On the vast territory of what was once the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union, vastly different peoples and cultures coexisted. The list is quite long, including Slavic, Turkic, Finno-Ugric and Tungusic peoples. Every nation had its own history and culture before joining the empire, and the imperial period offered each nation something unique, which is clearly evident in the research.
The Russian Empire contained agrarian cultures, urban cultures and even nomadic cultures (the Kazakhs were one of the largest nomadic peoples whose traditions were preserved until the 1930s). There were people whose livelihood depended on fishing. There were a wide variety of religions. In other words, the many cultures that are all united now by the Russian language are very, very diverse.
In addition to the importance of the Russian language in providing a unique opportunity to study these diverse cultures and traditions, it is also of great importance as a tool for dialogue.
Dialogue between different peoples is a serious issue of global importance. The absence of such dialogue, as repeatedly noted by many researchers and stressed in Samuel Huntington’s The Clash of Civilizations, is at the root of many conflicts, including wars.
The language barrier is an important part of this conflict of interests and cultures. It dramatically reduces the number of people who are able to explore other cultures and traditions. It also reduces those who are able to engage in dialogue, negotiations and achieve mutual understanding.
The Russian language provides a unique opportunity for direct dialogue between different cultures. The only other languages able to claim this role are perhaps English, Spanish and Chinese.
According to Russia’s census in 2002, 145 million people speak Russian, or 98.2% of the population. Surveys have shown that approximately 100 out of 160 ethnicities in Russia have a high or near native level of Russian. Of those remaining, 60-70% are fluent. About 23.7% of the population claimed to know other languages, and 16% had other native languages.
In other words, Russian is a popular language in Russia and it is firmly holding its status as a language of international communication. In this regard, the functions of the state language and the language of communication coincide.
Secondly, most of the intellectual elite of Russia’s various ethnicities knows Russian perfectly and uses it to publish its research.
What kinds of possibilities does this open? To begin with, there is great potential for academic studies of numerous and very diverse cultures. For example, a large part of the literature and primary sources on nomadism as a distinct culture and way of life is written in Russian. There are so many different types of nomads, including those who combine a nomadic lifestyle with sedentary farming and fishing, as well as those who live a nomadic life year-round. Mukanov’s Nomadic Civilization of the Kazakhs was published in Russian in Almaty and Moscow.
Another example is the traditional religion of Mari, one of the few surviving pagan religions in Russia. A detailed study of the Mari religion would allow a deeper understanding of many aspects of society as they existed prior to the spread of the world religions: Christianity, Islam and Buddhism. Furthermore, Mari society is living and evolving, which allows it to be explored directly by virtue of the fact that the Mari speak Russian fluently. Maris are not the only such people in Russia. There are also the Nenets, Yakut, Evenki and many others.
Why place such emphasis on exploring aspects of other cultures? Mainly because without extensive knowledge and dialogue, understanding the mentality of others is almost impossible.
Finally, there is the very process of dialogue. When people are divided by language barriers, full communication is hardly possible. The language barrier creates conditions that allow the other party to “not hear” what is being said. For example, in the dispute between Israeli and Arab intellectuals there is always the possibility of “not hearing” what opponents on the opposite side are saying, simply because essays may be written in Hebrew or Arabic. The language of bilateral dispute between the two nations is English.
In the Russian-speaking world, this is virtually impossible. If something is written and published in Russian, it is immediately available to everyone. Any arguments, allegations and theories are quickly studied by the opponent. Responses are naturally made in Russian.
There are those who may not like this situation, there is no escaping its positive aspect. First, all of the sensitive issues can be made available for a public debate that is open to all interested parties. Second, any conflict or tension can be addressed in words before the outbreak of violence. Verbal warfare is much safer than armed conflict. Offensive words are much easier to get around than spilled blood.
Conditions for such study and mutual understanding have prevailed in Russia due to historical circumstances. Moreover, due to the rapid development of the arts, which began in the late 19th century and was especially intense in the mid-20th century, much work in mutual exploration has been accomplished. People can now turn to literature or any specialist and get full information about virtually any people that inhabited the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union or today’s Russia.
Of course, there are also many gaps. What has been studied thus far still leaves much to be desired. We must realize, though, that we have a strong base from which to develop further.
Precisely because of the access that people have to an international language of communication, the Russian world has every opportunity to reduce conflict between peoples, cultures and even different civilizations. Less conflict, even in one region of the world, is a major achievement of historic proportions.
The experience of conflict resolution through debate, dialogue and discussion can be carried over to other countries. By accumulating and disseminating this experience, Russia can seriously increase its role in the world without resorting to brutality. It simply needs to use what works in the Russian-speaking world. We have significant advantages that many other peoples and countries could only dream of. We need to make as much use of them as we possibly can.
