Publications
Publication details [#63107]
Ryazanova-Clarke, Lara. 2017. From commodification to weaponization: the Russian language as ‘pride’ and ‘profit’ in Russia's transnational discourses. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 20 (4) : 443–456. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
Publication type
Article in journal
Publication language
English
Keywords
Language as a subject
Place, Publisher
Routledge
Journal WWW
Annotation
This paper extends the discussion about the interaction and conflict of linguistic commodification with other values attached to a language. It examines Russian dominant discourse produced between 2010 and 2015, focusing on how it attributes the values of ‘pride’ and ‘profit’ to the Russian language in three transnational contexts: the narrative of ‘compatriots’ outside Russia, the formation of the Eurasian Economic Union and the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. It claims that the discursive construction of Russian as a means for material advancement is constantly intertwined with manufacturing the transnational semantics of belonging to Russia (the transnational ‘pride’). This is often overlaid with the instrumental value-attribution for Russian for establishing and perpetuating power relations, exerting control and, finally, warmongering.