Report
Of the First Vice President
Of the European Foundation of Slavic Literature and Culture,
candidate of historical sciences,
First Vice President
European Academy of Security and Conflictology,
Member of the Writers' Union of Russia,
Member of the Union of Journalists of Russia,
Member of the International Union of Journalists,
Vice President - International Documentary Academy,
chief scientific secretary
Professor Dmitry Vyacheslavovich Klimov,
at the scientific and practical videoconference “In Search of Unity. Russian Language Union ", dedicated to the issue of the unity of the Russian people and the scientific heritage of Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Slavist O.N. Trubachev on April 2, 2021.
Modern issues of linguistics.
Dear colleagues!
The conference is dedicated to the scientific heritage of Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, slavist O.N. Trubachev. At the moment, I have the honor to represent the European Foundation of Slavic Literature and Culture. Its main office is located in the capital of Slovakia, Bratislava. It is known that the scientific activity of Academician O.N. Trubachev is associated with Slovakia, where he has been repeatedly. We should also mention the fact, which is well known to all conference participants, that in the series of his works "Linguistics and Ethnogenesis of the Slavs", which earned the author well-deserved fame in the scientific community and is a fundamental work on this issue, the Danube theory of localization of the ancient region of the Slavs occupies a central place. There are solid arguments in its favor.
Slovakia is the country where the most ancient settlements of the Slavs were located. The early feudal Slavic state of Great Moravia also included modern Slovak lands. Here for the first time - since 863 - the Slavic script, created by Cyril and Methodius, especially revered saints in Russia, began to be used. And for the first time as the language of Christian doctrine and worship in Great Moravia, the common language of the Slavs, the Old Slavonic language, began to be used. It is no coincidence that the names of the rulers of Moravia coincide with the names of the Russian princes.
It is worth mentioning the fact that after almost a millennium during the First World War in 1914-1918. in Bratislava, special symbolic keys to the city were made, which the city authorities and ordinary citizens intended to solemnly hand over to the advancing Russian army at the moment it entered the Slovak capital. Moreover, almost none of the local residents doubted the victory of Russia in this war. But history ordered otherwise.
Slovaks and Czechs, trapped in trenches on the Eastern Front, preferred to be captured as soon as possible and join the ranks of the Russian army. And such cases were massive. Among those who voluntarily went over to the side of the Russian army was the famous Slovak prose writer and poet, chairman of the Association of Slovak Writers Yanko Yesensky, who contributed a lot to the popularization of the Russian language, translated into Slovak the works of A.S. Pushkin and S.A. Yesenin.
On the territory of Slovakia, there was also a unique territorial entity - Subcarpathian Rus, where a special people of Rusyns lived and lives today, who consider themselves, albeit with some reservations, Russians. Fearing in wartime the political unreliability of the Rusyns, the authorities of Austria-Hungary, which during the First World War included both the Czech Republic and Slovakia, launched a real terror against an entire people. The concentration camps Talerhof in Styria, Terezin in Northern Bohemia and a number of others, which first appeared on the territory of Europe, were created specifically for Rusyns literally in the very first days of the First World War. These death camps became the harbingers of Majdanek, Auschwitz, Sobibor, Dachau, Ravensbrück, Buchenwald, Treblink, which arose during the Second World War, but the conditions of detention there were practically the same. The Rusyns were blamed for only one thing - an orientation towards Russia, a desire to learn as much as possible about their northern neighbor and preserve their unique language. Rusyns were arrested even for books in Russian, which they found in their homes.
Slovakia and Russia, despite the existing and accumulated over the centuries differences, still have a lot in common. And, above all, a single Slavic language as a means of communication, transmission of the unique ethnocultural code of the Slavs.
Today, and this must be admitted frankly, the situation in the world is far from favoring the Russian language. It is being ousted from virtually all spheres of communication and business. It is being replaced by ... English. This can be observed both in the example of Slovakia and not only in this country. Until recently, Russian was a compulsory subject in every school here. But today you will have to communicate in Slovakia in English rather than in related Slavic. And so in almost every country of the Slavic world.
Moreover, all over the world, purposeful work is underway to literally impose the English language. Established in 1934 and operating under the auspices of the British Foreign Office, the British Council, an organization dedicated to fostering cooperation in education, culture and the arts between Great Britain and other countries, has 7,000 full-time employees around the world, with offices in 110 countries of the world, and its budget reaches 700 million pounds a year. For a long time, the influence of the British Council was practically not opposed. But the capabilities of the Russian World Foundation, created in 2007 by the Decree of the President of Russia, are quite modest and incomparable with the capabilities and financial support of the British Council. And this despite the fact that many courses opened with the direct participation of the British Council operate on a commercial basis and also earn money from learning English.
Currently, one can observe the growth of the global crisis, the consequences of which are aggravated by a pandemic, the closure of borders, the introduction of lockdowns. In fact, the pandemic plays the role of a war with the only difference that there is no full-scale military action. The essence of the crisis and the accompanying numerous conflicts consists in a complete reformatting of the world order. Not even the post-war world order that took shape in the second half of the twentieth century with its own system of international organizations and law, namely, the world order that arose in the early Middle Ages and is associated with the initial formation of states with all their necessary attributes - religion, ideology, system of government and finance, trade, customs, language. Moreover, special attention is paid to the destruction of language, as the only available means of communication for humanity. Those languages that carry a different ideology, philosophy, and a different worldview in the minds of the “creators” of the new world order, advocating universal human values recognized for millennia, should initially be ousted to the “periphery” of public consciousness, and then completely disappear, opening the way for completely inhuman dogmas.
Language stands in the way of the destruction of the family, family ties, ethnic unity. This means that such a language should be replaced with a different one, which will no longer reflect the historical memory of peoples, will not contribute to the definition of national self-identity. On the contrary, instead of genuine languages, the so-called. "Newspeaks" and phonemes designed to destroy a certain ethnic community, and then wither away as completely unnecessary and unnecessary. There are such examples in world practice.
Meanwhile, in Slovakia, numerous qualified teaching personnel have survived, who are now left without work, are re-profiled as teachers of physical education and other disciplines that have very little to do with teaching the Russian language. This personnel reserve can be used if the work is properly organized.
There is a request for studying the Russian language in almost every gymnasium and higher educational institution. In practice, it would be quite possible to organize groups for the study of the Russian language even in kindergartens, and then introduce a system of linear education in secondary and higher educational institutions. After overcoming the pandemic, it would be possible to make it possible for Slovak, and not only Slovak schoolchildren and students, to visit Russian health centers, conduct excursions with them to cities in Russia. The main condition for the success of such work is its implementation on an ongoing basis, and not in the form of one-time events.
It is necessary to say how the study of the Russian language is already going on in Slovakia. These days the Russian Center of the European Foundation of Slavic Literature and Culture in Bratislava is celebrating its 5th anniversary. Thanks to simply titanic efforts and the personal contribution of the President of the European Foundation of Slavic Literature and Culture, Academician, Professor, Doctor of Law I.I. Bondarenko. Today, the main activities of the Russian Center are the organization of courses for the study of the Russian language, the activities of which continue even in the difficult conditions of the pandemic. At the same time, the number of listeners is constantly growing from year to year. Students are offered courses for any level of language proficiency - from beginner to advanced. In training, modern interactive technologies and elements of speed reading techniques are used.
The Russian Center in Bratislava is conveniently located in one of the most modern and technologically advanced buildings in the Slovak capital. The center is well equipped technically, has multifunctional halls, and therefore it is no coincidence that it is a place of attraction not only for citizens of Slovakia, but also for neighboring countries - Austria, Hungary and the Czech Republic. As practice shows, a fairly large number of visitors come to the events of the Russian Center. At the same time, the Russian Center is not limited only directly to the study of the Russian language, but also holds numerous art exhibitions of Russian artists with the assistance of the Russian Academy of Arts and the Creative Union of Russian Artists. It is obvious that any, even the most perfect method of learning a language, cannot give the effect that direct communication, acquaintance with the history and culture of the country of the studied language gives. The Russian Center has 25 different courses in the study of the culture and history of Russia. The pandemic, especially the unfavorable situation that has developed today in Europe as a whole, and in Slovakia in particular, of course, is making its own adjustments, forcing the transition to a distance and, frankly, less effective way of teaching. But this does not mean that the process of learning the Russian language has stopped at least for some time. We hope that the foundations for the study of the Russian language, culture and history will serve for the development of this activity, and the accumulated work experience will be in demand.
Thank you for attention!
D.V. Klimov, First Vice President of the European Foundation of Slavic Literature and Culture, First Vice President of the European Academy of Security and Conflictology, Vice President - Chief Scientific Secretary of the International Academy of Literary Documentary, Vice President of the International Academy of Russian Literature, Academician of the Academy of Russian Literature, Cavalier of Golden Pushkin's medal, professor, candidate of historical sciences