Russian as a Transnational Language

This collection contributes to emerging work in critical sociolinguistics, using a multidisciplinary and multiscalar approach to understanding the diasporic experience in the Russian-speaking world.

The volume expands on research in the sociolinguistics of mobility, multilingualism, and diaspora studies. It critically examines the ways in which transnational Russian identities are perceived and discursively enacted in online and offline spaces, and how this interplay contributes to diasporic identification across the globe. In highlighting a range of critical methodologies at multiple scalar levels − across family, national, and global lines − the book raises key questions about what binds and distinguishes individuals belonging to diverse communities of Russian speakers. It likewise interrogates established notions of memory, nostalgia, authenticity, and belonging, as well as perceptions of futurity and change.

This book will be of particular interest to students and scholars in sociolinguistics, multilingualism, language and education, and linguistic anthropology.