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Abstract

In Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Kyrgyz is perceived to be under threat from the Russian language. In contrast, many joke that "people speak more Kyrgyz in Chicago than Bishkek" and call Chicago the "8th oblast (province)" of Kyrgyzstan. Why is Chicago considered a sanctuary for the Kyrgyz language, while parents in Bishkek perceive a shift toward Russian among their children in Kyrgyzstan? This paper explores the connections between the Kyrgyz community in Chicago and Bishkek and examines how their on and offline relationships influence language socialization and discourses surrounding Kyrgyz language maintenance and shift. Based on ethnographic research in Chicago and in Bishkek, including interviews, surveys, and recordings of quotidian speech in Kyrgyz families, we demonstrate how "contrapuntal awareness" (Said 2000; Parsons Dick 2013) of the Kyrgyz diaspora and imagined futures in Chicago shape perceptions of the Kyrgyz community in the US as well as influence the language ideologies and linguistic practices of children in Bishkek.

Kyrgyz people in Bishkek lead "contrapuntal" lives, physically in Bishkek while virtually in Chicago (Said 2000; Parsons Dick 2013); though most Kyrgyz will never immigrate to the U.S., it is a pervasive goal and people live their lives according to their aspirations of immigration. Awareness of the Kyrgyz community is constructed through connections with friends, family, acquaintances, and influencers on different Internet media. There are now estimated to be at least 40,000 Kyrgyz migrants living in the Chicago consular district (Makanbai Kyzy 2024; IOM 2022). Though the community comprises a small percentage of the total population of Kyrgyzstan, it has an outsized influence on those who remain. The most popular Kyrgyz instagram influencers are members of the diaspora and top internet news sites do almost daily features on successful Kyrgyz migrants. Social media sustains the idea of a successful, community oriented, Kyrgyz-speaking, diaspora in Chicago as people can instantaneously view posts and videos, comment, and message their contacts in both locales. Migrants' plans, from conception, are influenced by online content; these plans include changes in linguistic practices such as prioritizing English and learning to read latin characters (Ravshanov 2024). Ultimately, we find that though Bishkek children in are deprioritizing Kyrgyz for what they consider to be "international languages" in the hopes of a successful future abroad, young Russian-speaking Kyrgyz adults are inspired by social media content produced by the Chicago Kyrgyz community to relearn Kyrgyz and speak less Russian in their daily lives.