Mari Men and Women as Bearers of the Mari Language and Identity

N.Glukhova, V.Glukhov

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These figures show the people's own estimation of their association with a particular subethnic group  (Sharov 1993:32-34). 

The other significant characteristics necessary for the topic of this paper and taken  from several surveys carried out by the workers of the Mari Research Institute, their  articles, and their authors' observations, vary according to the degree of their  importance. 

The Mari think that the most crucial parameters uniting them into a nation are:  - the language (75%-77.2% of people questioned);  - traditional culture (61.6%), explained bythe way of life, and clearly shown inpeople's  behavior both in everyday life but especially vividly during the celebration of  numerous holidays and festivities;  - common historical past (21.6%);  - religion (15.7%);  - character features, mental characteristics (15.4%);  - appearance (10.8%) (Soloviov 2000:20-23; Shabykov 2000:172). 

The most important part in the structure of the national identity, in scholars' and  common people's opinion, constitutes the national language.  The language situation in the Republic gives a controversial picture. On the one  hand, the nation is "reaping the fruits" of the Communist Party.s debatable national  policy in the course of 70 years. Thus, according to the All-Union census of  population in 1926, 99.3% of the Mari considered Mari their mother tongue. 63 years  later, according to the last census of population in 1989 80.8% called Mari their  mother tongue. 

The use of the Mari language as the means of obtaining education was markedly  narrowed in the years of stagnation (1970's-1980.s), when teaching in the mother  tongue in (incomplete) secondary village schools was stopped. By the beginning of  the 1990.s Mari was the language of instruction only in some primary schools. From  the 1960.s till 1990 the rural population in the Republic was drastically reduced (by  180.000 people). 60% of the Mari village population left were (and are) women of a  retirement age. At present they might be considered the preservers of the Mari  languages and Mari traditional culture. 

Before 1995 the Mari language was not taught in town schools at all. It is not used in  government institutions, though formally the Mari languages have always been the  state languages of the Mari Republic. 

The Mari are the least urbanized people in comparison with other Finno-Ugrians in  the European part of the Russian Federation. Only one fourth of the Mari live in  towns (Sepeyev, 2000:74-75). The use of the Mari language in the Republic has  been restricted by the domination of the Russian-speaking population. Political  developments in the former Soviet Union during the periods of "Perestroika" and  "Glasnost" and the first steps of the democratic process gave rise to a national awakening of the Mari people. It was reflected in many aspects in the life of the Mari- speaking community. Fundamental changes in the constitution of the former Soviet Union in 1991 made it possible to take first steps on the road towards the rebirth of the Mari culture and language. Since that time some important Republican  government decisions on Mari language functions have been adopted, one of them being the Constitution of the Republic of Mari El, where the Mari languages were  proclaimed the state languages of the Republic of Mari El together with Russian. An "Education Law" was adopted which provides for the restoration of schools with the Mari language as the language of instruction.

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