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
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?
Kerč’, the Crimea

The third
biggest city in
the Crimea

Considered
one of the
most ancient
cities in
Ukraine

Founded 2600
years ago
Kerč’

Kerč has a
harbour on
the Kerč
Strait, which
makes it a key
to the Sea of
Azov
Kerč’ ethnic composition
2001 Census (145,518 people)
Kerč’
The Catholic Church
Bisceglie and Trani area

Migrants to Kerč’
came mostly from
the towns of
Bisceglie and
Trani in the Apulia
region, in southeastern Italy
Deportation to Kazakhstan
Atbasar, Kazakhstan
Loss 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 Kerč’ Italians
Identity 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
and 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 courses
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
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’
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.
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.