Russian Actress Fined for Joke about Karels, a Nation Only One in 200 of Its Members under the Age of Nine Speaks Their Language

Paul Goble
    Staunton, Dec. 16 – Sometimes Muscovite efforts to make itself look better than it is regarding the treatment of non-Russian nationalities are the only times that just how repressive it really is comes to the attention of a broader audience. Such is the case with the Karels, the titular nationality of the Karelian Autonomous Republic.
    Earlier this fall, Russian actress Valeriya Lomakshina got in trouble with local officials when she suggested that the only place where anyone spoke Karel was from the stage at the republic theater. Even those in the audience, she said, needed translations into Russian. Now, she has apologized and fined 100 US dollars for her comment (nazaccent.ru/content/43286-sud-oshtrafoval-aktrisu-valeriyu-lomakinu-za-shutku-o-karelskom-yazyke/).
    As even the pro-Kremlin portal Nazaccent.ru notes, “the Karelian language is rare and at the brink of disappearing.” Only about 25,000 people in the Russian Federation speak it and most are elderly, with the media age of Karel speakers being 64. Most ominously for the future: only one in every 200 Karels under the age of nine knows the language.
    One of the reasons the Karel language is in so much difficulty is that Moscow refuses to allow it become the official language of the Karelian republic, the only republic in the Russian Federation whose titular nationality doesn’t have that status. The reason? Karelian is writing in Latin script, and Moscow requires that all official languages be written in Cyrillic script.