Russophone

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See also Russophone (novel)

A Russophone (Russian: ) is literally a speaker of the Russian language either natively or by preference. At the same time the term is used in a more specialized meaning to describe the category of people whose cultural background is associated with Russian language regardless of ethnic and territorial distinctions.

There is a common misnomer to refer to Russophones as "Russians". For example, Brighton Beach is often described as "Russian community", while in fact the majority of Russophone Brighton Beach are Jews. Ironically, a significant number of Russian cultural associations in the United States are affiliated with Jewish Community Centers, called Juykas by American Russophones.

The largest and most populous Russophone country is Russia, where the language originates. There are sizable Russophone communities in many neighbouring countries that were parts of the former Soviet Union, of which Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Moldova and Latvia. Additionally, there are large Russophone immigrant communities in Israel and various parts of the United States.

There are an estimated 280 million Russophones worldwide.

Russophony is a controversial phenomenon. For most ethnic minorities in Russia and former Soviet Union the native language suffered because of various processes of Russification, both official and voluntary. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union the situation was reversed in the countries of the "Close Abroad" (ближнее зарубежье, blizhneye zarubezhye) — the term used in Russia for the post-Soviet states — where the use of Russian was discouraged, with the notable exceptions of Belarus and Kazakhstan.

References

Pål Kolstø, "The new Russian diaspora - an identity of its own? Possible identity trajectories for Russians in the former Soviet republic." Ethnic and Racial studies, July 1996, pp. 609-639
Pål Kolstø, "The price of stability. Kazakhstani control mechanisms in a bipolar cultural and demographic situation", paper presented at conf. Democracy and Pluralism in the Muslim Areas of the Former Soviet Union at The Cummings Center, University of Tel Aviv, 7-9 November 1999 [link]

External links

[Boston Jewish Russian Center & Synagogue]
[Russophone], a LiveJournal community

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