Linguistic and Cognitive Aspects of Self-Identity of Russian Germans: by Questionnaires and Depth Interviews Data

Abstract

The question of ethno-cultural identity of contemporary ethnic Germans living on the territory of Republic of Tatarstan, Udmurt Republic and Kazakhstan and repatriated to Germany is raised. The article is a description of a two-year research work of the authors in the collection of empirical material, that is able to provide analytical and statistical data obtained as a result of a linguistic experiment based on the questionnaires and interviews. The research urgency is caused by the phenomenon of “Russian Germans” itself (they are representatives of two distinctive ethnic cultures). The specificity of their linguistic and ethno-cultural self-presentation and identity was studied. The study of the ethnic Russian Germans can be considered as a contribution to the study of the capacity for integration. Scientific novelty consists in the fact that this finding is intended to reveal the cultural and linguistic characteristics (involving linguistic and extralinguistic information) of Russian Germans and to answer the main research question: if the modern representatives of ethnic Germans are the “capsule” or “open” community. Special attention in the article the authors also give to identification of differences between Russian Germans from Kazakhstan and those of the Russian Federation (on the example of two republics). In addition, the so-called “Kazakh-German,” “Russian-German,” “Tatar-German” cultural and language areas are revealed in the migrant communities mostly of the 3rd, 4th, 5th and later generations.

Keywords

• russian germans
• ethnolinguistic identity
• language
• ethnic group
• migration
• republic of tatarstan
• udmurt republic
• kazakhstan
• germany