Alphabet globalizers. Latin alphabet as an ideological weapon of the West
In recent years, in Russia and some neighboring countries, on the wave of the translation of the national languages of the former Soviet republics into the Latin alphabet, the discussion about the transition of the Russian language to the Latin alphabet has resumed (quite seriously). The advocates of such a transition, highly titled in Russian philological science, argue that globalization and the computerization of our life have reached such a level that as a result, in the current century, Russian writing will switch to the Latin alphabet. The Cyrillic alphabet is supposedly outdated and exhausted and cannot meet the “standards” of globalization processes.Recall, after 1945, with the formation of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in the Serbian language, along with the Cyrillic alphabet, traditional for the Orthodox people, the Latin script became widely used (and it began to creep quietly into the Serbian language space with 1915). One of the reasons, obviously, is that the language became quite officially called Serbo-Croatian (although under this name it already appeared in the 19th century: Djura Danićic, the successor of Vuk Karadzic’s case, unfortunately, agreed with the Croatian linguists that the common language of Serbs and Croats may be called “Croatian or Serbian”, and since the end of the 19th century in Croatia, thanks to, inter alia, academician Yagic, they officially began to use Serbian as a literary language, but called it Croatian or Croatian-Serbian). Croats, being Catholics, traditionally used Latin. However, it is worth noting that the Croatian area of distribution of the Serbian language (for the Croats simply borrowed the Serbian language) Cyrillic innovations did not affect at all.
Be that as it may, in these circumstances it is impossible not to see the cultural and ideological diversion of the communists Josip Broz Tito and the Vatican, directed against the self-consciousness and customs of the Serbian people, to the shattering of the Serbian nation.
Nowadays, even after the collapse of Yugoslavia, the separation of Croatia and the constitution of its own “Croatian language”, when, it would seem, Serbia should strictly adhere to its Cyrillic alphabet, the use of the Latin alphabet for the Serbian language is gaining truly menacing proportions. Cultural Serbs, of course, come out in defense of their historically established writing, national traditions, for in preserving them they rightly see the pledge of the future of their people. I remember that the outstanding Serbian academician Pavel Ivic back in 1992 published an article in the popular Serbian newspaper Politika entitled Cyrillic - the most perfect alphabet in Europe. So said a man brilliantly oriented and in historical, and in modern descriptive structural linguistics. And according to academician O.N. Trubacheva, “the old unsigned Latin is too miserable to convey the real multitude of alphabetic characters of modern languages. The Latin here does not withstand the rivalry with the Cyrillic alphabet. It simply fails ... all the Western languages, including the Western Slavic languages, which have switched to the Latin script since ancient times, are forced to develop their Latin variants, either with diacritics, or by combining different letters, as in English, German or Polish ” . In addition, it is useful to remember that the Latin itself, which arose from West Greek writing, is secondary in European space.
Meanwhile, the Serbian media (newspapers, magazines, web pages) seem to maliciously insist on using Latin for the Serbian language. Thus, in the cultural field of Serbia there is an obvious struggle for the preservation of national identity, for the purity of not only the language, but also for the salvation of its own alphabet - the Cyrillic alphabet.
After all, the alphabet is the same symbol of statehood as a coat of arms, anthem, flag. The alphabet is the shrine of sovereign meaning.
For Russia, this problem is not so acute. However, at the “round table” devoted to the problems of the current state of the Russian language and its use in the information space, which took place on 6 in June of this year in the State Duma of the Russian Federation, the question of using the Latin alphabet in the Russian cultural field is still sounded. In particular, an abundance of various advertisements was noted, either in English or using a completely inappropriate Latin alphabet. For example, the chairman of the Duma Education Committee, Professor V. A. Nikonov, said: “... I have a feeling that the Latin alphabet is very active in our country, especially if you are going and watching billboards, there are a lot of words in Latin , although the law on the Russian language explicitly states that the language of advertising is Russian. Nevertheless, even the names of, say, housing complexes like "Spring" or "Promenade" are trying to write in Latin. And I found the most wonderful advertisement on the advertising stand where MosOblReklama was written in Latin letters, although it would seem that the organization had to comply with the law on language. ”
There are also more crafty variants, when one or another letters from the Latin alphabet are inserted into Russian words (a kind of language game, pun). According to the meaning of the word, the reader naturally realizes what kind of letter it is. Thus, we seem to be inconspicuously taught to another tradition, to someone else's letter, and through this, to an alien understanding.
“Very often one can observe the Latin spelling of foreign words that create the onomastic space of the city,” notes L.K. Mullagalieva, - for example: the fast-food chain “Zakucity”, the building materials store “Elephant”, automobile salons Chevrolet, Hyundai, Renault, FORD, Honda, etc .; clothing stores OGGI, Collins, Sela, Savage and others; cosmetics stores Nivea, Kiki, Marko; Shoe stores Super style, Belvest, etc. Here, the spelling of the word in Latin either conveys a registered trademark or pursues advertising purposes, since the “foreign face” of the word attracts the client more than what is written in native Cyrillic. Thus, it is not “Vegetables” that are born, but “La Kapusta”, not “Shoes”, but “Valenok International”, not “Clothes”, but “Telo-Greika”. ” Examples, frankly, monstrous, they give some kind of deaf provincial illiteracy ...
But other opinions are heard in our country. Say, if Russia wants to join the world community, then we supposedly need to bring its alphabet "in compliance" with the requirements of the "masters of the world." There are a lot of supporters of such an assessment of the Cyrillic alphabet among philologists and politicians alike.
In particular, S.A. Arutyunov, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in an interview with Nezavisimaya Gazeta, stated that “a universal transition to the Latin alphabet is an indispensable civilizational requirement of global processes of globalization.”
Cyrillic has become obsolete even for Slavic languages, Arutyunov claimed (as this recalls the Bolshevik itch of academician NF Yakovlev!). And the most important obstacle, according to him, is the idea of Russian great power. The idea of some peculiarity of Russia, the peculiarity of the Russian path, Eurasianism and so on. Russia must integrate into Europe. And one of the necessary conditions for this is the translation of the written language of all the peoples of Russia into the Latin alphabet. There was an example in history when Kievan Rus, after the adoption of Christianity and the emergence of the Cyrillic alphabet, made a powerful leap in cultural and economic development. And now, according to Arutyunov, "the same decisive step must be taken." We note here that, at least before the economic and political breakthrough, after the adoption of Christianity by Russia, and with it the Cyrillic letter, it was still oh how far. "Jerk" took place only in the Moscow era. As for the “cultural breakthrough” with the adoption of the Latin alphabet, here, as they say, the sentence is “below the belt”, not even mentioning the break with the thousand-year tradition of Russian spirituality, literature, and precious monuments of our culture. Such “jerks” will simply reduce future generations to a kind of dumb herd. In a word, this position is clearly Russophobic.
A whole series of Russian scientists (V. Alpatov, J. Kesler, O. Trubachev, V. Gusev, V. Kostomarov) rightly perceived this barbarous sentence with hostility. Such “poverty is offered to all of our Russian language,” wrote Academician O.N. Trubachev, - to our Cyrillic letter, its more than thousand-year tradition, which we can be proud of, as Nikolai Sergeevich Trubetskoy did. The foreign Russian scholar Prince Trubetskoy, speaking of the origins of our written language, certainly pointed to his ancient Church Slavonic fundamental principle. And it originates in Cyril and Methodius times, in the middle of the ninth century. Count, already, means, the twelfth century, as this alphabet with us. And what, we will ignore all this for the sake of it is not clear what? For the sake of some globalization, which is also unclear what carries with it? That is, in these hastily formulated words and theses, I would like to show that there is still a difference between an abstract and very inedible Latin and an infinite number of national Latin characters that have long or very recently been painfully adapted to a particular European or even non-European language. if we remember Turkish. It is clear that we will go along a different road, and not through such an irresponsible experiment, no matter how we are led into it. ”
And the famous writer Yu.M. Loschits very wittily remarked on this: “... the alphabetic globalizers attempt to devour, as much, all Russian literature in the vast space from Metropolitan Hilarion and Avakum to Pushkin, Dostoevsky, Sholokhov and Valentin Rasputin. But it is curious how the same Arutyunov will manage at least with “War and Peace”, where the author specifically and abundantly introduced French and German speech in the Latin script - and not at all from the intention to “lend to the world behind the scenes”. On Tolstoy alone, such globalizers break off their teeth. ”
Of course, this offer was perceived by our cultural community as a manifestation of some wildness. However, the test stone was abandoned. Let us quote once again Academician Trubachev: “Yes, in all these encroachments, both stated out loud and, it seems, stored up for a more convenient moment, some kind of deadly disrespect for the great cultural traditions of Orthodox Slavs and peoples who have acquired writing relatively recently or completely recently - on the basis of the same our hard-working and generous Cyrillic. That is, the worst version of globalization, if this is it and if this is one of its manifestations, it would be difficult to think of it. I can responsibly say that all this leisure talk about the advantages of the Latin alphabet and its perfection is nothing more than a new cultural one, and more correctly to say, an anti-cultural myth. Globalization, not having yet clearly defined its true intentions on the world stage, is already turning into a massive deception and myth-making. ”
It is known that not only Tatar, Uzbek languages (now there is a debate about Kazakh), but also Moldavian (the language of the Orthodox people) have in recent years switched to the Latin alphabet. The same trends have emerged in Bulgaria. That is, the Cyrillic space on the world map is clearly and deliberately narrowed. It is clear that the peoples professing Islam, this initiative leads further away from their traditions, well, and the Orthodox, without a twist, lead along the ecumenical path, closer to the Vatican. Or all together lead to the global "American", the vulgar version of the language of English? Consumer goods are full of various foreign inscriptions, mainly in modern English, the Internet is actively used all sorts of Anglo-American jargon. In schools, hours of studying Russian are reduced, the ugly and ugly unified state examination rules. The result is more than pitiable: rarely anyone from the younger generation can intelligibly express their thoughts in their native “great and powerful” ... In recent years, the spread of disgusting graffiti under the guise of “street art” with its aggressive Latin (here it is necessary to take into account the power of visual perception) really, it seems, creates a real threat to our Cyrillic in the mass consciousness, especially the youth; but, perhaps, with respect to the invasion of the Russian letter of the Latin alphabet, everyone is ahead of the Network, in which Russian words are transliterated in Latin script due to the imperfection of computer coding.
At the same time, the Russian language and the Slavic alphabet, being the most important factors of ethnic identity, to a certain extent preserve the integrity of the Russian people. The same is claimed by Serbian scholars about the Serbian language and its Cyrillic alphabet in relation to its people.
At the time, V.L. Tsymbursky rightly noted: “No matter how far cultural-style rapprochement of Russia with Euro-Atlantic may go, all the same on key indicators (character of sacral vertical, basic ethnicity, reference area and, finally, type of letter) on lands“ from Dublin to Vladivostok ” there are two civilization complex. By its northern Orthodoxy, experienced, but not obsolete by Bolshevism, “Russianness” and Cyrillic, Russia is a congregation that will oppose the formal indicators of the core of the West. ” The scientist introduced Cyrillic writing among the main identifying features of the “civilization complex”, the center of which is Russia. Serbia historically (especially after the fall of Byzantium) is precisely to the Russian Orthodox civilization. The active, especially in the last twenty years, romanization of the Serbian letter just points to the very “course towards Europe” about which in the Republic recently, and in connection with the problem of Kosovo and Metohija, there are heated debates. Serbs are offered in exchange for recognizing the “independence” of Kosmet to become (in a distant misty prospect, for so far only the issue of starting negotiations on this issue is being discussed) as a member of the European Union, but, as it seems, the quintessence of this crafty offer is in fact just a proposal to abandon its national identity, their identity, faith, traditions, writing, and later ... language, that is, from themselves, to turn into nothing, to disappear from the ethnographic and political map of the world, as broadcast unforgettable classics ki of Marxism (a series of articles about the revolution 1848 and the struggle in Austria-Hungary).
Demonizing the Slavs, first of all Russians and Serbs, Engels, in particular, condemned the Slavs for "lack of culture". He called the Southern Slavs "wreckage of peoples" and claimed that they had discovered their "reactionary character" long before 1848, heralded an uprising of the "French proletariat" and "a general war that would then break out, dispel this Slavic Sonderbund and erase from the earth even the name of these stubborn little nations. In the next world war, the classic prophet concluded, not only reactionary classes and dynasties, but entire reactionary peoples would disappear from the face of the earth. (i.e. Slavs. —N.M.) And this too will be progress ”(see F. Engels. Wrestling in Hungary // Marx K., Engels F. Coll. cit. in 50 t. M., 1955 -1981. T. 6. C. 175). No more, no less!
So, in the Serbian cultural space, as mentioned above, the problem of using the Latin alphabet specifically for the Serbian language in our day has become particularly acute. We add only that the Latinization of the Slavic (Serbian / Russian) letter seems to be one of the tools of the information-psychological occupation of the Euro-Atlantic civilization of the Eastern European Orthodox world.
We offer to get acquainted, for the edification of the Russian reader, with a fresh article by Vladislav Djordjevic, Chairman of the Board of the Society for the Protection of Serbian Cyrillic Cyrillic (Cyrillic), answering the question of why the Cyrillic people should be kept by all of us, Orthodox people. Some provisions of this article sound quite relevant for the Russian language.
Vladislav Djordjevic
About the reasons for Cyrillic preference
(Nova srpska politica Misao, July 20 2013, http://www.nspm.rs/kulturna-politika/razlozi-za-cirilicu.html)
The reasons for the exclusive use of Cyrillic writing are numerous .. The main essence of aesthetic, linguistic, purist, historical, cultural, religious, ethical, spiritual, national, legal, political, psychological, pedagogical, sociological, economic, commercial and tourist.
1. Aesthetic. It is generally believed that Cyrillic is a more beautiful calligraphic letter. Replacing it with a less elegant Latin means a lack of aesthetic taste.
2. Linguistic. Croatian Latin has three digrams, or digraphs, or two-letter signs (dž, lj, nj), as well as four letters with accents (č, ć, š, ž). There are no such letters in Cyrillic. Cyrillic is thus a more beautiful and functional letter.
3. Purist The use of Cyrillic writing on a subconscious level limits the use of foreign words (borrowing). Using the same Latin accelerates their penetration into the Serbian language. Care about the purity of the Serbian language dictates the use of Cyrillic writing.
4. Historical. Serbs, including our Slavic ancestors, wrote using different alphabets: verb, Cyrillic, Arabic and Latin. The verb long ago gave way to simpler Cyrillic. Arabic ligature was common among the Serbs of the Muslim faith. Latin up to the middle of the 20th century was mainly used by Catholic Serbs. From the middle of the 20th century, under the influence of communism, it spread among Orthodox Serbs.
Contrary to these changes and deviations, the Cyrillic alphabet was and remains, in fact, the only letter of the Orthodox Serbs.
5. Cultural. Dr. Pyotr Milosavљevich in his book “Writing Serbs” (2006) writes in detail about the letter of Lepensky Vir and Vincansky letter and thus causes confusion. Although the study of these scripts is useful and worthy of attention, to include them in the tradition of "Serbian writing" is completely wrong. The fact that the traces of these scripts are on the territory of the present-day Republic of Serbia does not at all indicate their etiological connection with either the Serbs or the state of Serbia. These prehistoric writings belong to the cultural heritage of all of Europe and the world, and not just Serbia. Even worse, the author in the number of "Serbian letters" includes "Velesovica", the letter of the "Book of Veles", although this is a proven fake.
Contrary to these "dark" writings, the Cyrillic alphabet (Old Slavonic, Serb Slavonic, Russian Slavonic, Slavic Serb, Wukowska) was and remains a clear and integral part of the culture of the Serbian people.
6. Religious. The letter of the Catholic Slavs is Latin. It is used by Slavic Catholics: Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Slovenes and Croats. The letter of the Orthodox Slavs is Cyrillic. It is used or should have been used by Orthodox Slavs: Russians, Belarusians, Ukrainians, Bulgarians, Macedonians and Serbs. The widespread use of the Latin alphabet among the Serbs is evidence of our serious national and religious deviation.
7. Ethical. The appearance of the Cyrillic alphabet is associated with the missionary activity of St.. Solun brothers: of sv. Cyril (Constantine the Philosopher) and his brother of sv. Methodius And today the Cyrillic alphabet is exclusively a letter of the Orthodox Church. It is the use of the Cyrillic alphabet that binds us, albeit unconsciously, with Orthodox ethics.
8. Spiritual. Cyrillic - the holy letter of the Orthodox Slavs. The Old Slavonic alphabet represents a certain form of religion (“Az Buki Vedi ...”). Therefore, the use of the Cyrillic alphabet is a confession of faith and emphasizes the spiritual significance of writing.
9. National. Serbs, Croats and Bosnians (Muslim Serbs) speak the same language, which historical philology calls Serbian. But these three Slavic branches differ in religion. Since the basic differentia specifica between them is religion, it means that the Cyrillic alphabet, being exclusively a letter of the Orthodox tradition, should be a letter only to the Serbs.
10. Pravovye. Considering and recognizing the cultural, historical and national-state significance of the Cyrillic alphabet, the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia (paragraph 10) recalls that in the official and official correspondence in the Republic of Serbia the “Serbian language and Cyrillic letter” is used. This constitutional provision is mandatory for all.
And international institutions recognize that the Cyrillic alphabet is the only Serbian alphabet. According to the UNESCO classification, the Cyrillic alphabet Vuk Karadzic is the Serbian alphabet, and the Latin alphabet is the Croatian.
11. Political. Cyrillic use is a dimension of our national self, unity and sovereignty. The wide spread of Latin in Serbia indicates the weakness of the Serbian national consciousness and the Serbian state.
12. Psychological. The use of two alphabets creates a feeling of instability and duality. Using one Cyrillic alphabet, on the contrary, creates a sense of reliability and integrity.
13. Pedagogical. Students in Serbian schools, in the Serbian language lessons, learn two alphabets, which, both to themselves and their teachers, creates many problems. Teaching two alphabets is a kind of pedagogical entropy - loss of time and energy.
Duality of language (in one language) harms adolescents, as they become unsure of the correct spelling of words — often they mix up the Cyrillic alphabet and the Latin alphabet. And you can not blame them for that. The school education system is to blame, which creates this uncertainty in young people. You can often see graffiti, including nationalistic content, in which both letters are mixed. This all would have disappeared if the schools switched exclusively to the study of the Cyrillic alphabet.
14. Sociological. The use of two alphabets in one national building leads to unpleasant conflicts. In a normal state, associations like “Cyrillic” would not be needed, since it would by itself mean that one people has a single script. In terms of the use of one alphabet, neither articles, nor books, nor television programs or other forms of cultural engagement in favor of one or another letter would be necessary. Other nations that have decided the question of writing in a natural, natural way - that is, by using one alphabet, can use their strength in a different cultural and linguistic activity. We, unfortunately, are in a situation where we are still struggling with the most basic problem - the problem of the alphabet. Social cohesion and cultural progress would ensure adherence to just one alphabet.
15. Economic. Writing texts of documents in two alphabets, which is often found today in business correspondence, is a waste of time and energy. Doubling is uneconomical and is an economic ballast.
16. Trading. Vuk Karadzic’s Cyrillic alphabet is a peculiar Serbian specificity - something that is inherent only to the Serbian people. Supporting the Serbian self, it also has great commercial value.
17. Tourist. The exclusive use of the Cyrillic alphabet can attract foreigners to Serbia. Our love and devotion to the Cyrillic alphabet can be the best advertisement for tourists.
The idea that the Latin will attract more tourists to us is completely mistaken. The Greeks jealously guard their national letter and alphabet, and therefore do not have a shortage of visitors. This kind of zealous defense of one's own culture and alphabet is in fact what can attract foreigners to Serbia.
Conclusion Probably, there are other reasons for using Cyrillic in Serbian, but it also seems to be enough to conclude: the exclusive use of Cyrillic has a scientific basis and brings public benefit.
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