Politics and the Slavic Languages During the past two centuries, ethnolinguistic nationalism has been the norm of nation building and state building in Central Europe. The number of recognized Slavic languages (in line with the normative political formula of language = nation = state) gradually tallied with the number of the Slavic nation- states, especially after the breakups of Czechoslovakia, the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia. But in the current age of borderless cyberspace, regional and minority Slavic languages are freely standardized and used, even when state authorities disapprove. As a result, since the turn of the 19th century, the number of Slavic languages has varied widely, from a single Slavic language to as many as 40. Through the story of Slavic languages, this timely book illustrates that decisions on what counts as a language are neither permanent nor stable, arguing that the politics of language is the politics in Central Europe. The monograph will prove to be an essential resource for scholars of linguistics and politics in Central Europe. Tomasz Kamusella is a reader in modern history at the University of St. Andrews, United Kingdom. Routledge Histories of Central and Eastern Europe The nations of Central and Eastern Europe experienced a time of momentous change in the period following the Second World War. The vast majority were subject to communism and central planning, while events such as the Hungarian uprising and Prague Spring stood out as key watershed moments against a distinct social, cultural and political backdrop. With the fall of the Berlin Wall, German reunification and the breakup of the Soviet Union, changes from the 1990s onwards have also been momentous, in which countries have adjusted to various capitalist realities. The volumes in this series will help shine a light on the experiences of this key geopolitical zone and offer many lessons to be learned for the future. Communism, Science and the University Towards a Theory of Detotalitarianisation Edited by Ivaylo Znepolski A Nation Divided by History and Memory Hungary in the Twentieth Century and Beyond Gábor Gyáni Historicizing Roma in Central Europe Between Critical Whiteness and Epistemic Injustice Victoria Shmidt and Bernadette Nadya Jaworsky The Macedonian Question and the Macedonians A History Alexis Heraclides Milan Rastislav Štefánik The Slovak National Hero and Co-founder of Czechoslovakia Michal Kšiňan Politics and the Slavic Languages Tomasz Kamusella For more information about this series, please visit: www.routledge.com/Routledge- Histories-of-Central-and-Eastern-Europe/book-series/ Politics and the Slavic Languages Tomasz Kamusella First published 2021 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2021 Tomasz Kamusella The right of Tomasz Kamusella to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Kamusella, Tomasz, author. Title: Politics and the Slavic languages / Tomasz Kamusella. Description: London ; New York : Routledge, 2021. | Series: Routledge histories of Central and Eastern Europe | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2020057861 (print) | LCCN 2020057862 (ebook) | ISBN 9780367569846 (hardback) | ISBN 9781003100188 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Slavic languages—Europe, Central—Political aspects. | Europe, Central—Languages—Political aspects. Classification: LCC P119.32.C36 K38 2021 (print) | LCC P119.32.C36 (ebook) | DDC 491.8—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020057861 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020057862 ISBN: 978-0-367-56984-6 (hbk) ISBN: 978-0-367-56985-3 (pbk) ISBN: 978-1-003-10018-8 (ebk) Typeset in Times New Roman by Apex CoVantage, LLC To the new generation of scholars from Central Europe, so that they may dare to peer beyond the dogma of the nation and the black box of Einzelsprache Contents List of figures ix Preface xiii Acknowledgments xv Introduction 1 1 A brief unnatural history of languages in Europe 4 What is a language? 4 A brief unnatural history of languages in Europe 6 One Slavic language or three Slavic state languages (and counting)? 9 Vanishings and metamorphoses 13 Breakups 17 Classifying Slavic languages 23 2 Nonstate (minority or regional) Slavic languages 59 The dilemma of ethnolinguistic nationalism 79 3 The internet: a new frontier 87 4 The politics of script 104 The future: human will is fickle 115 5 Pluricentric or monocentric 119 6 Russian as a pluricentric language 144 7 Conclusion: the dilemma of numbers 173 viii Contents 8 Addendum: the Declaration on the Common Language 179 The Declaration on the Common Language 179 Deklaracija o Zajedničkom Jeziku 181 9 Postscript on methodology: people see what they want 183 Bibliography 267 Index 323 Figures 1. A brief unnatural history of languages in Europe 4 1a From uncountable and continuous Sprache to discrete and countable Einzelsprachen 7 1b The single Slavic language and its ‘literary dialects’ in the mid 19th century 10 1c The Slavic languages in 1914 11 1d The Slavic languages in 1930 (View I) 13 1e The Slavic languages in 1930 (View II) 13 1f The Slavic languages in 1943 14 1g The Slavic languages in 1945 16 1h The Slavic languages during the Cold War 17 1i The Slavic languages used as languages of command in state armies during the Cold War 18 1j The Slavic languages in 2017: An etic, or outside, perspective – as seen by institutional and academic observers outside Central Europe 19 1k The Slavic languages in 2017: An emic perspective 20 1.l The South Slavic dialect continuum 26 1m Emic efforts and dialectology, or the South Slavic dialect continuum mainly divided along dialects and Einzelsprachen during the past two centuries 27 1n The North Slavic dialect continuum 28 1o Emic efforts and dialectology, or the North Slavic dialect continuum divided mainly along dialects and Einzelsprachen, during the past two centuries 29 1p The historic All-Slavic dialect continuum, circa 6th century 31 1q The historic single All-Slavic dialect continuum and Einzelsprachen 31 1r The manner of the production of Einzelsprachen, especially in the historical context of Central Europe 33 1s How people and their groups (organized in states) engage with the linguistic 35 1t Production of units of the linguistic 37