Authors

Discussion

Dominance and prestige of Russian in the former Soviet empire had always been based on the postulation of civilization mission of Russian speakers and the idea of superiority of the Russian language and culture. Russian has been constructed as an element of a greater intellectual culture (cf. элемент “особой духовной культуры” (Костомаров 2015: 56)), a sign of modernity and new Soviet identity (советский народ). For long Russian was a hegemonic force and the teachers of Russian were at the forefront of the Russification policy.

This paper examines shifting language ideologies of Russian-language professionals. It draws upon semi-structured ethnographic interviews with university and school teachers of Russian aged 50 and older. This group was selected because their pre-service training and for many prime professional life took place during the pick of the Russification policy and they have experienced re-positioning and re-imagining of Russian firsthand. The study aims to critically analyze ambiguities and tensions of teaching Russian in post-Soviet contexts; we specifically focus on how the participants position themselves within and against dominant language ideologies. In particular, we also at what ideas of Russian are being reproduced by Kazakhstani teachers of Russian and what ideas about Russian have been abandoned or questioned. The study adds to discussion of discursive construction of legitimacy, language ownership, and agency