On the Forms of Organization of the Linguistic Reality of the Civilizational «Borderlands»: Latin America, Iberian Europe and Russia Compared

Abstract

According to the concept of the author of the article, the forms of organization of the linguistic cosmos of Latin America, Iberian Europe and Russia are determined by the essential characteristics of the «borderline» civilizational type: the way of constructing the dialogic fabric of sociality, based on «inclusive» discourse and the dominant diversity determined by it (with the paradoxical preservation of the unity sui generis that corresponds to this dominant). The author identifies two forms of organization of the linguistic reality of the civilizational «borderlands»: linguistic variation and linguistic union. Stating that both of them are (each of them in its own way) an expression of the general civilizational dominant of diversity (and, accordingly, «inclusive» discourse), Ya.G. Shemyakin came to the conclusion that these forms not only do not exclude, but, on the contrary, mutually determine each other. Based on the original understanding of this term by N.S. Trubetzkoy, the author identifies a number of features that characterize a language union as a special sociocultural phenomenon, and proves, based on numerous examples and the results of the colleagues’ research, that all these signs (as well as the interdependence of language variation and the process of forming a language union) are found in Latin America, in Russia, and in Iberian Europe.

Keywords

• «border» civilization
• «classical» civilization
• «inclusive» discourse
• «exclusive» discourse
• dominant diversity
• linguistic variation
• linguistic union