russian, Ukrainian, one examines Komi-Permiak, while one looks more generally at language and society. Understandably it is the social, political and cconomic upheavals in the former USSR and elsewhere in Central and Eastern Europe that have attracted the lion's share of attention from the academic community and the general public alike during the last decade. It is, however, also necessary to take note of the important linguistic changes that have accompanied these upheavals. Most of the papers in this volume deal with Russian which, as one of the languages exposed longest to 'Sovietization', has undergone a particularly complex process of readjustment. If it is still carly to draw definitive conclusions, each contribution from its own individual standpoint helps to provide a preliminary understanding of the new language situation of post-Soviet Russia. The remaining papers examine the Russian and Ukrainian languages, the position of Komi-Permiak, and ask fundamental questions about language and society. Front Matter....Pages i-xiii Introduction....Pages 1-2 The Transformation of Russian from a Language of the Soviet Type to a Language of the Western Type....Pages 3-22 The Development of the Political Metaphor in the Post-Soviet Period....Pages 23-35 Sociolinguistic Transformations in Rapidly Changing Societies....Pages 36-46 Below the Republican Level....Pages 47-69 The Russian Language ‘On the Brink’....Pages 70-85 The Terminology of Modern Russian....Pages 86-101 Reality and Language Games in Contemporary Russian....Pages 102-108 Elements of Persuasion in the Language of Russian Television Advertising....Pages 109-134 French Loan-words in the Idiolects of Russian Immigrants in Francophone Belgium....Pages 135-143 The Relationship Between Language and Society in the Writings of Aleksandr Potebnja....Pages 144-160 Back Matter....Pages 161-177 This book is an examination of some of the most important linguistic changes that have taken place in Eastern Europe since 1991. Most of the essays deal with the Russian language, which has undergone a particularly complex process of readjustment. Though it is early to draw definitive conclusions, the contributions provide a preliminary understanding of the new language situation of post-Soviet Russia. Of the remaining papers, one compares Russian and Ukrainian, one examines Komi-Permiak, while one gives a more general look at language and society.
"Post-communist developments in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union do not follow any predetermined pattern. The authors, all of whom are leading experts in their respective fields, analyse the diversity of the experience of democratisation in a number of different settings and contexts."--Jacket Edited By Sue Bridger. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.