Urban Linguistics in Motion: A Comparative Analysis of Postcolonial Discourses in Yerevan and Tbilisi

Abstract

Linguistic postcolonialism is a research domain concerned with the interactions between languages and colonial legacies. Rooted in the postcolonial theory in literary analysis and the sociolinguistic branch of language studies, it applies their respective methodologies seeking cross-disciplinary outcomes. The following article delves into the postcolonial linguistic dynamics of the post-Soviet states of Armenia and Georgia. Such a scope allows the application of a comparative approach, highlighting individual components of the postcolonial linguistic context. Simultaneously, focused on two Transcaucasian republics sharing cultural, historical, and religious backgrounds, the essay secures enhanced sensitivity to nuance, beneficial to the accuracy of findings. Concerned with the socioeconomic phenomenon of colonialism, the essay postulates the applicability of the postcolonial framework to the post-Russo-Soviet sphere of influence. Seeking support in postcolonial research review, this paper identifies the prevailing ambiguity of findings attributed to the within-group heterogeneity, the outcome of strikingly different circumstances of Central Asian, East European, and Transcaucasian post-Soviet republics. Arguing for the coloniality of Armenia and Georgia’s Russo-Soviet-dominated past, this essay deems the trajectories of their linguistic development analogically colonial. Drawing on the research on Russo-Soviet language policy and planning, the essay identifies present-day societal bilingualism in titular languages and Russian as a Russo-Soviet colonial legacy. Its position on the Transcaucasian past determines the paper’s assessment of its present. Namely, it argues the postcoloniality of Armenia and Georgia’s circumstances, particularly their linguistic context. Consequently, it regards the region’s ongoing discourses as a platform for renegotiating their colonial legacies. Drawing from the author’s decade-long fieldwork in Transcaucasia, the essay examines the immediate influence of global events on language change across the two republics manifested in both linguistic and verbal landscapes of their capital cities, Yerevan and Tbilisi. Such urban linguistic analysis provides findings on the degree of colonial legacy deconstruction by county.