Repository of University of Nova Gorica

Search the repository
A+ | A- | Help | SLO | ENG

Query: search in
search in
search in
search in
* old and bologna study programme

Options:
  Reset


1 - 5 / 5
First pagePrevious page1Next pageLast page
1.
Language and alphabet in the Armenian diaspora of Plovdiv, Bulgaria: symbolic cultivation and identitary memory
Giustina 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: 2867; Downloads: 0
This document has many files! More...

2.
The role of the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) in supporting literacy in the minority language among the Bulgaria diaspora
Giustina 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: 3185; Downloads: 0
This document has many files! More...

3.
ALPHABET AND WRITING IN THE ARMENIAN DIASPORA OF PLOVDIV: ANTHROPOLOGICAL AND SOCIOLINGUISTIC PERSPECTIVES
Giustina Selvelli, 2015, original scientific article

Abstract: This work investigates the relation between the maintenance of Armenian identity and language and the multifunctional employment of the Armenian writing system in the diasporic context of Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Departing from the assumption that a writing system’s cultural meaning goes far beyond its technical function, the aim is to demonstrate how the Armenian alphabet becomes a fundamental component of a process of symbolic cultivation of collective imagery, employed by the local intelligentsia in different writing settings in order to keep the link with the cultural and spiritual legacy of the historic Armenian motherland alive. In this vision, I integrate the analysis of ethnic identity with the study of the representational factors that allow a group to exist in the symbolic horizon of its members, with the purpose of underlining the symbolic aspect of ethnicity and identifying the mechanisms active in its persistence in time as a historic and cultural construction.
Keywords: Armenian Diaspora, Armenian Alphabet, Bulgarian Armenians, Plovdiv, Armenian Language
Published in RUNG: 24.08.2020; Views: 3047; Downloads: 0
This document has many files! More...

4.
THE ROLE OF THE NEWSPAPER PAREKORDZAGANI TZAIN AND ITS RELATED INSTITUTIONS IN THE PRESERVATION OF LANGUAGE AND IDENTITY IN THE ARMENIAN COMMUNITY OF PLOVDIV
Giustina Selvelli, 2018, original scientific article

Abstract: This paper describes the linguistic and identitary challenges faced by the members of the Armenian diaspora of Plovdiv, Bulgaria, in relation to what can be viewed as an irreducible multicultural context. Through the consideration of the community’s main cultural institutions embodied by the AGBU organization, the related press organ Parekordzagani Tzain and publishing house Armen Tur, I highlight the Armenian diaspora’s ability of combining different resources from a transnational perspective, while keeping alive a fixed sense of collective identity. In such process, I show how language reveals itself as the main chore of the community’s value systems, embracing different domains of the diaspora social and cultural life.
Keywords: Armenian diaspora, Multilingualism in Bulgaria, Armenians in Plovdiv, Armenian institutions, Bulgarian Armenians.
Published in RUNG: 19.06.2020; Views: 3431; Downloads: 0
This document has many files! More...

5.
PRESERVING THE POSTMEMORY OF THE GENOCIDE: THE ARMENIAN DIASPORA’S INSTITUTIONS IN PLOVDIV
Giustina Selvelli, 2018, original scientific article

Abstract: This paper intends to shed light on the memory of the Armenian Genocide among the Armenian diaspora in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. I will focus on the patterns of promoting remembrance found in the local Armenian press and literature, on initiatives of the Armenian General Benevolent Union/Parekordzagan (AGBU) to celebrate the ninetieth and hundredth anniversaries of the Genocide, and on analyzing the cityscape of Plovdiv in terms of the monuments, the museum, and the cemetery of its Armenian community. To that end, I will employ information collected during interviews, articles from Plovdiv’s main Armenian newspaper, and data I gathered while visiting the community’s public spaces. I will demonstrate the importance of collective memory and remembrance of the Genocide to the preservation of the internal cohesion of the Armenian community of Plovdiv and its ethnic identity. Taking a socio-anthropological approach, I will argue that the maintenance and promotion of a specific “postmemory” of the Genocide depends heavily on the activities and initiatives of the main diaspora organization, the AGBU, on its selection of specific symbols, and on the emotional content of its communications.
Keywords: Armenian Genocide, Bulgaria, collective memory, commemorative practices, diaspora
Published in RUNG: 19.06.2020; Views: 3062; Downloads: 0
This document has many files! More...

Search done in 0.02 sec.
Back to top