Features of the Linguistic Identity of the Russian Population in Latvia

The aim of the article and the materials of the qualitative sociological research included in it was to show and analyze the extent to which the Russian population, as the largest ethnic minority in Latvia, needs the actualization of ethnocultural identity in the form of linguistic identity in the context of the reduction of the sociolinguistic functions of the Russian language in the public space of this country at the institutional level. The article presents materials from a sociological study of the opinions of 12 well-known representatives of Russian public organizations, education, science, culture, and journalism in Latvia. Among the respondents were 8 doctors of science, 7 teachers and researchers from three universities and research institutes professionally engaged in the study of Russian language and literature, 2 journalists and writers, 2 organizers of university life, 2 heads of Russian non-governmental organizations, one theater actor, and one teacher from a secondary school. Thus, the choice of respondents was determined by their connection with the most important spheres of public life in the country, which are most responsible for the reproduction of people’s linguistic identity. Their statements emphasized the indispensability of the Russian language and culture in understanding Latvian society and in strengthening internal social solidarity within the Russian minority, which actualizes the ethnocultural identity of this group precisely as a linguistic identity. At the same time, the linguistic identity of Russians is not an obstacle to openness to Latvian national values, to the Latvian language. The reason for the actualization of the linguistic identity of the Russian ethnic minority is that the representatives of this group see in their native language and the culture associated with it the most important intellectual, value and social resource that enriches their cultural and social capital. As a theoretical basis for the analysis, the author of the article resorts to theories of liberal multiculturalism, primarily to the sociology of Jurgen Habermas.