Key Indicators of Language Impact on Identity Formation in Belarus

Authors

Tony Brown

Keywords

language, cultural identity, relationship, spiritual life

Abstract

In 1986, a group of 28 intellectuals from Belarus wrote the following brief letter to then-General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev: “Language is the soul of a nation, the supreme manifestation of its cultural identity, the foundation of its true spiritual life. A nation lives and flourishes in history while its language lives. With the decline of the language, culture withers and atrophies, the nation ceases to exist as a historical organism” (Letters to Gorbachev, 1987).

Recommended Citation

Brown, Tony (2013) "Key Indicators of Language Impact on Identity Formation in Belarus," Russian Language Journal: Vol. 63: Iss. 1.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.70163/0036-0252.1148
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/rlj/vol63/iss1/14