On Russia's war against Ukraine and the Russian language. I am writing this as someone who grew up in Almaty, where during the Soviet period, only a couple of schools taught in Kazakh. My peers and I were completely Russified. 1/7
In the first weeks of the war, I was giving a book talk at one of the universities in the US. After the talk, a student from Kazakhstan (ethnic Uyghur) asked if we could switch to Kazakh or English, as she didn't want to speak Russian. 2/7
I fully understood where she was coming from, even if I tried to make an argument that we shouldn't offer Putin and co. monopoly and ownership of the Russian language. 3/7
In Kazakhstan, Russia's war did more for the Kazakh language promotion than 30 years of the Kazakh government's attempts did. The youth especially is switching to Kazakh whenever they can. Non-ethnic Kazakhs from Kazakhstan are also more interested in Kazakh than before. 4/7
Speaking for myself, I started learning Kazakh before the war as part of my book journey. When my teacher asked why someone who's lived abroad since the age of 19 and lives in DC now would want to learn Kazakh, I told her that it was important for my identity. 5/7
On my recent trip to 🇰🇿, I felt sad I wasn't in a position (yet) to present my Kazakh book in Kazakh. In Semey and Almaty, I presented in Russian. But for the formal launch in Astana, I consciously chose to speak in English (w/simultaneous interpretation into Kazakh&Russian). 6/7
There's a lot of excitement around the Kazakh language. It's a trend that started several years ago - Q-pop, soap operas in Kazakh, podcasts that mix Kazakh & Russian. The war intensified the trend. People of 🇰🇿 solidify their identity that is moving away from the Soviet past.7/7
BONUS: Kazakh rap 😎 8/7
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