THE "NORTHERN QUESTION" IN RUSSIAN POLITICAL LANGUAGE IN THE 1860S AND 1870S

Abstract

The study is dedicated to the emergence of the Russian Arctic politics language which is considered as a set of specific idioms, rhetoric, grammars, and categories. The formation of the Russian Arctic politics language took place during drastic transformations of Russian public and civil political life in the 1860s and 1870s. As any political language, it developed through discussions on political matters: political economy, international relations, and law. Moreover, as every political language, it became an instrument for rationalizing and constructing reality. The rhetoric and pragmatics of the “Russian North protectors”, such as manufacturers V.N. Latkin, M.K. Sidorov, public persons V.L. Dolinskiy, D.L. Mordovtsev, and others, are analyzed in the article. Attempting to gain governmental support for their business projects and promoting the position of “state international policy”, they developed an alarmist conspiracy method of speech (discourse) about the North of Russia, making themselves closer to the dynamically forming conservative nationalist opposition to the liberal reforms. From that perspective, the “Northern question” was constructed as one of weak points of the liberal government. Idiomatic and speech constructions of the “Russian North protectors” were grounded on the thesis about the threat of alienation of the North of Russia. In the 1860s, this resonated with the moral panic originated from the Polish riots of 1863–1864 concerning the “disruption” of the wholeness of the Russian state, and with the “military anxiety” provoked by the eastern crisis of 1875–1876 in the next decade. The author concludes that the key part in forming the Russian Arctic politics language was played by society, which, however, failed to include the “North question” in the current Russian agenda.