Media Language and Culture in Modern Russia

Rapid changes in the social and political arenas have had a significant impact on the language of Russian media and on their linguistic identity since the collapse of the Soviet Union. This course will explore various aspects of language culture in the Russian media space and the ways in which language fixes innovations and mirrors changes in the society. Questions to be examined include: what is the norm in contemporary Russian? What linguistic ideologies and strategies do we find in various media sources? How are texts encoded? Students will read and analyze various media sources including online newspapers (vedomosti.ru, gazeta.ru, novayagazeta.ru, grani.ru, etc.). Students will practice in interpreting and examining readings and participate in the discussion of the texts assigned for reading. They will prepare written and oral assignments and write essays and short reports.