English in the dance discourse in Russia

Abstract

The article investigates the role and functions of English in the contemporary Russian hip-hop dance discourse. Although there is a raft of research focusing on the functioning of the English language within the landscape of hip-hop culture, hip-hop dance omasticon in Russia has not been analyzed or classified so far. A qualitative analysis and further classification of 335 proper names, denoting Russia-based international hip-hop contests (held in Moscow, Reutov, Yekaterinburg and Sochi in 2025) as well as dance studios and solo artists that participated in them, demonstrate that it is Russian English that is being utilized in the 90% of cases of the examined proper names. The key recurrent translingual practices based on the bilingual interplay of English and Russian languages, such as graphic, semantic, lexical and grammatical hybridization, nativization, and acculturation, are identified and described. Russian English is viewed as a vehicle of identity construction that is not aimed at projecting Western popular culture but rather at manifesting Russian culture. Hence, it targets primarily Russian speakers of English in Russia instead of international community.

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