In After Newspeak, Michael S. Gorham presents a cultural history of the politics of Russian language from Gorbachev and glasnost to Putin and the emergence of new generations of Web technologies. Gorham begins from the premise that periods of rapid and radical change both shape and are shaped by language. He documents the role and fate of the Russian language in the collapse of the USSR and the decades of reform and national reconstruction that have followed. Gorham demonstrates the inextricable linkage of language and politics in everything from dictionaries of profanity to the flood of publications on linguistic self-help, the speech patterns of the country’s leaders, the blogs of its bureaucrats, and the official programs promoting the use of Russian in the so-called near abroad. Gorham explains why glasnost figured as such a critical rhetorical battleground in the political strife that led to the Soviet Union’s collapse and shows why Russians came to deride the newfound freedom of speech of the 1990s as little more than the right to swear in public. He assesses the impact of Medvedev’s role as Blogger-in-Chief and the role Putin’s vulgar speech practices played in the restoration of national pride. Gorham investigates whether Internet communication and new media technologies have helped to consolidate a more vibrant democracy and civil society or if they serve as an additional resource for the political technologies manipulated by the Kremlin.
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Michael S. Gorham presents a cultural history of the politics of Russian language from Gorbachev and glasnost to Putin and the emergence of new generations of Web technologies.
Preface Acknowledgments Note on Transliteration and Translations Introduction: Ideologies, Economies, and Technologies of Language 1. The Soviet Legacy: From Political to Cultural Correctness 2. Glasnost Unleashed: Language Ideologies in the Gorbachev Revolution 3. Economies of Profanity: Free Speech and Varieties of Language Degradation 4. In Defense of the National Tongue: Guardians, Legislators, and Monitors of the Norm 5. Taking the Offensive: Language Culture and Policy under Putin 6. "Cyber Curtain" or Glasnost 2.0? Strategies for Web-based Communication in the New Media Age Conclusion Appendix: Sayings and Proverbs about Language
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In this book Gorham decided to survey a very dynamic and unstable period of Russian contemporary history that has not yet been studied from the perspective of language culture.... Gorham's innovative work, referring to numerous historical and socio-political contexts, not only enables a better undestanding of the last 25 years of the Russian Federation, but also offers a new perspective on the interrelation between language, culture, and politics.
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After Newspeak productively combines language theory and a wealth of sources—from TV to paper journalism, political speeches to blogs—to advance an original argument that covers more than three decades of Russian culture. Michael S. Gorham's impressively meticulous and wide-ranging scholarship and consistently analytical treatment of the material persuasively demonstrates the interplay among language, identity, and politics. Rich in content and sophisticated in its conceptualization, this book should engage not only Slavists, but also anyone invested in understanding the power of language.
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Produktdetaljer

ISBN
9780801479267
Publisert
2014
Utgiver
Vendor
Cornell University Press
Vekt
454 gr
Høyde
229 mm
Bredde
152 mm
Dybde
19 mm
Aldersnivå
01, G, 01
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Heftet

Forfatter

Biographical note

Michael S. Gorham is Professor of Russian Studies in the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures at the University of Florida. He is the author of Speaking in Soviet Tongues: Language Culture and the Politics of Voice in Revolutionary Russia and coeditor of Digital Russia: The Language, Culture, and Politics of New Media Communication.