More Russian language legislation...

[Harold F. Schiffman]

New York Times, February 9, 2003

How Do You Say 'Shut Up' in Russian?

By MICHAEL WINES

     MOSCOW Taking a leaf, perhaps, from the English-first movement in the
United States, Russia's dominant lower house of Parliament, known as the
Duma, passed legislation recently designating Russian as the nation's
official language. And why not? Talk about polyglot: depending on where
they live, Russians speak Svan, Laz, Kumyk, Dido, Olonets and scores of
other tongues. Russian, the Duma said, "is a language promotive of mutual
understanding, strengthening international ties between the peoples of the
Russian Federation as a single multinational state. In Russia, where the
collective urge is strong, that would have been uncontroversial enough.
But the proposed law went a step further.

"When using the Russian language as the state language," a final draft
states, "the use of colloquial, disparaging or obscene words and
expressions, as well as foreign words having Russian equivalents in common
use, is inadmissible." Enter Vladimir V. Zhirinovsky, the xenophobic,
voluble and frequently outrageous deputy speaker of the Duma. He professes
to be close to Saddam Hussein, and his Liberal Democratic Party promotes
Mr. Hussein and Russian oil interests in Iraq. The NTV television network
broadcast a grainy video of Mr. Zhirinovsky, shot in Baghdad last
September. In it, he takes the United States and President Bush to task.

For Mr. Zhirinovsky and the Duma, the tape could hardly have come at a
more awkward moment. Forget that the deputy speaker may have been somewhat
under the influence.  Mr. Zhirinovsky's scatological description of Mr.
Bush as an "(expletive deleted) cowboy" could hardly be "strengthening
international ties." Moreover, his portrayal of President Bill Clinton as
one of America's "damned (expletive deleted), (expletive deleted),
(expletive deleted), (expletive deleted) pederasts" would appear to breach
the Duma's proposed ban.

In Mr. Zhirinovsky's defense, none of his expletives are identifiably
foreign. Twenty-seven are one Russian slang word for "prostitute." A
number of others, referring to male genitalia, have no easy English
analogues. In the Duma, there has been talk of punishing Mr. Zhirinovsky.
One legislator urged his removal as deputy speaker. The ruling pro-Kremlin
party, represented by the woman who heads the Duma's ethics commission,
batted that down. For all his rhetorical flamboyance, Mr. Zhirinovsky and
his bloc are reliable backers of the established powers.

"I am sure that no one will actually cut down on their use of `taboo
words,' " said Sergei Mitrokhin, a member of the Western-style Yabloko
faction. "But if Duma members are seriously intent on penalizing those who
break this law, then the Duma ethics commission and incidentally, the
chairwoman who supported Vladimir Zhirinovsky today will have volumes of
evidence to consider."