Sovyet Sözlüklerinde Dini Terminolojiye Yönelik İdeolojik Müdahaleler ve Post-Sovyet Dönemiyle Karşılaştırmalı Analizi: Bog (Tanrı) Sözcüğü Örneği
Ideological Interventions in Religious Terminology in Soviet Dictionaries and a Comparative Analysis with the Post-Soviet Period: The Case of the Lexeme Bog (God)

Summary/Abstract: This study examines the impact of the Soviet regime’s language policies on religious terminology, focusing on the imposition of atheist ideology through dictionaries. It aims to reveal the ideological interventions, methods of manipulation, and objectives in the treatment of religious concepts in Stalin-era Soviet dictionaries. The research also compares Soviet and post-Soviet dictionaries to highlight the semantic transformation of religious terms over time. Key religious terms—such as religiya (religion), bog (God), angel(angel), grekh (sin), and kreshcheniye (baptism)—as found in the works of Stalin-era lexicographers Ushakov and Ozhegov, are examined to analyze how their meanings were eroded. The semantics of bog (God) in Soviet and post-Soviet dictionaries is compared to discuss these transformation processes. The study adopts qualitative research methods, including document analysis, conceptual analysis, and comparative analysis. The findings indicate that Soviet dictionaries manipulated and redefined religious terminology in line with atheist ideology. Religious terms were labeled with epithets like outdated, so-called, mystical, and derogatory, restricting their usage and portraying them as products of fantasy, thus damaging the reputation of religion. In the post-Soviet period, ideological pressures ceased, and religious terms were handled more neutrally, redefined in dictionaries with consideration for cultural and historical perspectives. The study seeks to offer original and interdisciplinary contributions to the fields of linguistics, lexicography, theology, history, and political science.

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