Language as Armor:
An Analysis of Imagined Identities in Lvovich’s “My French Self”
NATASHA LVOVICH’S
BACKGROUND
“My visit to France […in 1988] was a symbol
of the opening up of Russia, of the up-lifted
iron curtain, of the historic change of the
world that had started with Gorbachev's
perestroika, after decades of dictators'
prison. Before that time, ordinary people,
especially Jews, were not allowed by the
Soviet government to travel abroad: Soviet
citizens were all doomed to the Soviet
happiness because they did not know how
unhappy they really were. I always knew,
however -- through my friends from France,
England, America, and through books -- and
I was unhappy” (Lvovich, 1997, p. 1)
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
“Natasha in college, Moscow 1977” (p. 49)
INTRODUCTION
While reading various articles on language identity, I stumbled
upon Lvovich (1997), a self-study on language acquisition that
documented the author’s personal journey with acquiring her
second, third and fourth language. Lvovich’s story resonates
with me because it sheds light on the ways in which an
imagined identity can create forms of cultural capital that
offer opportunities that were at one time out of reach. In this
poster, I describe how taking on this imagined identity gave
Lvovich access to cultural capital to which she may not have
otherwise been privy.
Moreover, I address the ways in which she describes her
acquisition of French in order to demonstrate that that the
language itself serves as a shield to the discrimination she
encounters as a Russian citizen of Jewish descent.
Finally, I discuss how Lvovich’s story may be utilized as a
conversation-starter on cultural capital and on language
identity construction and reconstruction.
Lvovich’s determination to inhabit her French self in order to
overcome the limitations of her life in Russia raise important
questions about language and identity, including what it
means to learn a foreign language and not consider it to be
foreign. Moreover, her family connections to French provided
the stepping stones she needed to launch herself into
language and culture. These connections comprise an
embodied form of cultural capital that she did not inherit. She
reflects on how her family’s ties to French influenced her
own. See below:
“It all started when I was 5 or 6 years old. No, before I was born,
with the turn of the century generation, before and after the Bolshevik
revolution in Russia, during my grandparents' generation. This is how
their stories, viewed from the end of the 20th century in America, are
interwoven with mine” (Lvovich, 1997, p. 2).
Kristen Cypret, Doctoral Student
C&T 818
The University of Kansas
UNPACKING THE PROBLEM
In her story, Lvovich described how learning French and identifying
with French culture allowed her to escape the drudgery of living in a
country that saw her Jewish background as a blemish to be erased. She
alluded to French as an imagined refuge when writing, “ I knew from a
very early age that I was being denied a number of human rights, and
this knowledge grew from hatred and bitterness into a surrogate of
intrinsic freedom—an aphrodisiac identity of the foreign culture and
NEXT STEPS
language—my France” (p. 1). To Lvovich, embracing this aphrodisiac
identity entailed mastering the language, adopting a Parisian accent, Reading Lvovich (1997) demonstrates the importance of
and learning everything she possibly could about French traditions and reflecting one’s personal journey with language acquisition.
customs. In essence, this French identity provided her with the cultural Furthermore, her story encapsulates the roller coaster of
capital she needed to pursue a Masters in French and overcome emotions one may experience when learning another
several daily challenges faced by citizens who did not conform to language, and it serves as an important reminder that
Russia’s image of homogeny. The forms of capital she has at this point reflexivity in language teaching and language research are
in her life are what Bourdieu (1986) describes as “…the embodied critical to understanding issues in language and identity
state, i.e. in the form of long lasting positions of the mind and body” research (Pavlenko & Blackledge, 2004).
(p. 17) and the objectified state—through her access to her In future research on Lvovich’s multilingual self, a deeper
grandmother’s collection of French books. Lvovich illustrates her analysis of Bourdieu’s three forms of cultural capital: the
embodiment of French by describing its imprint on her. She writes, “ embodied state, the objectified state, and the
The huge literacy heritage of the French culture formed my thinking institutionalized state is warranted.
and feeling, and along with it—my use of the language. I could not
think of French as a “foreign language”; it was not foreign, it was
mine” (p. 33)
MATERIAL & SYMBOLIC EFFECTS
By describing her family’s link to French and its importance on helping her
“construct the walls of [her] fortress [with…her] beloved France inside,”
Lvovich’s persistence to learn French led to the cultivation of an imaged
identity that became what she defines as “the untouchable jewel of [her] REFERENCES
creation” (p1). She escaped Russia with this identity, and her story of
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While in Russia, Lvovich was forced to hide her Jewish heritage from her Lvovich, N. (1997). The multilingual self: An inquiry into language
learning. Mahwah, New Jersey: Routledge.
friends and peers because her religion was did not conform to Russian Pavlenko, A., & Blackledge, A. (Eds.). (2004). Negotiation of identities
in multilingual contexts. Retrieved from: http://ebook.central.proquest.com
homogeneity. Concealing this part of herself represents a form of erasure Walker, E. W., (2010).Time zones across Russia. [Image]. Retrieved
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(Gal & Irvine, 1995) that had material consequences when Lvovich had to
burn all of her writing before leaving her homeland (1997).