Authors

Discussion

Over the past three decades of independence, both Estonia and Kazakhstan have faced recurring challenges to their sovereignty from Russian political narratives, often amplified by the presence of sizable Slavic Russophone populations. For many local Russians, Russianness itself has become a more complicated identity—especially as it has grown associated with aggression following Russia’s wars in Georgia and Ukraine.

This paper examines how Estonian and Kazakhstani Russians have redefined their relationship to Russianness in light of Russia’s increasingly imperialist nationalism. Particularly, how have Estonian and Kazakhstani Russians’ representations of Russianness and Russia changed since 2008. The discourse analysis focuses on novels written and published by local Russian authors in Estonia and Kazakhstan between 2008 and 2025, highlighting how members of these communities articulate their own understandings of identity and belonging.

Rather than viewing minority Russians solely through the kin-state framework, this study shows how Moscow’s nationalist and expansionist politics have produced new forms of ambivalence among Russians abroad. In both Estonia and Kazakhstan, writers grapple with questions of loyalty, language, and moral distance from the Russian state.

By comparing these two contexts—distinct in political orientation but linked by a shared “other”—the paper offers new empirical insights into how minority identities evolve in response to shifting geopolitical narratives. It highlights how literary works could reflect wider struggles over minority's identity in the Eurasian region.