The Linguistic Situation and Cultural Identity of the Russian North: Prospects for Interdisciplinary Research

Introduction. The concept of the “Russian North” represents a historical and cultural region with debatable boundaries, often associated with the term “European North. The region is characterized by multi-ethnicity and close contact between Russians and Finno-Ugric peoples, which has led to the development of a complex, multilayered cultural identity that combines pan-Russian, local, and ethnic elements, manifested in the specific historical and cultural development and linguistic practices of the population. Methodology and sources. The methodological basis of the study consists of narrative and dialogic approaches, systematic analysis of scientific texts, comparative and contrastive methods, logical and methodological reconstruction, and methods of lingual geography, sociolinguistics, and dialectology. The empirical base consists of publications on issues of cultural identity in studies of the Russian North and the linguistic situation in multiethnic regions. Results and discussion. The Russian North, in sociolinguistic and cultural-philosophical aspects, represents a zone of long-term interethnic and interlingual contact, where the interaction of Russian and Finno-Ugric languages led to the formation of bilingualism, provoked language shift, and served as the basis for the development of a hybrid identity among the population. Linguistic research (including studies of substrate vocabulary, toponymy, and dialects) confirms the profound influence of the Finno-Ugric heritage on the region's Russian dialects. The current linguistic situation is characterized by the coexistence of the dominant Russian language with vulnerable and endangered indigenous languages (Veps, Izhorian, Votic, Karelian, and others), functioning under conditions of limited use and partial preservation. Conclusion. Future research into the linguistic situation and cultural identity of the Russian North relies on expanding the empirical base with new sources, including digital language corpora, self-documents (diaries, autobiographies, personal letters), educational literature for bilingual regions, and everyday communication materials. These data will allow for more accurate tracking of identity dynamics in real social and institutional practices.

Authors: Liubov A. Ulianitckaia, Lyubov S. Moskovchuk, Oleg N. Gusev, Andrey A. Shumkov

Direction: Linguistics

Keywords: Russian North, cultural identity, hybrid identity, third cultural space, indigenous peoples, Finno-Ugric language group, bilingualism, dialectology, sociolinguistics

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