Scholarly record

CAN RUSSIAN-LANGUAGE LITERATURE BY NON-RUSSIAN WRITERS ENHANCE THE VITALITY OF THE RUSSIAN LANGUAGE?

V. P. Sinyachkin, U. M. Bakhtikireeva, I. D. Todorova

Abstract

In recent years, some Russian scientific journals have noted that the interest in texts and literature written in the language of the metropolis is becoming more and more topical in foreign (i.e., English-language) linguistics, and the scientific interest in the so-called 'Contact Literature' is growing as well. A well-known American scientist of Indian origin, the author of the term 'contact literature' Braj B. Kachru writes: "Language changes as a result of the contact of languages are not limited to grammar, vocabulary, style, and discourse. They go beyond these levels of the system of language and affect the literary creativity of representatives of different cultures" [1]. So, in outer sheath – English – many other cultures acquire new life (?) We can guess that the literature created by non-English personalities in English gives a new impulse to this language. Can the Russian-language Literature (alternative term – “Russophone Literature”) – the totality of artistic texts (prose, poetry, and drama, including – auto-translation), created by non-Russian (ethnically) authors in Russian fall under the definition of "National literature?” Until now, post-Soviet scholars, writers and critics have not come to a single, satisfying view of this object. Russian literature after 1991 is quite often defined in the works of philologists as 'bilingual' or 'translingual'. A similar situation with Russian-language literature by non-Russian writers, which has been giving a new impetus to the Russian language for about two centuries. Can this Literature be considered as a special parameter for measuring the vitality of the Russian language? With this article, we attempt to understand the vitality / viability of the Russian language through the prism of Russian-language literature created by non-Russian origin authors. By vitality, we mean the language's ability to survive, develop, and maintain its systemic-typological properties. According to sociolinguists, the vitality of any language is measurable. There is a number of parameters. The present article is focused on a special parameter for measuring the vitality of the Russian language. In our opinion, Russian-language literature (alternative definition – translingual literature) is a complex interaction of at least two language systems and cultures, producing a semantically and structurally enriched literary field. The corpus of translingual art texts (works of fiction) is a database that accumulates and develops the potencies of the Russian language.

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