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8 - How Unique Was Russia’s Multilingual Elite?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 April 2023

By
Gesine Argent
Edited by
Aneta Pavlenko
Aneta Pavlenko
Affiliation:
University of York
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Summary

In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the Russian elite used a plethora of languages, situated in a complex web of shifting social values. This chapter charts the development of this multilingualism. Looking closely at the nature of language hierarchies in imperial Russia through a close study of a variety of archival materials, it questions the oft-repeated narrative of a Russian high society speaking predominantly French, to the detriment of their Russian skills. The chapter also examines whether the Russian case is, as is often claimed, unique, and argues that multilingualism in Russia shared characteristics with elite multilingualism found in other places and times.

Keywords

historic multilingualismhistorical sociolinguisticsRussian EmpireCatherine the GreatPeter the GreatmultilingualismfrancophonienobilityFrench languageRussian languageeighteenth centurynineteenth century
Type
Chapter
Information
Multilingualism and History , pp. 153 - 169
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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