Between Emotions and Pragmatism: The Russian Language in Kazakhstan and the ‘Russian Factor’

The chapter explores the present role and the future of the Russian language in Kazakhstan. It contrasts state language policies with the views of ordinary Kazakhstani citizens, recorded mainly in interviews and round-table discussions with students of national universities conducted between 2016 and 2019. Suggesting that the Russian linguistic-cultural space in Central Asia is largely a historically rooted phenomenon and has not been primarily dependent on Russia, the authors suggest that the Russian Federation should readjust its external language and culture promotion, which has so far been geared almost exclusively to the so-called ‘compatriots’, and should take the needs of non-Russian Russian-speakers into serious consideration.