Place and Language Transformations in a Post-Soviet Landscape: A Case Study of the Atomic City Visaginas

Abstract:

The chapter analyzes the case of a post-Soviet city Visaginas (Lithuania) due to its socialist and mono-industrial heritage at present experiencing an extremely complicated transition period. Today Visaginas provides a very special example of Lithuanian ethnic landscape and represents a geographically, culturally and ideologically isolated place. Its ethnic composition is very diverse, but mainly consists of Soviet-period immigrants with a strong pro-Soviet identity who arrived in the 1970s. The collapse of the regime and the local economy have brought anxiety, uncertainty and fear not only to the inhabitants, but also to the city itself, to its identity and its future. This study focuses on the multiple issues, relying on the concepts of place identity, language ideologies, policies and practices in the framework of the global new economy and commodification. The linguistic landscape and soundscape of Visaginas demonstrated varied linguistic resources of the city: from the dominance of Russian, efforts to use Lithuanian, and English in written signs. The attempts to manifest linguistic diversity as a social capital of the city are obvious and have good potential. Whatever changes in individual repertoires and group preferences will take place in the future, bilingualism at the level of society seems to be the most desirable outcome.