The LANGUAGE OF POLITICS AND THE POLITICS OF LANGUAGE IN THE BASARABIAN HISTORICAL AREA

POLITIQUE DES LANGUES ET POLITIQUE DES LANGUES DANS L'ESPACE HISTORIQUE DE LA R…PUBLIQUE DE MOLDAVIE

Abstract

In this article, the author addresses the problem of language policies in
the Republic of Moldova. The author notes that the consequences of the identity
confusion that exists in the RM are directly linked to the linguistic policy of
Russification of the indigenous population, carried out first by the Russian tsarist
empire and then by the USSR. The confusion of identity in the RM is linguistic in
origin, and this watertight link has had a profound effect on the evolution of
geopolitical events. Languages exert an inescapable power over the evolution of
social mentalities. From this point of view, the author postulates the existence of 4
powers of language in a society: political power, economic power, social power
and cultural power. All four are analyzed from a sociolinguistic perspective, using
the Republic of Moldova as an example.