Language Conflict and Claims for the Expansion of Language Rights in Lithuania: Contrasting Cases of Polish and Russian Minorities
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LANGUAGE CONFLICT AND CLAIMS FOR THE EXPANSION OF LANGUAGE RIGHTS IN LITHUANIA: CONTRASTING CASES OF POLISH AND RUSSIAN MINORITIES A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY YURY KATLIAROU IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE IN THE DEPARTMENT OF EURASIAN STUDIES JULY 2015 Approval of the Graduate School of Social Sciences Prof. Dr. Meliha Altunışık Director I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Master of Science. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pınar Akçalı Head of Department This is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Science. Prof. Dr. Ayşegül Aydıngün Supervisor Examining Committee Members Prof. Dr. Süer Eker (BAŞKENT, TLL) Prof. Dr. Ayşegül Aydıngün (METU, SOC) Assist. Prof. Dr. Işık Kuşçu Bonnenfant (METU, IR) LAGIARISM I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Last name: YURY KATLIAROU Signature: iii ABSTRACT LANGUAGE CONFLICT AND CLAIMS FOR THE EXPANSION OF LANGUAGE RIGHTS IN LITHUANIA: CONTRASTING CASES OF POLISH AND RUSSIAN MINORITIES Katliarou, Yury M.S., Department of Eurasian Studies Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Ayşegül Aydıngün July 2015, 180 pages This thesis studies the reasons for the differences in the attitudes of Polish and Russian minorities in regards to language policy in Lithuania within the context of the multitude of relations between language and ethnic identity. The Polish minority makes claims for the expansion of language rights, whereas the Russian minority does not demonstrate support for such claims. In this thesis, the Lithuanian national language rights framework, the attitudes of the majority community (the Lithuanians) towards minority languages, the characteristics of the two minorities (the Poles and the Russians) and their approaches towards their languages are examined with a comparative perspective. The research is based on qualitative data obtained during the fieldwork carried out in Lithuania. Research findings demonstrate that the current language conflict in Lithuania is essentially a Polish-Lithuanian conflict over the recognition of the Polish ethnolinguistic identity within the Lithuanian nation-state. Respectively, it is reflected in status- related claims regarding the transformation of the existing national language rights framework. Key words: Lithuania, ethnic identity, language, ethnic minorities, language rights iv ÖZ LİTVANYA'DA DİL ÇATIŞMASI VE DİL HAKLARININ GENİŞLETİLMESİ İÇİN TALEPLER: POLONYALI (LEH) VE RUS AZINLIKLARIN ÇELİŞEN ÖRNEKLERİ Katliarou, Yury Yüksek Lisans, Avrasya Çalışmaları Tez Yöneticisi: Prof. Dr. Ayşegül Aydıngün Temmuz 2015, 180 sayfa Bu tez, dil ve etnik kimlik arasındaki ilişkilerin çeşitliliği bağlamında, Litvanya'daki Polonyalı (Leh) ve Rus azınlıkların devletin dil politikasına karşı tutumlarındaki farklılıkların nedenlerini incelemektedir. Leh azınlık dil haklarının genişletilmesi için taleplerini ortaya koyarken Rus azınlık bu tür taleplere destek vermemektedir. Bu tezde, Litvanya’daki ulusal dil hakları çerçevesi, çoğunlukta olan topluluğun (Litvanlar) azınlık dillerine ilişkin tutumu, iki azınlık grubunun (Lehler ve Ruslar) özellikleri ve dillerinine ilişkin yaklaşımları karşılaştırmalı olarak incelenmiştir. Bu tez Litvanya’da gerçekleştirilmiş olan saha araştırmasında elde edilmiş olan nitel verilere dayanmaktadır. Araştırmanın sonuçları günümüzde Litvanya'da dil çatışmasının esasen Lehler ve Litvanlar arasında olduğunu ve bunun, Lehlerin, Litvanya ulus-devletinin kendi etnolingistik kimliklerini tanımasını talep etmesinden kaynaklandığını göstermektedir. Dolayısıyla, söz konusu çatışma, dil kullanımından daha çok dil grubunun ve onun dilinin sembolik statüsü ile ilgili talepler bağlamında söz konusu olmaktadır. Anahtar Kelimeler: Litvanya, etnik kimlik, dil, etnik azınlıklar, dil hakları v DEDICATION To My Grandfather vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor Prof. Dr. Ayşegül Aydıngün for her overall guidance, valuable comments and suggestions in the course of the research, as well as for her optimism, moral support and encouragement. Also, I would like to thank my examining committee members – Prof. Dr. Süer Eker and Assist. Prof. Dr. Işık Kuşçu Bonnenfant. I am thankful to my friends – Viktoriia Demydova, Yuliia Biletska, Merve Hazer Yiğit, Siavil Alieyeva and others – for their support and valuable pieces of advice. My special thanks go to my friends and former colleagues – Zeynep Gayran, who was an enormous help when preparing the Turkish summary of the thesis, and Sarah Mills, who helped me with editing. I am grateful to the family of Mickevičiai for hosting me during the field research. Finally, I want to thank my parents and my beloved sister for constantly encouraging and supporting me since the beginning of my graduate studies. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS PLAGIARISM ........................................................................................................ iii ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................... iv ÖZ ............................................................................................................................ v DEDICATION ........................................................................................................ vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ..................................................................................... vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ..................................................................................... viii LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................. xii LIST OF FIGURES .............................................................................................. xiii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................ 1 1.1. Introducing the Field ............................................................................. 1 1.1.1 Lithuanian Majority ....................................................................... 2 1.1.2 Polish Minority .............................................................................. 4 1.1.3 Russian Minority ........................................................................... 5 1.2. Introducing the Study ............................................................................ 6 1.3. Methodology ....................................................................................... 12 1.4. Organization of the Thesis .................................................................. 14 2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK OF THE RESEARCH .............................. 15 2.1 Linguistic Component of Ethnicity ..................................................... 15 2.1.1 Approaches to Ethnicity .............................................................. 15 2.1.2 Language and Ethnic Identity ...................................................... 19 2.1.3 Functions of Language ................................................................ 25 2.2. Nation-State and Language ................................................................. 28 viii 2.2.1 Nation, Nationalism and Nation-State ......................................... 28 2.2.2 Language in a Nation-State ......................................................... 31 2.2.3 Education ..................................................................................... 34 2.3. Language Rights and Conflicts, Involving a Linguistic Dimension ... 36 2.3.1 Notion of Language Rights .......................................................... 36 2.3.2 Approaches to Language Rights Regimes ................................... 39 2.3.3 Language Conflicts ...................................................................... 43 2.4. Conclusion: Framework for Case Study ............................................. 47 3. NATIONAL LANGUAGE RIGHTS REGIME IN LITHUANIA ................. 52 3.1. International Legislation ..................................................................... 52 3.1.1 United Nations Organization ....................................................... 52 3.1.2 Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) . 55 3.1.3 Council of Europe ........................................................................ 55 3.1.4 European Union ........................................................................... 59 3.1.5 Bilateral Agreement with Poland ................................................ 60 3.2. National Legislation ............................................................................ 61 3.2.1 Constitutional Provisions and Law on State Language ............... 61 3.2.2 Spelling of Personal Names ......................................................... 64 3.2.3 Legislation on Education ............................................................. 64 3.2.4 Law on Ethnic Minorities ............................................................ 66 3.3. Language Rights Framework and the Areas of Language Conflict .... 69 4. ATTITUDES OF THE MAJORITY COMMUNITY ....................................