The Russian World in Tajik Academic Discourse: Research Directions, Problems, Prospects

The interest of the Tajik academic community in the Russian language, literature, and culture has remained consistently high for a considerable period. Following Tajikistan’s independence, this interest has not diminished, but rather, it has been reinforced. In accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of Tajikistan, Russian is the language of interethnic communication. Tajiks, who were historically bilingual in ethno-contact zones, received Russian as a second or third language during the Soviet era. Nevertheless, despite the extensive scholarly literature, the issues of a comprehensive interdisciplinary study of the Russian language, culture, and literature in a comparative manner remain largely unaddressed. This article examines the issue of studying Russian linguoculture in descriptive and comparative terms, as well as in a bilingual context. In examining this topic, the research of the academic school “Applied Linguistics in the Republic of Tajikistan,” led by D. M. Iskandarova, and the Research Laboratory “Interdisciplinary Applied Research” of the Russian-Tajik (Slavic) University serve as a foundation for this discussion. The objective is to examine the status of interdisciplinary research on the Russian language, literature, and culture within the Tajik scholarly discourse, as well as the functioning of the Russian language in bilingual communicative environments. This study examines the perception and reflection of the concept of “Russian” in the linguistic consciousness of the youth of Tajikistan. The analysis of this perception provides insight into how the Russian linguocultural space is reflected in the linguistic picture of the world of a bilingual individual. Additionally, examples of interdisciplinary studies are provided, which present a comparative analysis of the empirical material of Tajik scholars. The interest in Russian literature, the Tajik-Russian literary and cultural ties, the translations of Russian poets and writers into Tajik, as well as the appeal of Russian poets and writers to the literary heritage of Tajik-Persian poets and thinkers, has remained consistently high. This article presents an analysis of the works of Tajik literary scholars on this issue. A review of the presence of the Russian language, literature, and culture in the scholarly discourse of Tajikistan enables the identification of existing problems and the delineation of prospects for the development of research in these areas, as well as the formulation of recommendations for the advancement of scholarly collaboration between Russia and Tajikistan.