“The Russian Language in Germany: Its Life, Adventures, and Learning Specifics”

Abstract

In 2017, a collective work of German specialists in Slavic Studies was published in Berlin. This book was Handbuch des Russischen in Deutschland: Migration, Mehrsprachigkeit, Spracherwerb (Guide to the Russian Language in Germany: Migration, Multilingualism, Language Mastery and Proficiency), which considers the fate of the Russian language in Germany in the historical and cultural perspective and in terms of its study and teaching over recent decades. Although the emphasis in the book is primarily on sociolinguistic issues, which is mainly associated with the large Russian-speaking diaspora in Germany, a number of works are devoted to mutual perception stereotypes of Russians and Germans, translations of Russian literature into German, and the role of the Russian language in the multilingualism policy of the European Union. Our article presents a detailed critical analysis of this collective work, highlights the main trends of modern Russian studies in Germany, and draws attention to biased manipulative moments in some works related to the political situation in the world. In general, the Guide is designed in an objective analytical manner and represents an impressive collection of extremely diverse materials, which form an integral image of the knowledge and development of the Russian language in Germany.