Obo vsem po nemnozhku

[John Dunn]

Perhaps I can dispel the gloom of a dreich Saturday afternoon by adding my two pence worth to three (or four) threads that have enlivened the list during my time zone's hours of slumber. 

1. Standards:

I have been arguing for some time (and apologies to those who've heard me say this before) that the post-modern period is characterised by the creation of post-standard languages.  What this in effect means is for Russian, as for other European languages, the former rigid boundary between standard and sub-standard (or non-standard) varieties is being broken down in a spirit of greater linguistic inclusivity.  The result is that the previous system of a single standard, obligatory in all circumstances, is being replaced by a complex system of contextually determined micro-standards. This does not lead, as Tatyana Buzina understandably fears, to a Humpty Dumpty-like situation, since the micro-standards depend on conventions of mutual acceptability, but it does impose, especially on more sophisticated users of a language, a requirement of greater linguistic adaptability.

2. Opera

Though it would seem that my aspirations to rise to the ranks of the upper classses have been finally dashed, I would go to see an opera, though if it's a concert, then I neither see nor hear, but listen to it. There is another linguistic oddity about opera: the person responsible for the staging and the non-musical aspects of a production is a producer, not a director.  What term is used in Russian?  

3. Dissertations:

Perhaps the comprehensively learned Professor Tishkov had in mind the notorious 'dodgy dossier' that the British government used in support of the case for military action in Iraq and which was indeed found to have been put together out of scraps from someone's doctoral thesis.
 
4. Margaret Thatcher (if we have to):

Since she was born in Grantham, she would have had an East Midlands, rather than a northern accent.  In a sense she demonstrates the thesis I put forward in Point 1: to become leader of the Conservative Party she had to conform to the traditional standard of pronunciation; her successors, John Major and William Hague, reached the same position while retaining their regional pronunciation.  And before anyone tells me, I know the parallel doesn't work for Russian!

Enjoy the rest of the week-end.

John Dunn.


   
John Dunn
SMLC (Slavonic Studies)
University of Glasgow
Hetheringon Building
Bute Gardens
Glasgow G12 8RS
U.K.

Tel.: +44 (0)141 330 5591
Fax: +44 (0)141 330 2297
e-mail: J.Dunn at slavonic.arts.gla.ac.uk

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