Russia in XXI century: changes in culture, communication, language

Tatiana Larina (Peoples' Friendship University of Russia, Moscow) [BIO]

Email: larinat@list.ru

 

ABSTRACT:

The transformation of social and economic spheres of modern Russia, its orientation to the West affects all the spheres of human activities including ideology, worldview, cultural values, type of human relations, language and communication.

Traditionally Russia has belonged to the collectivist type of culture where strong interpersonal links, solidarity, interdependence, interests of the group prevailed over independence, personal goals and individuality. But nowadays we can observe considerable changes in the minds of people, especially of younger generation who perceive themselves more as autonomous individuals independent of groups rather than their members. They are career oriented, aimed at individual growth and achievements. Personal goals influence their actions and behavior. Values of collectivist cultures are supplanted by individualistic values which often cause difficulties in communication and make the generation gap deeper.

Changes in cultural values are reflected in some changes in communication and communicative style (forms of address, level of formality / informality, usage of slang, swear words etc.).

The effect of globalization on the language has resulted in numerous borrowings adopted by the Russian language from English. These words penetrated from different spheres: political, economic, technical, cultural, educational etc.

There are positive and negative aspects in this multifaceted process which are to be pointed out at the presentation.

Key words: culture, cultural values, individualism, collectivism, democratization, communication, communicative style, borrowings.