Narek Mkrtchyan
vol. VI(1)
Pages 106-119
Abstract
The article aims to analyze the role and influence of the language policy
of independent Kazakhstan on identity construction processes of the Kazakhs.
A language as a marker of ethnic identity emphasizes the boundaries
of the particular ethnic entity. In the wake of post-Soviet nation-building,
Nazarbayev's administration faced with challenges regarding the use of
native language in various spheres. This paper also develops the claim
that the marginalization of Kazakh’s language and ethnic identity is the
result of different historical processes carried out by Tsarist and Soviet
authorities. The paper also tries to examine the language policy of
independent Kazakhstan as a counter-hegemonic struggle aiming at overcome
the negativity derived directly from Russian colonial administrations. The
publicization of Kazakh language and transformation of the educational
system tend to provide a wide range of opportunities to establish the
hegemony of Kazakh identity or in other words to make Kazakhs first
among equals.
Keyword: Kazakh language, colonization, hegemony, kazakhization, nationbuilding.
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