SPEECH EVENTS

AND CULTURAL
IDENTITY
IN MODERN RUSSIA
Speech Events and Cultural Identity in
Modern Russia
 Cultural identity and communication
 The notion ‘speech event’ in linguistics
 A diachronic approach to the study of
complex speech events
 A synchronic approach to the study of
complex speech events
 Conclusion: social and language
changes and transforming identity

03/03/06 New York Olga N. Dubrovskaya Speech Events and Cultural Identity in Modern Russia
Cultural identity and communication

 What is ‘culture’?
 the ideas, beliefs, and customs that are shared and
accepted by people in a society Longman Dictionary of
Contemporary English 2001
 What is ‘identity’?
 the qualities that make someone or something what
they are and different from other people Macmillan
English Dictionary 2002
 Some approaches to the study of cultural
identity

03/03/06 New York Olga N. Dubrovskaya Speech Events and Cultural Identity in Modern Russia
The notion ‘speech event’ in linguistics
 Study of the forms of communication through the study
of language
 ‘Speech event’ in the ethnography of communication
(Dell Hymes)
 The ethnography of communication is directed at
 the description and understanding of communicative
behaviour in specific cultural settings
 the formulation of concepts and theories to build a global
metatheory of human communication (M.Saville-Troike)
 ‘Complex speech event’ as a communicative event with
the main role of a speech component (planned,
organized, controlled, socially significant)
 meeting, conference, summit, wedding, funerals, elections,
party, primaries, etc.

03/03/06 New York Olga N. Dubrovskaya Speech Events and Cultural Identity in Modern Russia
Classification of Complex Speech Events
(examples)
 politics
 summit, visit, coronation, etc.
 business
 negotiations, board meeting, presentation, job interview, etc.
 law
 trial, cross-examination, etc.
 education
 exam, seminar, lecture, etc.
 mass media
 interview, chat-show, etc.

03/03/06 New York Olga N. Dubrovskaya Speech Events and Cultural Identity in Modern Russia
The structure of a speech event
 according to the pattern of ethnolinguistics
(N.I. Tolstoy, Vyach.Vs. Ivanov)
 communicative roles of participants, speech component in the
form of different speech genres, actions (movements of
participants – e.g. people stand up to the sounds of a national
anthem or greeting the judge) and ‘symbolic’ objects associated
with the event (e.g. a wedding dress, a certificate, a flag, etc.)
 as a framework (M. Minsky, O. Iriskhanova)
 time and space location, aim of the event, results, participants
and their communicative roles, actions, elementary speech
events, other complex speech events, etc.

Frameworks of the events are different due to historical,

cultural and language factors.

03/03/06 New York Olga N. Dubrovskaya Speech Events and Cultural Identity in Modern Russia
A diachronic approach to the study of
complex speech events
 ‘Sovietisms’ reflect typical for totalitarianism
forms of communication
 партсобрание ‘partsobranie’ (a communist party
meeting)
 проработка ‘prorabotka’ (a meeting with strong
criticism of the party members)
 товарищеский суд ‘tovarischeskij sud’ (‘comrade’s
court’ – a trial at the working place)

03/03/06 New York Olga N. Dubrovskaya Speech Events and Cultural Identity in Modern Russia
A synchronic approach to the study of
complex speech events
 In speech event perspective most changes
occur in
 politics, business, mass media, youth culture
 Two trends in the national policy
 support of organizations developing ethnic
culture in regions of Russia
 control of national/public holidays

03/03/06 New York Olga N. Dubrovskaya Speech Events and Cultural Identity in Modern Russia
Conclusion: social and language
changes and transforming identity
 Language is an objective means of social
and cultural study.
 Complex speech events can be used to
study the transformation of cultural (ethnic
and social) identity.
 Different speech events have different
significance for transforming identity in
modern Russia.

03/03/06 New York Olga N. Dubrovskaya Speech Events and Cultural Identity in Modern Russia