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TAKING a leaf, perhaps, from the English-first movement in the United
States, Russia's dominant lower house of Parliament, known as the Duma,
passed legislation recently designating Russian as the nation's official
language.
And why not? Talk about polyglot: depending on where they live, Russians
speak Svan, Laz, Kumyk, Dido, Olonets and scores of other tongues. Russian,
the Duma said, "is a language promotive of mutual understanding,
strengthening international ties between the peoples of the Russian
Federation as a single multinational state." In Russia, where the
collective urge is strong, that would have been uncontroversial enough. But
the proposed law went a step further.
"When using the Russian language as the state language," a final draft
states, "the use of colloquial, disparaging or obscene words and
expressions, as well as foreign words having Russian equivalents in common
use, is inadmissible."
Enter Vladimir V. Zhirinovsky, the xenophobic, voluble and frequently
outrageous deputy speaker of the Duma.
He professes to be close to Saddam Hussein, and his Liberal Democratic
Party promotes Mr. Hussein -- and Russian oil interests in Iraq. The NTV
television network broadcast a grainy video of Mr. Zhirinovsky, shot in
Baghdad last September. In it, he takes the United States and President
Bush to task.
For Mr. Zhirinovsky and the Duma, the tape could hardly have come at a more
awkward moment.
Forget that the deputy speaker may have been somewhat under the influence.
Mr. Zhirinovsky's scatological description of Mr. Bush as an "(expletive
deleted) cowboy" could hardly be "strengthening international ties."
Moreover, his portrayal of President Bill Clinton as one of America's
"damned (expletive deleted), (expletive deleted), (expletive deleted),
(expletive deleted) pederasts" would appear to breach the Duma's proposed
ban.
In Mr. Zhirinovsky's defense, none of his expletives are identifiably
foreign. Twenty-seven are one Russian slang word for "prostitute." A number
of others, referring to male genitalia, have no easy English analogues.
In the Duma, there has been talk of punishing Mr. Zhirinovsky. One
legislator urged his removal as deputy speaker. The ruling pro-Kremlin
party, represented by the woman who heads the Duma's ethics commission,
batted that down. For all his rhetorical flamboyance, Mr. Zhirinovsky and
his bloc are reliable backers of the established powers.
"I am sure that no one will actually cut down on their use of 'taboo
words,' " said Sergei Mitrokhin, a member of the Western-style Yabloko
faction. "But if Duma members are seriously intent on penalizing those who
break this law, then the Duma ethics commission -- and incidentally, the
chairwoman who supported Vladimir Zhirinovsky today -- will have volumes of
evidence to consider."
See also:
The YABLOKO faction proposed protecting the honour and dignity of
Russia. Duma voted against. Press Release, February 5, 2003
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