Teaching Russian in 2022–2024 III: Interrogating the "Russian" Identity: Lessons on and by the Indigenous Peoples of Russia

Session Submission Type: Roundtable

Brief Description

This roundtable addresses questions of identity, nationalism, and indigeneity and their place within the decolonization of Russian language classrooms and the undergraduate Russian curriculum. The Kremlin’s propaganda has long employed nationalistic rhetoric, e.g., the establishment of the so-called russkii mir (Russian world) in Ukraine, the russification of kidnapped Ukrainian children, and Shaman’s song “Ia russkii” performed by a diverse group of Russian ethnic minorities. However, with the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the Russian state transitioned to physical attacks on the non-Slavic populations of the country, with the “partial” mobilization in Russia disproportionately affecting the republics of Buriatia and Dagestan, among others.

Panelists on this roundtable interrogate contemporary “Russian” identity and the ways we address it within language and cultural instruction. Questions including who is “Russian,” distinctions between russkii and rossiiskii, and the role of Indigenous peoples living in Russia can often be challenging for students and prompt us to consider our choices of texts, themes, and discussions. The participants of the roundtable share their experiences and practical tools for giving voice to the Indigenous peoples of Russian in the Russian language classroom and across the undergraduate Russian curriculum.

Sub Unit

• Linguistics/Language Pedagogy/Translation

Roundtable Members

• Elizabeth K Ewaskio, U of Utah

• Sandor Foldvari, U of Debrecen (Hungary)

• Jane Frances Hacking, U of Utah

• Cheryl Stephenson, Bates College