Role of Tourism in Preservation and Support of Minority Languages: Russian and Global Context
https://doi.org/10.24224/2227-1295-2024-13-6-95-113
Abstract
This article explores the role of tourism in the preservation and support of minority languages in Russia, focusing on the Karelian, Tatar, and Buryat languages. The study is framed within the methodological scope of language commodification research, language landscape, and language economy. Fieldwork data from Tatarstan, Karelia, and Buryatia in 2021, 2022, and 2024, as well as findings from other researchers, form the basis of this investigation. The article highlights the uneven use of minority languages as a tool for ethnographic branding from region to region. The authors conclude that minority languages exist in the language landscape through the naming of various realities, from toponyms to gastronomic terms, serving ethnographic branding and symbolic functions by providing specific words and morphemes. Contrary to expectations, tourism does not contribute to an increase in the number of speakers of minority languages or their use in discourse, both in Russia and globally. However, the increased presence of these languages in public spaces, including for marketing purposes, indirectly enhances their prestige and aids in their normalization.
Supporting agencies: The study is supported by Russian Science Foundation, project number № 24-28-00590, https://rscf.ru/project/24-28-00590/
About the Authors
E. V. Khilkhanova
Institute of Linguistics of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Erzhen V. Khilkhanova - Doctor of Philology, Associate professor, Leading research scientist, Research Cente for National-Linguistic Relations
Moscow
D. L. Khilkhanov
Moscow City University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Dorzhi L. Khilkhanov - Doctor of Sociology, Associate Professor, Professor
Moscow
References
1. Alòs i Font, H. (2015). Linguistic landscape of Cheboksary and remarks on the implementation of the Law of the Chuvash Republic “On languages in the Chuvash Republic”. In: Boyko, I. I., Kuznetsov, A. V. (eds.). Research of the linguistic situation in the Chuvash Republic. Cheboksary: Chuvash State Institute of Humanities. 259— 280. (In Russ.).
2. Baranova, V., Fedorova, K. (2020). Regulation of the linguistic landscape in Russian cities: multilingualism and inequality. Journal of Social Policy Research, 18 (4): 625— 640. DOI: 10.17323/727-0634-2020-18-4-625-640. (In Russ.).
3. Castillo-Villar, F. R., Merlo-Simoni, G. (2021). Locals’ perspectives on the role of tourism in the preservation of a diaspora language: The case of Veneto in Mexico. Journal of Tourism and Cultural Change, 20 (4): 516—529. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14766825.2021.1937192.
4. Dyakonova, M. V., Rodionova, A. P. (2018). Karelian language and culture as a brand for the development of small territories (on the example of the ethnolocal KarelianLudikov group). Modern problems of service and tourism, 12 (4): 119—133. DOI: 10.24411/19950411201810411. (In Russ.).
5. Elagina, A. A., Ryzhkov, A. M. (2022). Karelian language in the linguistic landscape of Karelia and the construction of local spaces. Almanac of Northern European and Baltic studies / Nordic and Baltic Studies Review, 7: 241—248. (In Russ.).
6. Fedorova, L. L. (2014). Linguistic landscape: the city and the crowd. Bulletin of Novosibirsk State University. Series: History, philology, 13 (6): 70—80. (In Russ.).
7. Ferguson, J., Sidorova, L. (2018). What language advertises: ethnographic branding in the linguistic landscape of Yakutsk. Language Policy, 17 (1): 23—54.
8. Gabdrakhmanova, G. F., Makhmutov, Z. A. (2015). State languages of the Republic of Tatarstan in the linguistic landscape of the region. Kazan: Sh. Marjani Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tatarstan; Artifact. 56 p. (In Russ.).
9. Khilkhanova, E. V., Ondar, Ch. G., Ivanov, V. V., Hakobyan, K. S. (2024). The linguistic landscapes of Kyzyl and Ulan-Ude as a mirror of regional language policy. New Research of Tuva, 4: 18—38. DOI: 10.25178/nit.2024.1.2. (In Russ.).
10. Khilkhanova, E. V., Tsybenova, Ch. S., Ivanov, V. V. (2024). Urban multilingualism in the national regions of Russia: linguistic landscapes and attitudes to languages (on the example of Kyzyl and Ulan-Ude). New studies of Tuva, 4 (In Press.). (In Russ.).
11. Ismagilova, A. R. (2018). Asymmetry of ergonomics in Kazan and Belfast. PhD Diss. Kazan. 149 p. (In Russ.).
12. Kelly-Holmes, H., Pietikäinen, S. (2014). Commodifying Sámi culture in an indigenous tourism site. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 18 (4): 518—538. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/josl.12092.
13. Landry, R., Bourhis, R. (1997). Linguistic landscape and ethno-linguistic vitality: an empirical study. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 16: 23—49. DOI: 10.1177/0261927X970161002.
14. Lonardi, S. (2022). Minority languages and tourism: a literature review. Journal of Heritage Tourism, 17 (3): 342—356. DOI: 10.1080/1743873X.2021.2012183.
15. Manchurina, L. (2022). Representation of Languages in the Linguistic Landscape of the City of Yakutsk, Republic of Sakha. Sibirica, 3 (21): 128—158. DOI: 10.3167/sib.2022.210307.
16. Mukhametzyanova, A. R. (2016). Ethnocultural projects of modern Tatar youth in the context of ethnic identity. Historical ethnology, 1 (2): 293—312. (In Russ.).
17. Narumov, B. P. (2008). Formation of Romance literary languages: modern Galician language. 2nd ed., supplement. Moscow: LKI. 166 p. (In Russ.).
18. Pavlenko, A. (2016). Russian as a lingua franca in the foreign service sector. The world of the Russian word, 1: 23—32. (In Russ.).
19. Pietikäinen, S. (2015). Multilingual dynamics in Sámiland: Rhizomatic discourses on changing language. International Journal of Bilingualism, 19 (2): 206—225. DOI: https:// doi.org/10.1177/1367006913489199.
20. Solnyshkina, M. I. (2015). Linguistic Landscape Westernization and Glocalization: the case of Kazan, Republic of Tatarstan. XLinguae Journal, 8 (2): April. 36—53. DOI: 10.18355/XL.2015.08.02.36-53.
21. Trofimov, E. N. (2013). The development of ethnographic tourism in Russia. Bulletin of the RMAT, 4: 3—12. (In Russ.).
Review
For citations:
Khilkhanova E.V., Khilkhanov D.L. Role of Tourism in Preservation and Support of Minority Languages: Russian and Global Context. Nauchnyi dialog. 2024;13(6):95-113. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.24224/2227-1295-2024-13-6-95-113
Views:
281
Email this article 