Language as a Sword: As the Soviet Empire Used to Say. By Yevgeniya Kuznetsova

This book is an attempt to answer the question: Why is our relationship with languages the way it is? Why are there still people today who are ashamed to speak the language of their parents or grandparents? Why do we sometimes feel ashamed of our native dialects? Why do some of us still believe that language is a neutral thing in itself, and that not knowing the language of one’s own country is normal? Why are so many languages dying out in modern-day Russia right now? Why does one language seem superior to some, while another seems inferior? Language as a Sword describes the linguistic reality of the USSR in a hundred short chapters. You can start reading the book from any chapter. This is a popular science book for a wide audience about linguistic relations against the backdrop of the Soviet era.

Language as a Sword is not a call to arm oneself with language as a sword. This book describes how Russian became a sword in the Soviet Union. In the struggle against empires, one’s native language must become a shield.