Russian Language Day: the history and features of the holiday

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

The question of the relevance of studying, preserving the traditions and the infallibility of the Russian language in our country has been supported for many decades. Russian Language Day was first celebrated in the 1960s. By the 1980s, it had become an annual event, but the dates, as a rule, coincided with the anniversary celebrations of writers, and it did not have the status of a public holiday.

People's love for the Russian word

Interest in the history of the native word awakened en masse during the struggle against general illiteracy. Together with the development of writing, students were taught to hear the richness of the vocabulary of the Russian language and the melodiousness of the poetic style. People absorbed knowledge, learned to read and write, first listening, and then independently reading the literary works of Russian classics. In Soviet times, love for the native language in our country was all-consuming, and it didn’t matter to people which day of the Russian language was considered a holiday. Writing illiterately, not being able to quote A. S. Pushkin, not recognizing the style of M. Gorky -just ashamed.

Even in the years of war hard times, teachers of literature organized themed holidays dedicated to the word of Russian writers and poets. People, exhausted by war and famine, listened with trepidation to the voices of the readers, forgetting for a while about the horrors of reality. The impact of the Russian word on the stamina and courage of the soldiers was great. And in the backpacks of many fighters, well-read volumes of Russian classics were carefully kept.

The beginning of the annual celebrations of Russian literature

The status of a state holiday was acquired by the Day of the Russian Language in the 21st century. But the first attempts to legitimize and give special significance to this event were made back in 1996 on the territory of Crimea. The question was not only about the scale of the celebration, but it was also decided on the days of which month the Day of the Russian Language would be especially noticeable to society. This year, the Crimean Russian community came up with a proposal to establish such a holiday as the Day of Defense of the Russian Language. To attract everyone's attention, we decided to celebrate it in June, the month dedicated to the memory of A. Pushkin.

Russian Language Day: the history of the celebration

Already in 1997, on the initiative of the defenders of the native literary language, on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of A. Pushkin, June 6 was first declared the Day of Russian Poetry, and since that time the holiday has been celebrated annually. Lush events dedicated to this date were held not only in our country, but also in many other states, attracting new, young listeners to the ranks of lovers of Russian poetry. All-Russian statusThe holiday allowed literary scholars to draw public attention to the problems of maintaining the purity of the Russian language.

Ten years of discussion about the need to develop interest in the language among young people was required to make a meaningful government decision. In 2007, on the pages of the "Parliamentary newspaper" appeared an article en titled "Let there be a Day!". Its author, I. Klimenko, can be called the herald of the idea of the name day of the native language. Needless to say, this call was not immediately heeded. First, the slogan "Russian language in every home" was the reason for the opening of a new annual festival of literature - "The Great Russian Word". For the second year, the festival acquired international status.

Russian language outside the Motherland

In 2010, the United Nations Assembly supported the idea of establishing days of languages of international importance, setting the dates for the celebrations of French, Chinese, English, Russian, Spanish and Arabic. A year later, the President of the Russian Federation officially announced the Day of the Russian Language. No one doubted the month of celebrations - June.

From now on, June 6, the date of the glorification of Russian poetry around the world is usually celebrated as the Day of the Russian Language. It is held as part of an international program aimed at expanding the boundaries of the multilingual space and supporting the equal importance of the six languages recognized as official in the UN.

Promotion of the Russian word in modern society

In our time, the world community recognizes the Russian language as one of the most popular in the world. ByIt ranks fourth in distribution after English, Chinese and Spanish. Interest in our language is constantly growing, primarily due to the Russian cultural heritage. It is this factor that always determines the degree of mutual understanding between people of different nations.

Today, the desire of foreigners to read our classics in the original is no longer surprising. Economic and business areas of cooperation with Russia are a strong motive for foreigners to learn Russian. In this regard, in recent years, in many countries of the world, the number of educational programs that included Russian literature has increased dramatically. According to statistics, today almost 200 million people study the language of L. Tolstoy and A. Pushkin outside of Russia, and the birthday of the Russian language is celebrated in many parts of our planet.

The holiday of Russian literature is a special event in our country

After several years, the Birthday of the Russian language in our country has become a grandiose event, and the scale of celebrations is only increasing. The language of A. Pushkin, recognized as the "golden measure" of classical Russian literature, serves as the leitmotif of the entire holiday. As before, thousands of people come to Pushkinskiye Gory to once again enjoy the sounds of music and poetry. It is difficult to fit all the planned events into one day, so festive performances are held here throughout the month. Programs and dates of performances are planned in advance, and concert venues are filled with both famous and young poets,musicians and actors.

The name of the Russian poet, the brilliant A. Pushkin, not only unites lovers of literature around him, but also continuously expands the boundaries of the use of the Russian word. His "poetry of reality" and fairy tales, despite the difficulty of translation, gather readers all over the world, of all ages and nationalities.

Such an annual event as the Day of the Russian Language, today has become evidence of the consolidation of Russian-speaking people around the world, the connection between generations and the strengthening of citizenship among young people.