This thesis deals with the application of French elements in the development of a Russian written language during the Enlightenment. During the reign of Peter I (1672–1725), Russia was modernised and secularised. Its society, economy and culture underwent such significant changes that this period is sometimes referred to as the Petrine Revolution. A new capital city – Saint Petersburg – was established, partly to facilitate contacts with Western Europe. Back then, Russia’s linguistic situation could be described as diglossia, meaning that two languages coexisted that were not mutually equivalent – Russian was vernacular, its written usage being restricted to practical purposes including secular documentation, whereas Church Slavonic was used as the written language in liturgical and ceremonial contexts. To reflect the evolution of society it was necessary to codify (standardize) and develop a Russian written language that would be usable in all contexts. An additional goal was to create a national literature. Since Church Slavonic was not fit for worldly purposes, it could not serve as a model. Therefore, ideas had to be borrowed from abroad. Peter I initiated a long process that spanned over decades and continued during the reigns of Elisabeth I and Catherine II. This paper examines contemporary sources, combining distant and deep reading from a contextual perspective. The aim was to determine the reasons why France was seen as a model, and the theoretical and practical implications of such a choice. France was chosen not only because its language was Europe’s lingua franca at the time and for its crucial role in the dissemination of the Enlightenment philosophy, but also because the country had a solid literary tradition and institutions that could provide guidance on language standardization. However, the implementation of foreign, and therefore partly irrelevant rules, proved to be tricky. The study focuses on specific elements such as the paradoxes and contradictions of the situation, which gave rise to cultural conflicts regarding innovations from France; some authors embraced them, while others rejected them.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:du-48489 |
| Date | January 2024 |
| Creators | Wagner, Anne |
| Publisher | Högskolan Dalarna, Institutionen för språk, litteratur och lärande |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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