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

1. Cambridge Endangered Languages and Cultures Group Seminar Series Cambridge, UK 25 October 2012 The Italian minority in Kerč, the Crimea: linguistic identity and cultural belonging Paola Bocale University of Cambridge pb436@cam.ac.uk

2. Outline • 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?

3. Kerč’, the Crimea • The third biggest city in the Crimea • Considered one of the most ancient cities in Ukraine • Founded 2600 years ago

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

5. Kerč’ ethnic composition2001 Census (145,518 people)

6. Kerč’

7. The Catholic Church

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

9. Deportation to Kazakhstan

10. Atbasar, Kazakhstan

11. Loss of the ancestrallanguage ‘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)‘

12. The Association of Kerč’ Italians

13. Identity constructionin 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

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

15. Emphasizing the link between language and ethnic identity

16. Having multiple ethnicities by ethnic origin and linguistic competence

17. In order to revitalize their language and culture Kerč’ Italians have to face their once stigmatized identity

18. Aims and challenges of the language courses

19. Conclusions 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

20. Conclusions 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’

21. Conclusions 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.

22. References 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.