5th International Symposium on Humanistic Studies 2019

This paper aims to investigate the cultural identity of Russian-speakers in the Baltic states both from a qualitative and quantitative perspectives. The survey was conducted in Russian and based on face-to-face interviews of 81 Russian speakers aged between 30 and 80, during 2017 and 2018 in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Both quantitative and qualitative data are integrated in the analysis.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, a significant number of Russian-speakers of varying ethnicity whose primary language is Russian has remained in the Baltic states, especially in Estonia and Latvia. The Baltic States have been executing a strict language policy to integrate their multiethnic societies based on the language of the state. To date, political and linguistic tensions between the local titular nation and Russian-speakers have gathered attention in political and social studies (Cheskin 2017 etc.). Though the Russian-speaking population experienced identity crisis in the post-Soviet republics, the Russian-speaking identity is said to have replaced the Soviet identity as an alternative to assimilation as titulars, and mobilization as Russians (Laitin 1998, 263-299).

During the survey, Russian-speaking informants were asked questions about how they perceive the Russians in Russia and the local titular nations (Estonians, Latvians, and Lithuanians), their respective culture and mentality. The survey shows that though Russian-speakers share general attributes of Russian culture, they have been forming localized cultural identity and mentality which are different from those of Russians in Russia, under the influence of the local titular nation.