the italian minority in kerč, the crimea: linguistic identity and cultural belonging

The Italian minority in Kerč, the The Italian minority in Kerč, the Crimea: linguistic identity and Crimea: linguistic identity and

cultural belongingcultural belongingPaola Bocale

University of Cambridge pb436@cam.ac.uk

Cambridge Endangered Languages and Cultures Group Seminar SeriesCambridge, UK 25 October 2012

OutlineOutline

In circumstances of fundamental transformation, what can maintain the sense of collective identity in an ethnic minority group that experienced geographical displacement and disruption through deportation?

How does a speech community that has suffered language loss choose between reviving its ancestral language or replacing it with the acquisition of a sociolinguistically more prestigious cognate language?

How are linguistic identity and ethnocultural belonging constructed, negotiated and mediated by a minority community in the midst of a larger majority community?

Kerč’, the CrimeaKerč’, the Crimea

The third biggest city in the Crimea

Considered one of the most ancient cities in Ukraine

Founded 2600 years ago

Kerč’Kerč’

Kerč has a harbour on the Kerč Strait, which makes it a key to the Sea of Azov

Kerč’ ethnic compositionKerč’ ethnic composition2001 Census (145,518 people)2001 Census (145,518 people)

Kerč’Kerč’

The Catholic ChurchThe Catholic Church

Bisceglie and Trani areaBisceglie and Trani area

Migrants to Kerč’ came mostly from the towns of Bisceglie and Trani in the Apulia region, in south-eastern Italy

Deportation to KazakhstanDeportation to Kazakhstan

Atbasar, KazakhstanAtbasar, Kazakhstan

Loss of the ancestral languageLoss of the ancestral language

‘Uniformation (when everyone speaks one language) is never an optimal human solution. It necessarily involves subjugation of the weak by the strong, of the few by the many: in short, the law of the jungle’ Fishman (1991:31)‘

The Association of The Association of Kerč’ Italians

Identity construction in the post-Soviet spaceIdentity construction in the post-Soviet space

‘After 1991 the rearrangement throughout the former USSR of state, political and social power, the creation of fifteen new independent nation states all engaged in their own process of nation-building and national identity construction, served to destabilize established categories of identification and to initiate new phases of renegotiation and redefinition’Bassin & Kelly 2012:12

Isolated individuals cannot face alone the process of assimilation that erased their linguistic and cultural identity

Emphasizing the link between language Emphasizing the link between language and ethnic identityand ethnic identity

Having multiple ethnicities by ethnic origin and linguistic competence

In order to revitalize their language and culture Kerč’ Italians

have to face their once stigmatized identity

Aims and challenges of the language coursesAims and challenges of the language courses

ConclusionsConclusions

In circumstances of fundamental transformation, what can maintain the sense of collective identity in an ethnic minority group that experienced geographical displacement and disruption through deportation?

Shared history – deportation

Linguistic and cultural identity – common language and culture

ConclusionsConclusions

How does a speech community that has suffered language loss choose between reviving its ancestral language or replacing it with the acquisition of a sociolinguistically more prestigious cognate language?

Jones and Singh (2005: 132): ‘The fundamental determinant [in language revitalisation efforts] is always people’s assumption of what is most useful for them’

ConclusionsConclusions

How are linguistic identity and ethnocultural belonging constructed, negotiated and mediated by a minority community in the midst of a larger majority community?

The Association of Kerč Italians ‘Cerkio’ is one of the main sites of cultural production where members of the Italian community can construct and express their sense and their vision of their identity.

ReferencesReferences

Bassin, M. & Kelly, C. 2012. Soviet and post-soviet identities. Cambridge: CUP.

Fishman, J. 1991. Reversing language shift: theoretical and empirical foundations of assistance to threatened languages. Clevedon: Multilingual matters.

Jones, M.C. & Singh, I. 2005. Exploring language change. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.