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14. Language and alphabet in the Armenian diaspora of Plovdiv, Bulgaria: symbolic cultivation and identitary memoryGiustina Selvelli, invited lecture at foreign university Abstract: In this presentation I will focus on the case of the Armenian diaspora of Plovdiv, Bulgaria, describing specific mechanisms of maintenance and reproduction of identitary memory connected to the symbolic use of the community’s language and alphabet made by both cultural elites and individuals. Armenian language and alphabet are functional to the promotion of a particular type of memory, which makes the experience of the diaspora 'transnational' and 'transtemporal' at one time, challenging conventional concepts of belonging based on territoriality. In particular, by virtue of its emotional content linked to a history of distinctiveness, the alphabet becomes part of a process of collective representation, as a key symbol nourishing the links with the spiritual and cultural heritage of the historical Armenian Motherland. The latter can be considered an 'Imaginary Homeland': not corresponding to the restricted borders of contemporary Republic of Armenia, it has acquired a 'mythical value' which constitutes integral part of an emotional geography of the diaspora. Although most members of the community do not have a command of the Armenian language, its alphabet appears to be an essential tool in a process of symbolic cultivation of collective imaginary by virtue of the specific “ethno-history” it contains, and expands its role beyond the technical one becoming an object, a decoration and a distinctive sign displaying identitary memory.
Keywords: Armenian Alphabet, Armenian Diaspora, Bulgarian Armenians, Imaginary Homeland, Symbolic Cultivation
Published in RUNG: 04.01.2021; Views: 2121; Downloads: 0
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17. The Multicultural Cities of Plovdiv and Ruse Through the Eyes of Elias Canetti and Angel Wagenstein. Two “Post-Ottoman” Jewish WritersGiustina Selvelli, 2019, published scientific conference contribution abstract Abstract: The aim of my presentation is to illustrate the cosmopolitan setting of the Bulgarian cities of Ruse and Plovdiv during the first half of the 20th Century, as depicted in the memoirs of two Sephardic Jewish writers: Elias Canetti (born in Ruse) and Angel Wagenstein (born in Plovdiv). Particular attention will be devoted to the role played by the Jewish communities during the Ottoman and post-Ottoman period, in terms of their contribution to the economic
and cultural life of the cities. Canetti was born in 1905, in post-Ottoman Ruse, while Wagenstein was born in Plovdiv in 1922, in the after-war period. Notwithstanding
these years of difference, the situation in the two cities appeared rather similar: the Sephardic Jews were still living as a distinct unity in terms of religion and language, being able to keep their own cultural identities alive. The memoirs of Canetti and Wagenstein
are quite significant as they come from a later period, expressing a principle of “nostalgia” as the process of “de-Ottomanization” had almost completely been carried out.
For what concerns Canetti, the memories of Ruse occupy a special place in his novel Die Gerettete Zunge (The tongue set free,1977): the writer recalls a fascinating setting, characterized by a Babylonian confusion of languages, where the most diverse nationalities
crossed and met, such as Russians, Jews, Romanians, Roma and Armenians. In relation to Plovdiv, in his novel Dalech ot Toledo (Far from Toledo, 2002), apart from the Bulgarian majority, Wagenstein describes the lively presence of the Turkish, Jewish, Armenian, Greek and Roma communities, defining their patterns of daily interactions as a specific model of interethnic coexistence. By relating to the composite legacy of their home towns, Canetti and Wagenstein stand out as highly multicultural Jewish personalities, acknowledging the importance of the different cultural worlds they were exposed to, not only the Jewish and
Bulgarian, but also the Turkish and in general the “Oriental” ones.
Keywords: Elias Canetti, Angel Wagenstein, Plovdiv, Ruse, Bulgaria, Multiethnic cities, Post-Imperial Legacy
Published in RUNG: 22.12.2020; Views: 2488; Downloads: 0
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18. The role of the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) in supporting literacy in the minority language among the Bulgaria diasporaGiustina Selvelli, 2019, published scientific conference contribution abstract Abstract: In this presentation I will illustrate the question of the Armenian language preservation among the diaspora members of the Bulgarian city of Plovdiv, where the community counts approximately 3500 members (1% of the total urban population).
To this aim, I will employ data gathered during ethnographic fieldwork as well information emerged from the analysis of the Armenian diaspora media in order to highlight the fundamental role of the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU), the largest Armenian non-profit organization that operates at a global level. Based in New York, the AGBU embodies the main educational institution across the Armenian diaspora worldwide and supports a number of social activities related the preservation of this minority language. In particular, I will focus the attention on the importance of the (Western) Armenian language classes organized by the AGBU Plovdiv Saturday School (in addition to the ones held at the local Armenian School Tiutiundjian) and the contents and articles published by the AGBU Bulletin (Parekordzagani Tzain), a bi-weekly and bilingual (Bulgarian-Armenian) newspaper.
Furthermore, I will treat the topic of the recent creation of the AGBU Armenian virtual college, an advanced online platform for learning the Armenian language, in line with the most modern technologies in language teaching, that has been employed in the last years during the classes at the AGBU Saturday School and which represents a significant innovation in the promotion of literacy in the mother tongue.
Finally, I will consider the importance of diaspora institutions such as the AGBU in fostering a specific language ideology that is inscribed in a discourse on ethnic identity and community’s survival in the context of globalization and which proves crucial in the improvement of the minority’s relationships with the Republic of Armenia.
Keywords: Armenian Diaspora, Literacy, Bulgarian Armenians, Armenian Minority, Minority Media, Plovdiv
Published in RUNG: 22.12.2020; Views: 2300; Downloads: 0
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19. DE BELLA ALPHABETICA. L' “IDEOLOGIZZAZIONE” DEGLI ALFABETI IN BULGARIA E CROAZIA NEL CONTESTO POST-IMPERIALE E POST-SOCIALISTAGiustina Selvelli, 2017, doctoral dissertation Abstract: La mia tesi analizza il rapporto fra sistemi di scrittura e coesione etnica nei processi di costruzione identitaria nazionale in Bulgaria e Croazia. Viene esplorato il ruolo svolto dalle questioni alfabetiche nel corso di alcuni momenti critici di passaggio sociopolitico in entrambi i paesi, ovvero il periodo interbellico e post-imperiale e quello più recente post-socialista. A tal fine, vengono presi in esame numerosi tesi relativi a “polemiche alfabetiche” (in riferimento alla disputa cirillico/latino, in entrambi i paesi), provenienti da esponenti del mondo intellettuale e culturale, integrati in alcuni casi con documenti ufficiali giuridici relativi a problematiche di scrittura ed inseriti nel relativo spazio di significazione a livello ideologico nazionale ed internazionale. Lo scopo è quello di evidenziare come le delicate questioni in ambito di sistemi di scrittura e le relative scelte in merito riflettano il posizionamento dei rispettivi paesi in contesti politici e culturali diversi, e rappresentino il tentativo di costruire una narrativa nazionale in linea con il momento storico e l'ideologia identitaria dominante. Inoltre, emergerà come la costruzione nazionale si serva dell'elemento dell'alfabeto per affermare in maniera altamente simbolica la sua identità in relazione ad un “Altro” di rilievo, in quello che può essere interpretato come il sintomo di un timore assimilatorio mai placato caratteristico dell'area balcanica.
Keywords: Alfabeto cirillico, alfabeto latino, ideologie alfabetiche, Croazia, Bulgaria, Jugoslavia, nazionalismo, minoranze etniche, diritti linguistici
Published in RUNG: 22.12.2020; Views: 2298; Downloads: 0
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