Troublesome Words
A Cultural History of Russian
Simon FranklinHow Russian was shaped by centuries of conflict, creativity and cultural change
Language can be a battleground of ideas, and nowhere is this more vivid than in the Russian context. Across 350 years, Russian has been shaped by competing visions of what it should be, from early grammarians defining a literary standard to digital-era debates about slang, obscenity and online identity. Simon Franklin traces how tradition and disruption have continually reshaped the language, including sections on the discovery by the educated elite of the language of ‘the people’, the linguistic experiments of writers and revolutionaries, politics and the rhetoric of empire. Clear, concise and engaging, Troublesome Words is both a history and a cultural portrait, examining the global diversity of Russian today and revealing how language reflects power, imagination and the changing world.
How Russian was shaped by centuries of conflict, creativity and cultural change
Language can be a battleground of ideas, and nowhere is this more vivid than in the Russian context. Across 350 years, Russian has been shaped by competing visions of what it should be, from early grammarians defining a literary standard to digital-era debates about slang, obscenity and online identity. Simon Franklin traces how tradition and disruption have continually reshaped the language, including sections on the discovery by the educated elite of the language of ‘the people’, the linguistic experiments of writers and revolutionaries, politics and the rhetoric of empire. Clear, concise and engaging, Troublesome Words is both a history and a cultural portrait, examining the global diversity of Russian today and revealing how language reflects power, imagination and the changing world.
-
'
Given its technical subject, it’s hard to imagine a more seductive presentation, accessible at multiple levels to readers fascinated by all manner of aspects of Russian culture and politics.
'Simon Dixon, Sir Bernard Pares Professor of Russian History, University College London
-
'
Written with Simon Franklin’s sublime combination of wit and deep learning, Troublesome Words follows the contested development of the Russian language as a site of meaning from the seventeenth century to today. Its vivid examples, lively writing, and brilliant visual analysis make it rewarding for any reader.
'Valerie A. Kivelson, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of History, University of Michigan
-
'
Troublesome Words is an engaging, erudite and witty exploration of the origins of the Russian language. Simon Franklin sets out in an accessible way how Russian speakers have made sense of the world throughout Russia’s turbulent and often violent history. He maps out the religious, political, societal and cultural forces that have shaped today’s Russian language, the uses to which it is put by Russia’s political leaders, and how “non-normative” use of language is used to challenge authority. Highly recommended.
'Laurie Bristow, President of Hughes Hall, University of Cambridge, and former UK ambassador to Russia
-
'
Simon Franklin investigates the codification of the Russian language as it accommodates culture from the late seventeenth century to the present. With deep insight and delightful humour, Franklin reveals the problematics of norm building amidst competing authoritative voices – sociopolitical, educational, literary, demotic – all vying to regulate cultivated Russian in an ever-changing world.
'Michael S. Flier, Oleksandr Potebnja Professor of Ukrainian Philology, Emeritus, Harvard University
A Note on Transliteration and Dates
Introduction
Chapter 1: Prehistories
Chapter 2: A Language Worthy of Empire
Chapter 3: True Feeling, Gallicism and the Authority of Taste
Chapter 4: The Authority of the Writer
Chapter 5: The Authority of the People
Chapter 6: Language Beyond Language
Chapter 7: Sovietspeak
Chapter 8: Russian Beyond Russia
Chapter 9: Disruptions and Reactions in Post-Soviet Russia
Appendix: Chronological List of Printed Dictionaries Mentioned in the Text
References
Select Bibliography
Acknowledgements
Photo Acknowledgements
Index
Simon Franklin is Emeritus Professor of Slavonic Studies at the University of Cambridge. He is the author of The Russian Graphosphere, 1450–1850 (2019) and co-editor of The New Cambridge History of Russian Literature (2024).