My Proposed Research Topic


Nathaniel Worthman
Professor. Dadak
Writing 101
13.2.19

            As we begin the procces of preliminary research for our research paper in writing class I feel it is a great opportunity for me to talk about my idea for my research topic. For class we had to come up with two different ideas and talk about them. I wrote about how the use of the Russian language in Latvia is perceived as a threat to nationalism by the government and how this has affected the lives of citizens who grew up in Latvia during the USSR. While I’m not entirely sure what direction I will take this research this exact moment, I think the best way to start my research is by compiling some background information. 
            So,here is what I know from both personal experience in Latvia and my preliminary research. Historically speaking, The Latvian Republic has been affected again and again by invasion of foreign powers and thus has had the introduction of many foreign languages and ideas. This was especially due to Soviet Union in Latvia. Most specifically, Latvian was outlawed in The Latvian Republic during the height of the Soviet Union in order to have complete cultural control of the republic. Because of this, many people who have lived in Latvia their whole lives have only used Russian in their daily lives. Unfortunately, after the collapse of the Soviet Union there was a large increase in Latvian nationalism and thus there was a movement to increase the use of the Latvian language throughout the nation. 
            In order to limit the amount of languages spoken in Latvia the government created “Oficiālās Valodas Likumus” where in they mandated that the national language is Latvian and by law only protects the rights of ethnic minorities to preserve and develop their languages. Livonian is recognized as "the language of the indigenous (autochthon) population" in the Official Language Law, but the Latgalian written language is protected as "a historic variant of the Latvian language.” Additionally, by law all advertisements but have 64% of their commercials in the Latvian language this is true for Television, radio, the internet and anywhere else people would see or hear information. Another part of life that has been deeply affected is that of non-citizens. Unfortunately, many non-citizens have lived in Latvia for the entirety of their lives but under the USS and thus speak only Russian. Because of thus, they speak little to no Latvian and can’t pass the Latvian language exams given to gain citizenship. This also makes it virtually impossible for them to attend university, work legally or be protected under Latvian law. This makes the language you speak one of the most important factors of living in Latvia and thus why I think it would be the perfect research topic for this assignment. 

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