Yesterday in Helsinki we held a discussion “Self-isolation: the language of purity” as part of the project “How has the Russian language changed in the 2020s?”

We discussed how the COVID-19 pandemic introduced new words into Russian: «самоизоляция» (self-isolation), «удалёнка» (remote work), «ковид-диссидент» (covid-dissident); how state propaganda created its own clichés: «духовные скрепы» (spiritual bonds), «ЛГБТ-экстремизм» (LGBT extremism), «Гейропа» (Gayropa); and how psychological vocabulary such as «токсичность» (toxicity), «личные границы» (personal boundaries), «выгорание» (burnout) became part of everyday speech.

Yulia Izmailova spoke about the penetration of psychological concepts into language and their impact on society. Andrei Olunin explained how the rhetoric of repression and propaganda clichés change the perception of culture and politics.

The recording of the discussion is available at the link:

https://www.youtube.com/live/YlP7rE7dzoI

Many thanks to all participants!

Next, on September 10, we will have a discussion “Special Operation: the language of war.” Together with Arseny Kumankov, philosopher and war researcher at the University of Mainz (Germany), we will talk about new words related to mobilization, the army, losses, and weaponry.

Stay tuned — it will be interesting!