Nationalism in modern Kazakhstan's language policy

Abstract

38 Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies Vol. XXXIII, No. 4, Summer 2010 Nationalism in modern Kazakhstan’s language policy Gulnara Dadabaeva* Aigul Adibaeva* (I) In the modern world language policy engulfs relations between the state and society. The growth of interest among social scientists in these issues after the demise of the Soviet Union multiplied. The emerging of postSoviet republics enhanced the application of different theoretical approaches to this phenomenon. These approaches, appeal to Gellner’s idea of the homogenization of culture along with the state’s political borders,1 or construction of a nation-state under the guidance of the political elite, trying to reach civic unification of its ethnically, linguistically and culturally diverse population2 (C. Geerz, 1973). Some scholars have connected the sensitivity of these problems to the possibility of the representatives of different groups to get and, control over the economic and political spheres of influence3 (Horowitz D., 1985). Major scholarship on Kazakhstan language policy could be roughly divided into two mainstreams. The first one is mainly focused on the state’s ability to conduct language policy in order to decrease inter- and intraethnic conflicts. For the purpose of accelerated nation building, Kazakhstan’s ruling elite, as Dave argues, was able to establish political control over other ethnic groups, mainly Slavs, who are identified with the imperial past. The government pressure on the process of legislation provided more opportunities to strengthen access to administration, education and important economic sectors of the newly emerging state for titular nation, yet securing better opportunities for itself. Relatively easy *Gulnara Dadabaeva and Aigul Adibaeva, Kimep, Senior Lecturers, Almaty, Kazakhstan 1 Gellner, Ernest. 1983. Nations and Nationalism. Oxford: Blackwell. 2 Geerz, Clifford.1973.The Interpretation of Cultures: selected Essays, New York: Basic Books. 3 Horowitz, D. 1985. Ethnic Groups in Conflict. Berkeley: University of California Press. 39 process of the Kazakh language application was primarily caused by the notion that a nation-state is represented by a state language defining certain territory, which is driven by “remedial of native population”, especially in such spheres as language, history, culture, etc.4 (Dave B., 2004, pp. 125126 ). These ideas are close to W. Fierman5 statement that sharp disputes over language issues are caused by different goals of the two main categories of the republic’s population who are identified as “civic-statists” versus “nation-statists”. Both groups succeeded in establishing their culture and language in a privileged position. Departing from A. Khazanov’s6 point that state provides less nationalism and thus opens more space for nationalist claims of Kazakh intelligentsia, one can say that the abovementioned scholars insist on political and social prerequisites for successful application of Kazakh as the only state language. Another group of scholars are mainly driven by the interest to language politics as a crucial factor in establishing tolerant ethnic relations; they stress those factors of ethnopolitics which diminish inter-ethnic conflicts, including language-political issues7 (Chaimun Lee). Modern Kazakhstan can thus successfully utilize ethnopolitics through lenient language requirements for ethnic non-Kazakhs that in turn leads to a decrease in ethnic intolerance. Ethnic cooperation among different groups is orchestrated by the state that elaborates strategies to create careful “‘divergent messages’, soft policy on language requirements and ethnic-language ties” (Chaimun Lee). The main problem arising from this situation is the 4 Dave, B. 2004. A Shrinking Reach of the State? Language Policy and Implementation in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, in “Transformation of Central Asia: State and Societies from Soviet Rule to Independence” ed. Pauline J. Luong, Cornell University Press: Ithaca and London, 2004, p. 125-26. 5 Fierman William. Language and Policy in Kazakhstan Formation in Policy Documents 1987-1997. Communist and Post-Communist Studies, vol. 31, #2, p. 177. 6 Khazanov A.M. The Ethnic Problems of Contemporary Kazakhstan. Central Asian Survey, 1995, 14 (2), p. 253. 7 Chaimun Lee. Languages and ethnic politics in Central Asia: The Case of Kazakhstan in Journal of International and Area Studies, Seoul, June 1004, vol. 11, Iss. 1; p.101. Here we could also mentioned scholars from Kazakhstan who’s research interests are concentrating on Russian population position in modern Kazakhstan. They also touched Kazakh and Russian languages status...