Tiuremno-blatnaya lirika [SEC=PERSONAL]

[John Dunn]

Two points, if I may.

1.  I, too, would expect 'real' criminals to update their jargon, but has anyone noticed this actually happening?  

2. I am not sure that I entirely agree that in this context association and dissociation are more or less the same thing, but my point was rather different, namely that other forms of corporate slang lack the dissociative element present in Russian zhargon.

John Dunn. 

-----Original Message-----
From: Elena Ostrovskaya <elena.ostrovskaya at GMAIL.COM>
To: SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu
Date: Tue, 15 Sep 2009 18:33:08 +0400
Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] Tiuremno-blatnaya lirika [SEC=PERSONAL]

Definitely it had to change a lot, and so it did. The thing is, the criminal
world has changed dramatically in the last 20 years: the crimes, the people,
the values  - everything. The language just had to follow.


This is not a new issue, and Russian criminals need not reinvent the wheel.
> Exclusive groups throughout history have continually updated their jargon as
> older versions leak out into the general public, and I expect "real"
> criminals in Russia will continue to devise new jargon to maintain the
> separation, just as real rappers and real ballplayers and real academics do
> here. ;-)
>


As for association and dissociation, I am afraid it is more or less the same
kind of thing. People did not show their un-Soviet-ness (sorry for the
strange coinage) by using a new language / dialect every time and thus
dissociating from the Soviet authorities. The showed it by using the
language of a particular social group and thus associating themselves with
it. At least, this is how I see it.

Elena Ostrovskaya.

>
>

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
  options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
                    http://seelangs.home.comcast.net/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------


John Dunn
Honorary Research Fellow, SMLC (Slavonic Studies)
University of Glasgow, Scotland

Address:
Via Carolina Coronedi Berti 6
40137 Bologna
Italy
Tel.: +39 051/1889 8661
e-mail: J.Dunn at slavonic.arts.gla.ac.uk
johnanthony.dunn at fastwebnet.it

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
  options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
                    http://seelangs.home.comcast.net/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------