DIGITAL CULTURE IN THE KAZAKH CONTEXT: CONTEMPORARY ISSUES

Gulnara Omarbekova

2025

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DOI 10.55808/1999-4214.2025-4.11
Data confidence 70 medium
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Abstract

The article formulates the contemporary digital culture of Kazakhstan based on the concepts of the “third space” and “hybridity” of Homi Bhabha, one of the founders of postcolonial theory. The hybrid nature of Kazakh digital culture in the “third space” informs the goal of this work, which is to interpret traditional Kazakh identity, considering the consequences of the Soviet era and the intersection of global digital trends. The Internet and social media have created a unique hybrid space in which Kazakh, Russian, and international digital cultures intersect, giving rise to new forms of identity, language, and self-expression, as well as mixed linguistic hybrid digital communication. Social media users often switch between languages ​​when exchanging comments, opinions, captions, posts, and memes. Memes and Internet slang are mixed with Russian phrases, Kazakh proverbs, and English Internet terms, creating a unique hybrid digital dialect. This digital third space challenges the notion of linguistic purity by illustrating how Kazakh identity is evolving in online communication. Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies will further exacerbate global linguistic inequality and reinforce the dominance of English and other European languages. As a result, medium- and low-resource languages, such as Kazakh, receive limited support in AI systems and are marginalized in the digital space. The lack of AI projects for the Kazakh language, combined with the scarcity of large-scale data and the commercial priorities focused on English- or Russian-speaking markets, constrains the technological development of the Kazakh language. It is these points that determine the relevance of the work. The article examines the role of the Kazakh language in artificial intelligence systems, digital activities, and emerging artificial intelligence projects, as well as linguistic hybridity in the digital space. It also explores issues of rethinking Kazakh identity through online activity, which contributes to the novelty of the work.