Russian Language in the Global Linguocultural Space

As the planetary civilization enters a qualitatively new era, the dialectical contradiction inevitably grows: “national-cultural - globally universal”. Obviously, in its resolution, not the last place belongs to the languages of the peoples of the world. Functioning in interactive interaction, the languages of the world form a civilizational linguocultural space. National languages are increasingly acquiring, in addition to the function associated with the promotion of “soft power”, the function of a translator of the cultural heritage of peoples and nations into the global cultural landscape. The purpose of this article is to determine the potential of the Russian language in the world cultural and linguistic mainstream. When writing the article, a wide range of sources was used, including materials from international foundations and organizations, documents characterizing Russian and European language policy, electronic resources and scientific literature on the problem. In addition to special and general scientific methods, the comparative method was used in the work, which made it possible to project European multilingualism on the logic of the article, revealing the mechanisms of global linguistic integration. By virtue of its natural qualities, the Russian language has a unique potential for adaptation to a new social reality. The domestic historical and cultural process has determined the unique features of the modern Russian language: special communication properties that meet the broad needs of users, including not only representatives of the Russian ethnos; imagery that allows you to convey all the richness of the cultural heritage of Russia and the ability to present the cultural heritage of other peoples. The civilizational potential of the Russian language largely depends on how long its ability to aggregate the national cultural values of the peoples of Russia and to promote them into the global cultural process will persist and increase, which, of course, does not mean embedding into the politically engaged hierarchy of “great” and “peripheral” languages. A special role in the search for a multilingualism strategy as the upcoming fundamental principle of the global world order belongs to the European Union, which is paving the first steps in this direction, fraught with problems and difficulties. The article attempts to analyze the relevance of the tools chosen by the European Union to implement the strategic goal of multilingualism. The first experience of moving towards achieving this goal testifies to the counter productiveness of following the path of linguistic universalism or cultural domination. It is obvious that hopes for the deprivation of national and cultural identities in the linguistic space also demonstrate their failure. Globalization as an objective process inevitably determines the transformation of all languages of the world, including the Russian language. However, it is clear that only the changes enriching them, but not distorting the natural appearance, coincide with the direction of the cultural evolution of the planetary civilization.