Doctoral defence: Alessandra Dezi "Функции иноязычных вкраплений в интернет-дискурсе русскоязычных жителей Италии и Эстонии: сопоставительный аспект"

On 7 March at 12:15, Alessandra Dezi will defend her doctoral thesis "Функции иноязычных вкраплений в интернет-дискурсе русскоязычных жителей Италии и Эстонии: сопоставительный аспект" ("Functional aspects of interlingual translanguaging in the internet communication of Russian speakers in Italy and Estonia: a comparative study") for obtaining the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Russian Language.

Supervisor:
Jelisaveta-Kaarina Kostandi, Associate Professor emeritus, University of Tartu

Opponents:
Kapitolina Fedorova, Professor of Russian Studies, Tallinn University
Ekaterina Protassova, Adjunct Professor in Russian language and literature, University of Helsinki (Finland)

Summary

This dissertation investigates interlingual translanguaging in the online communication of Russian speakers living in Italy and Estonia, who can be broadly defined as diasporas. Russian speakers in Italy and Estonia have distinct historical backgrounds, ethnic compositions, and sociocultural attitudes. For centuries, Estonia’s Russian-speaking population has been shaped by various waves of emigrants from the Russian Empire and other Soviet regions, arriving at different points in history. However, the earliest Eastern Slavic presence in Estonia dates back to the late 10th and early 11th centuries. In contrast, the Russian-speaking community in Italy emerged after the USSR’s dissolution, leading to a polyethnic conglomerate that cannot be considered a diaspora in the strict sense of the term.

Despite these differences, both groups interact on digital platforms, constructing identities through interlingual translanguaging – the movement, mediation, and interpretation between socially recognised languages. This study identifies “interlingual units”, which encompass a broad spectrum of contact phenomena, including switches between languages, morphologically hybrid words, semantic shifts, syntactic changes, place names, terms for residents in Italy and Estonia, and even speech behaviour influenced by the interaction of sociolinguistically and culturally distinct communities.

The study aims to analyse the functions of interlingual units in the online discourse of such different diasporas, examining how they reflect the social and cultural identities of Russian speakers in Italy and Estonia. The research employs online ethnography and discourse analysis methods, focusing on understanding how speakers adapt resources from their multilingual repertoires to meet communicative needs.

Key findings reveal that interlingual units serve as tools for speakers to refer to their sociocultural environments, evaluate their experiences, and navigate their identities. Differences in usage patterns between the two groups suggest that extralinguistic factors and distinct historical contexts significantly shape these functions.

Overall, the study concludes that interlingual units in both contexts share similarities in form and function but are influenced by unique sociolinguistic dynamics. They play a crucial role in helping communicants orient themselves within their sociocultural realities.