Pride and profit: language, identity and tourism in Russia

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article argues that multilingual locales with minority, national and global languages at hand can become a site where meaning of social experience is negotiated and contested, and the role of minority languages can be reconceptualized. More specifically, using the example of Tatar, a minority language in Russia, as well as the framework grounded in the tropes of ‘pride’ and ‘profit, the study reveals that participants’ symbolic connections to language include social categories, sense of belonging, and camaraderie, as well as the indication of symbolic profit in the form of authentic goods and services that generate economic benefits. Despite the lingering nation-state ideologies of language purification and standardization and their role in construction of the “self” and the “other,” the study demonstrates that tourism may serve as a method of authentic differentiation by packaging language-enhanced features to enrich experiences for tourists, and to secure economic profit, create a stronger sense of pride, identity, and empowerment for producers of the language.