Language and Culture in Eighteenth-Century Russia

Viktor Zhivov (PhD Moscow University) was a professor at UC Berkeley and the Russian Language Institute of the Academy of Sciences, Moscow. His publications included Ocherki istoricheskoi morfologii russkogo iazyka XVII—XVIII veka (2004), Razyskaniia voblasti istorii i predystorii russkoi kul’tury (2002), and Jazyk I kul’tura v Rossii XVIII veka. Professor Zhivov passed away in April 2013.

• Translator’s Introduction. Preface to the English Edition. Introduction. Problems in the Prehistory of the New Type of Russian Literary Language.1. The Literary Language of the New Type as an Object of Social and Cultural History. 2. The Functional Reconceptualization of Genetically Heterogeneous Elements in the History of Russian Writing. 3. The Main Registers of the Bookish Language and the Processes of Their Formation. 4. The Reconceptualization of the Varieties of the Bookish Language. 5. Linguistic “Simplicity” and the Means of its Realization. 6. The Secularization of Culture, Its Specifics in Russia, and Its Significance for Rethinking Linguistic Usage. Chapter 1. The Petrine Language Reform; The Linguistic and Cultural Situation of the Petrine Era. 1. Tasks of the Language Reform and the Nature of its Realization. 1.1 The Reform of the Alphabet as the Prototype of Language Reform. 1.2 Petrine Linguistic Directives. 1.3 From Hybrid Church Slavonic to the “Simple” Russian Language. 1.4 Innovation and Continuity in the New Literary Language. 2. Language Policy and the Conflict of Cultures. 2.1 Language Reform and Political-Ecclesiastical Conflicts. 2.2 “Simplicity” and the Semiotic Functions of Civil Speech. Chapter 2. The Start of Normalization of the New Literary Language; The Formulation of Linguistic Theories and Literary Practice. 1. The Formation of Petersburg Culture and the New Conception of the Literary Language. 1.1 The Linguistic Program of the First Codifiers: New Issues. 1.2 Classicist Purism and Its Initial Reception. 1.3 The Actualization of Genetic Parameters: Slavonicisms. 1.4 Normalization in Morphology and the Use of Genetic Parameters. xvii 2. The Conflict Between Linguistic Theory and Actual Practice; The Concept of a Poetic Language. 2.1 Poetic License and the Church Slavonic Literary and Linguistic Tradition. 2.2 The Language of the Ode and Church Slavonic Panegyric Poetry. Chapter 3. The Changed Conception of the Literary Language; The "Slavenorossiiskii Language” and the Synthesis of Cultural and Linguistic Traditions. 1. The New Nature of the Russian Literary Language and the Emergence of Slavonicizing Purism. 1.1 The Polyfunctionism of the New Literary Language. 1.2. The Single Nature of Russian and Church Slavonic. 1.3 The New Interpretation of Purist Categories. 2. Rationalist Purism and the Richness of the Slavenorossiiskii Language. 2.1 The Richness and “Antiquity” of Russian. 2.2 The New Stylistic Normalization. 2.3 Rationalist Purism and Its Russian Metamorphosis. 3. The Synthesis of Cultural and Linguistic Traditions: The Slavenorossiiskii Language and Its Functioning. 3.1 The Evolution of the Language of Religious Literature. 3.2 The Unified Language of a Unified Culture. Chapter 4. The New Cultural Differentiation; Linguistic Purity as an Ideological Category. 1. The Emancipation of Culture and the Polemic Between Archaists and Innovators. 1.1 The Collapse of the Cultural-Linguistic Synthesis and the Karamzinian Program. 1.2 The Polemic over Language and Problems of Cultural Self-Consciousness. 2. Slavonicizing Purism and Its Reconceptualization in Religious Literature. 2.1 The Understanding of Purist Rubrics. 2.2 The Attitude Toward the Linguistic Sign. 2.3 The Secularization of Slavonicisms and the Juxtaposition of Religious and Secular Traditions. Works Cited. Index.

"Zhivov (Deputy Director, Institute of Russian Language, Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia) connects the histories of language and culture in 18th century Russia, describing his main theme as "language and power," by which he means that "language is not merely a system of signs that makes communication possible but an instrument of human ambitions, desires and passion." He traces the formation of Russian literary language through describing the history of codification, how the need for a polyfunctional liguistic standard came to be realized, and how that standard was modified to meet the needs of the situation. He also addresses the institutional components of this history, discussing the role of the Academy of Sciences in codifying the Russian language, as well as the establishment of popular schools and their impact on literary standards and their general acceptance."