Ocene, zapiski, poročila - Reviews, Notes, Reports
NEGOTIATING LINGUISTIC IDENTITY AND BELONGING IN EUROPE (= Nationalisms across the Globe 14). Eds. Virve-Anneli Vihman and Kristiina Praakli. Frankfurt am Main et al.: Peter Lang. 2013. 354 pages.
The 14th volume of the Nationalisms Across the Globe series brings forth the questions of language and identity in Europe. Most of the papers included were presented at the 2011 Language and Identity Symposium at the University of Tartu in Estonia. Through twelve case studies, the authors draw a picture of how linguistic identities function in societies and explore the relations between language and identity. The book draws from Herder's concept of language-centered thought, Benedict Anderson's notion of "imagined communities," and also from the "normative isomorphism of language, nation, and state" (Kamusella 2009: 29-37). In the introductory chapter, the authors build the theoretical background for three topical groups of articles: multilingualism, self-representation and belonging, and language policy. They point to historical experiences of homogenization processes to present how they influenced the current linguistic landscape of Europe and its perception.
The essays by Verschik, Ehala, and Valk examine language and identity issues in the Baltic states. Verschik focuses on Russian and Estonian language contact issues in the sphere of computermediated communication (CMC). The patterns that she observes constitute
code-copying of Estonian structural, orthographic, and lexical features into Russian written discourse. The author concludes that Estonian-Russian code-copying might be a representation of a new, Estonian Russian ethnolinguistic identity. However, among the numerous phonetic transcriptions provided, there are several inconsistencies regarding phonetic transcription (e. g., example 2a justits versus example 2c justic-i)} The study would then benefit from a single unified transcription system.
Ehala concentrates on language use and its impact on collective identity among Russian speakers in the Baltic countries. He describes three distinctive identity types of Russian speakers and explores the relationships between geography, language use, and identity formation. The work builds on Laitin (1998)'s sociolinguistic analysis of Rus -sian-speaking populations in the region. As such, the study provides an updated demographic overview of the status of language use among the Russophones in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
Valk examines members of the Esto -nian diaspora, native Estonians, and the Russian-speaking minority in Estonia to demonstrate that language is a variable in identity formation processes. One's lect can play a central function in one region and a more peripheral function in another. For instance, in the case of Estonians, language plays a salient identity-defining role. Valk claims that this is especially the case when interethnic contact puts speakers' languages under a perceived threat. The varied role of language in identity
1 Additional inconsistencies: examples 1, 2a, and 2b seem to follow the Library of Congress transcription style (e. g., justits), while examples 2c, 3, 4, 5, 6a, 6c, 8, and 9 do not (e. g., justic-i, organizacii, raznica). Additionally, in example 8, liikmed (sic) should be written as likkmed. Example 7 seems to be a version of German transcription (e. g., estse) and stanno (sic) should be written as stranno.
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Ocene, zapiski, poročila - Reviews, Notes, Reports
formation is the major contribution of Valk's article.
Two other studies examine topics in language planning and language policy for minority languages. McLeod's essay analyzes the ways in which Sorbian and Gaelic-speaking groups have developed since the implementation of minority language laws in their respective countries. While the number of speakers of these languages has grown, a divide between the native-speaking population and those outside of this group who are learning the language for the first time has become apparent. This leads the author to question the importance of language as opposed to other factors in the promotion of minority populations within the European context. Walsh discusses the implementation of language planning and language policy strategies for the promotion of Irish at the National University of Ireland (NUI). Although the university claims to be committed to providing Irish language services, internal investigation of their realization has shown to be lacking in several areas. This article may be useful for future research of similar language provisions and their implementation.
The role of language (or its script) in national discourse is the common theme for three other essays. Seriot refers to two models of relations between language and nation: the "civic" (e. g., France) and "ethnic" one (e. g., Germany). The author analyzes the one-to-one overlapping between language and nation. The situation in Central and Eastern Europe is examined through the examples of Kashubian and Macedonian speakers. Seriot's study argues that the link between language and nation allows for creating (and denying existence of) nations. Given that numerous regional movements in Europe
(e.g., Catalonia, Flanders) are based on linguistic premises, the interrelations between language and nation remain crucial.
Boix-Fuster presents the situation of Catalan identity, based on common language (ius linguae). Therefore, in order to be identified as Catalan, one needs to acquire the language. With Spanish as the lingua franca in the region and an influx of immigrants from other parts of Spain and abroad, local linguistic identity has become very dynamic. The author examines the current situation through two case studies: elections to the Catalan Parliament and code-switching in a Catalan choir. Given the current mingling of languages in the region, homogenization efforts need to be abandoned. At the same time, Boix-Fuster argues that Catalan should enjoy an all-level protection of the state.
Kamusella uses a diachronic approach to analyze the relations between language and script(s). The essay refers to numerous examples of how states (Romania, Russia, the Soviet Union, Turkey, among others) imposed language policies and replaced one script with another. Sketching a broad historical perspective, Kamusella notes a significant decrease in multiscruptural-ity in Central and Eastern Europe. The emergence of homogeneous national entities in the last century resulted in "seeping out from the region of the /.../ traditional scripts" (Kamusella 2015: 99). The author concludes that the idea of multiscrupturalism presents a challenge for the European Union. At the same time, he stresses how important the intricacies of script and politics are for understanding Europe now and in the past.
Overall, the volume provides a useful overview of various sociolinguis-
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Ocene, zapiski, poročila - Reviews, Notes, Reports
tic issues in the present-day European context. While the articles offer insight into these issues, they leave many questions to consider for future research. The study demonstrates that there is still much more to learn about the role language plays in European societies and how languages in contact interact with one another. Through their contributions the authors have successfully demonstrated that while language and identity have historically been taken as inseparable, these notions are much more fluid and dynamic in modern-day Europe. Therefore, systematic research on these factors is needed in order to better understand how identity is being built and influenced.
References
Tomasz KAMUSELLA, 2012: The Politics of Language and Nationalism in Modern Day Central Europe. Basingstoke: Palgrave Mac-millan.
Tomasz KAMUSELLA, 2015: Creating Languages in Central Europea During the Last Millenium. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. David LAITIN, 1998: Identity in Formation. The Russian-Speaking Populations in the Near Abroad. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Krzysztof E. Borowski, Alexandra Fisher
borowski@ku. edu, alexfisher67@gmail.com
FERI LAINŠČEK: MISLICE, DESEJTPRAVLIC. Murska Sobota: Društvo za humanistična vprašanja Argo, Digitalni tisk. 2014. 101 str.
Pri Društvu Argo, društvu za humanistična vprašanja, je izšla prekmur-
ska izdaja pravljic Ferija Lainščka z naslovom Mislice, ki jih je iz knjižne slovenščine v prekmurščino prevedla Vesna Radovanovič. Pravljice v narečju so tako kot knjižna različica zapisane v tiskani in audio obliki. Knjiga in zvočna interpretacija sta izšli kot jubilejna izdaja ob 300-letnici izida prve knjige v prekmurskem jeziku, ki je Mali katechismus Ferenca Temlina, natisnjen v Halleju 1715. leta.
Pravljice Mislice avtorja Ferija Lainščka združujejo deset (v zvočni obliki devet) zaokroženih enot, pravljic in so bile prvotno zapisane in interpretirane v slovenskem knjižnem jeziku. V knjižnoslovenski izdaji so prvič izšle v založbi Podjetja za promocijo kulture Franc-Franc v letu 2000, pri isti založbi so bile ponatisnjene v letih 2001, 2007 in 2011, v elektronski obliki pa leta 2005 (Založba Ruslica). V zvočni obliki jih je interpretirala pravljičarka Vesna Radovanovič. Mislice so bile leta 2000 nagrajene z Večernico, osrednjo nagrado za mladinsko književnost.
Pravljice motivsko povezuje rdeča nit večnega boja med dobrim in slabim, kjer je dobro bogato poplačano: zvestoba in iskrena ljubezen med Zaliko in Gustijem, prekm. Zalika pa Gusti, med Sidonijo in Tomažem v pravljici Pastirska piščalka, prekm. Pasterskafujčka in med Terezo in Markom v pravljici Tere-zini biseri, prekm. Trejzini biseri, predanost delu in močna povezanost z naravo ter izjemna potrpežljivost grajskega go-lobarja Ernija v pravljici Golobarjeva hči, prekm. Goloubarova kčij, odločnost in moralnost Ignacije v pravljici Ignacija in njen angel, prekm. Ignacija pa njeni angeo, skromnost in medsebojno zaupanje zakoncev v pravljici Jeričini čudeži, prekm. Jeričini čudeži, bistroumnost Jerice v pravljici Jeričini čudeži ter hvaležnost starega kovača v pravljici
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