Leiden University Student Repository

Mikulcova, Maria (2017)

Lost for Words: Effects of Soviet Language Policies on the Self-Identification of Buryats in Post-Soviet Buryatia

Master thesis | Russian and Eurasian Studies (MA)

Throughout the Soviet rule Buryats have been subjected to interventionist legislation that affected not only their daily lives but also the internal cohesion of the Buryat group as a collective itself. As a result of these measures many Buryats today claim that they feel a certain degree of disconnection with their own ethnic self-perception. This ethnic estrangement appears to be partially caused by many people’s inability to speak and understand the Buryat language, thus obstructing their connection to ancient traditions, knowledge and history. This work will investigate the extent to which Soviet linguistic policies have contributed to the disconnection of Buryats with their own language and offer possible effects of ethnic language loss on the self-perception of modern day Buryats.

Buryats

identity

Soviet policies

language loss

Buryat language

Author

Mikulcova, Maria

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Specialisation

MA Russian and Eurasian Studies

Supervisors

Stapert, Eugénie

ECTS Credits

20

Language

en