Changing the Script: Language and Nation Building in Post-Soviet Azerbaijan

This study examines the language policy of independent Azerbaijan in relation to national identity. Azerbaijan is an independent multi-ethnic republic and has implemented its own language policy since 1991. As a result, a unique Latin alphabet was adopted, shifting away from Cyrillic. This thesis contributes to Soviet/post-Soviet language studies, specifically the study of the links between language policies and nationality. This research revealed that after the new language regulations were enacted in the early 1990s, Azerbaijan experienced different phases of nation-building. Unlike other post-Soviet states, the de-Russification process could go further in Azerbaijan, due to the successful introduction of the Latin alphabet.