The Russian Language Outside the Nation: Speakers and Identities

This is the first book to examine Russian as a minority language in different countries. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, over 25 million Russian speakers ended up living outside their homeland. Some remained in the non-Russian former Soviet republics which became independent states, whilst others migrated. This book explores multiple issues connected to the Russian speaker’s identity as a member of a linguistic minority in the new world configuration. This topic has received little scholarly attention but it is relevant not only for Russia but also for the policy makers and societies of the destination nations. It discusses language and identity of the Russian speakers outside Russia from a sociolinguistic perspective. It contributes to the understanding of developments in Russian as it engages with different new social, political, geographical, legal and cultural environments. It launches our new series Russian Language and Society.