Suggestion that Russianization a Lesser Threat to Kazakh than Arabization Provokes Sjharp Discussion on Language and Identity in Kazakhstan

Paul Goble

            Staunton, July 6 – A Kazakh blogger’s post on TikTok suggesting that Russianization is a lesser threat to Kazakh language and identity than is Arabization and “the desire of part of society to imitate someone else’s culture” rather than to develop its own has provoked a sharp discussion involving thousands of people, according to the Altyn Orda portal.

            Traditionally, defenders of Kazakh have attacked the continuing influence of Russian in their country, but the blogger in his video post says that “the problem is not in Russification but in imitation” given “the desire of a part of society to adopt elements of Arab culture” rather than developing their own (altyn-orda.kz/glavnaya-ugroza-kazahskomu-yazyku-ne-russkij-a-arabizatsiya-virusnyj-rolik-vyzval-spory-v-kaznete/).

            Many Kazakhs are so interested in reducing the influence of Russian that they are quite happy to import words from other languages such as Arabic;” But that is a mistake because it distracts attention from the need to develop the Kazakh language and hence Kazakh identity as independent phenomena.

            Some of his critics suggest that the blogger is engaged in a covert defense of Russian  which they insist still must be fought because of its dominance in Soviet times, something that is now fading, while others welcome the import of Arabic words and expressions because they cement Kazakh society more closely to the Muslim world.