Karelian Language in Periodical Press: Dynamics of Functioning as a Reflection of Shifts in Language Ideology and Policy in 20th–21st Centuries
https://doi.org/10.24224/2227-1295-2025-14-8-79-100
Abstract
This article examines the impact of language ideology on the functional capacity of a minority language. We present a study investigating the dynamics of Karelian language use in the periodical press against the backdrop of evolving language ideologies throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. The research is based on an extensive analysis of statistical data from official sources, including the number of periodicals and their annual circulation figures in the Karelian language. The study also draws on historical evidence, legal documents, public statements by political figures, and other relevant texts. Our findings identify a complex of factors that have historically impeded the development and functional use of Karelian, particularly in the domain of periodical publishing. These factors include a repeatedly interrupted written tradition, significant dialectal fragmentation, inconsistent language ideology regarding the establishment of a unified standard for Karelian, frequent shifts in the political paradigm concerning the status of Karelian and its relationship with the Finnish language during the period under review, and legislative barriers — such as those related to the use of the Latin script — that precluded its attainment of official state language status. A novel aspect of this research is the application of an original metric, the “Periodical Press Index,” for the analysis of the statistical data.
About the Author
M. A. Goryacheva
Institute of Linguistics of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Maria A. Goryacheva, PhD in Philology, Research Center for National Language Relation
Moscow
References
1. Afanasyeva, A. I. (1989). Cultural transformations in Soviet Karelia, 1928—1940. Petrozavodsk: Karelia. 277 p. (In Russ.).
2. Bitkeeva, A. N., Goryacheva, M. A., Kirilenko, S. V. (2024). Functional Distribution of Chechen Language in Chechen Republic: Findings from Field Research (2022—2023). Nauchnyi dialog, 13 (9): 29—55. https://doi.org/10.24224/2227-1295-2024-13-929-55. (In Russ.).
3. Chikina, N. V. (2020). “Karjalan Sanomat” and “Oma mua” — the first periodicals of Finnish and Karelian journalism in Karelia. Finno-Ugrovedenie, 1 (61): 105—109. (In Russ.).
4. Desheriev, Yu. D. (1976). Patterns of the development of literary languages of the peoples of the USSR in the Soviet era. Moscow: Nauka Publ. 430 p. (In Russ.).
5. Dyakonova, M. V. (2016). The current status and prospects of the revitalization of the FinnoUgric languages in the Republic of Karelia. Yearbook of Finno-Ugric Studies, 10 (3): 156—168. (In Russ.).
6. Evseeva, E. V. (2020). An attempt to create a unified Karelian literary language in Karelia in 1937—1939. (based on documents from the National Archive of the Republic of Karelia). Almanac of Northern European and Baltic Studies, 5: 212—222. DOI: 10.15393/j103.art.2020.1623. (In Russ.).
7. Goryacheva, M. A. (2022). Dynamics of the issue of periodicals in Russian and the republican state languages of the peoples of the Russian Federation (1970—2021). Sociolinguistics, 4 (12): 45—70. DOI: 10.37892/2713–2951-4-12-45-70. (In Russ.).
8. Ilyukha, O. P. (ed.). (2019). Ethnocultural and ethnopolitical processes in Karelia from the Middle Ages to the present day. Petrozavodsk: KarSC RAS. 339 p. ISBN 978-59274-0864-1. (In Russ.).
9. Kert, G. M. (2002). Essays on the Karelian language: Research. and reflections. Petrozavodsk: Karelia. 112 p. (In Russ.).
10. Kirilenko, S. V. (2021). Three-Component System of Language Planning: A Case Study Tuvan, Kalmyk and Karelian. Nauchnyi dialog, 4: 97—111. https://doi.org/10.24224/22271295-2021-4-97-111. (In Russ.).
11. Kirilenko, S. V. (2024). Karelian language: language planning and language attitudes. Bulletin of Ugrovology, 14 / 3 (58): 567—577. DOI: 10.30624/2220-4156-2024-14-3-567577. (In Russ.).
12. Kovaleva, S. V., Rodionova, A. P. (2011). Traditional and new in the vocabulary and grammar of the Karelian language (according to sociolinguistic research). Petrozavodsk: KarSC RAS. 138 p. ISBN 978-5-9274-0498-8. (In Russ.).
13. Novak, I., Penttonen, M., Ruuskanen, A. (2022). Karelian in Grammars: A study of phonetic and morphological variation. Petrozavodsk: KarRC RAS. 453 p.
14. Romanova, A. A. The periodical press of Karelia as a source on the history of the Kemi of the pre-war decade. Local history readings. Proceedings of the IX Scientific Conference (February 12—13, 2015). Available at: https://library.karelia.ru/files/3495. pdf (accessed 01.07.2025). (In Russ.).
15. Runtova, A. N. (2020). An attempt to create Karelian writing in the 30s of the twentieth century (Tver region). Almanac of Northern European and Baltic Studies / Nordic and Baltic Studies Review, 5: 201—212. (In Russ.).
16. The Karelian “case”: The case of the so-called “Karelian bourgeois-nationalist, terrorist, counterrevolutionary organization”. (1991). Tver: [b. i.]. 39 p. (In Russ.).
17. Verigin, S. G. (2017). The Karelian question in the national policy of Finland during the Second World War. Bulletin of St. Petersburg University. History, 62 (1): 26—42. DOI: 10.21638/11701/spbu02.2017.103. (In Russ.).
18. Woolard, K. A. (1992). Language ideology: Issues and Approaches. Pragmatics, 2 (3): 235— 249. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1075/prag.2.3.01woo.
19. Zaikov, P. M. (1999). Grammar of the Karelian language (phonetics and morphology). Petrozavodsk: Periodika Publ. 120 p. (In Russ.).
Review
For citations:
Goryacheva M.A. Karelian Language in Periodical Press: Dynamics of Functioning as a Reflection of Shifts in Language Ideology and Policy in 20th–21st Centuries. Nauchnyi dialog. 2025;14(8):79-100. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.24224/2227-1295-2025-14-8-79-100
Views:
46
Email this article 