Russian writers have long been accorded a special role in the context of the language question. Not only have the classics of Russian literature served as models in standard language education and maintenance, but there has also been a tradition of collecting and publishing statements by professional writers on linguistic matters, often entitled Pisateli o iazyke (Writers on language) (Dokusov 1954; Levin and Tomashevskii 1954; Bondareva and Latynina 1974; Nikolina 2000, 2012). Against the background of this historical tradition, this chapter proposes an analysis of statements by post-Soviet Russian writers on the language question. I will give an overview of the main tendencies in the writers’ opinions and try to determine whether, as a group, they give special emphasis to particular aspects; here, the current debates on the linguistic situation in Russia provide the backdrop. Furthermore, I will discuss the views of the writers on their own role and status with regard to the language question, expressed explicitly through their statements, or implicitly through their way of expressing their views.

PISATELI O IAZYKE: THE FRAMEWORK FOR DISCUSSION

As professional language practitioners or ‘super users’ of language, writers are regularly invited to express their opinions on the language question. Let us take a quick, socioliterary glance at the character of the various forums and selection of contributors. This chapter will analyse material from the 2000s, a period when the language debates turned from celebrating or condemning linguistic democratisation and variation to suggesting and debating policies, target programmes and language legislation. It draws on four main sources: the volume Besedy liubitelei russkogo slova: pisateli o iazyke (Symposia of the Lovers of the Russian Word: Writers on Language, Bogdanov et al. 2004a); a topical section in the journal Otechestvennye zapiski entitled ‘Pisateli o iazyke’ (‘Pisateli o iazyke’ 2005); a section entitled ‘Iazyk nash svoboden’ (‘Our language is free’), which includes a panel of writers responding to particular questions inspired by an article series on Rodnaia rech’ (‘The mother tongue’) featured in 2006 issues of the journal Znamia (Amelin et al. 2006); and a round table on ‘Iazyk kak glavnyi geroi’ (‘The language as main hero’) published in Znamia 7–8, 2007 (Dmitriev et al. 2007). All these forums are quite formal and the writers participate by way of invitation.