Slavic studies

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Slavic studies (North America), Slavonic studies (Britain and Ireland) or Slavistics (borrowed from Russian славистика or Polish slawistyka) is the academic field of area studies concerned with Slavic areas, Slavic languages, literature, history, and culture. Originally, a Slavist (from Russian славист or Polish slawista) or Slavicist was primarily a linguist or philologist researching Slavistics, a Slavic (AmE) or Slavonic (BrE) scholar. Increasingly historians and other humanists and social scientists who study Slavic area cultures and societies have been included in this rubric.

In North America, Slavic studies is dominated by Russian studies; Ewa Thompson describes the situation of non-Russian Slavic studies as "invisible and mute."[1]

History[]

Slavistics emerged in late 18th and early 19th century, simultaneously with national revivals among various nations of Slavic origins and with ideological attempts to establish a common sense of Slavic community, exemplified by the Pan-Slavist movement. Among the first scholars to use the term was Josef Dobrovský (1753–1829).

The history of Slavic studies is generally divided into three periods. Until 1876 the early Slavists concentrated on documentation and printing of monuments of Slavic languages, among them the first texts written in national languages. At this time the majority of Slavic languages received their first modern dictionaries, grammars and compendia. The second period, ending with World War I, featured the rapid development of Slavic philology and linguistics, most notably outside of Slavic countries themselves, in the circle formed around August Schleicher (1821–1868) and around August Leskien (1840–1916) at the University of Leipzig.

After World War I Slavic studies scholars focused on dialectology, while the science continued to develop in countries with large populations having Slavic origins. After World War II there were developed centres of Slavic studies, and much greater expansion into other humanities and social science disciplines in various universities around the world. Indeed, partly due to the political concerns in Western European and the United States about the Slavic world nurtured by the Cold War, Slavic studies flourished in the years from World War II into the 1990s though university enrollments in Slavic languages have declined since then.

Subfields[]

Following the traditional division of Slavs into three subgroups (eastern, southern, western), Slavic studies are also divided into three distinctive sublields:

  • East Slavic studies, encompassing the study of East Slavic peoples and their linguistic, literary and other cultural and historical heritages.
    • Belarusian studies, or Belarusistics (Latin: Belarusistica);[2]
    • Russian studies, or Russistics (Latin: Russistica);
    • Rusyn studies, or Rusynistics (Latin: Rusinistica);[3]
    • Ukrainian studies, or Ukrainistics (Latin: Ucrainistica);
  • South Slavic studies, encompassing the study of South Slavic peoples and their linguistic, literary and other cultural and historical heritages.
    • Bosniac studies, or Bosniacistics (Latin: Bosniacistica);[4]
    • Bulgarian studies, or Bulgaristics (Latin: Bulgaristica);
    • Croatian studies, or Croatistics (Latin: Croatistica);
    • Macedonian studies, or Macedonistics (Latin: Macedonistica);
    • Montenegrin studies, or Montenegristics (Latin: Montenegristica);
    • Serbian studies, or Serbistics (Latin: Serbistica);
    • Slovene studies, or Slovenistics (Latin: Slovenistica);
  • West Slavic studies, encompassing the study of West Slavic peoples and their linguistic, literary and other cultural and historical heritages.

Slavic countries and areas of interest[]

Notable people[]

Historical
Contemporary

Journals and book series[]

Conferences[]

Institutes and schools[]

Academic
University
Other

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Thompson, Ewa M. "Slavic but not Russian: Invisible and Mute" (PDF). Porównania. 16: 9–18. Retrieved February 25, 2020.
  2. ^ Gordey (2011): Morphonology in Belarusian lingvistics: The formation period, p. 142.
  3. ^ Kassianova (2002), p. 1001: "Rusinistica, or Carpatho-Rusyn studies - a social science discipline focussing on the history of an Eastern Slavic people inhabiting the northern and southern slope of the Carpathian mountains and living within the borders of several Eastern and Central European countries."
  4. ^ Greenberg 2004, p. 151.

Sources[]

External links[]

Library guides[]

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