Description:
The relationship between language and identity is a complex topic everywhere in the world, but maybe it is even more crucial for those people living in the Balkans who speak a Romance variety. This volume is the result of a project started by the Balkan History Association, and brings together scholars trained in social sciences and humanities to offer the reader a thorough sociolinguistic and anthropological account of this region. It constitutes a contribution to a reformulation of methodological and analytical issues, providing a better insight in the linguistic and geopolitical processes taking place in the area.
Contributors are Michael Studemund-Halévy, Cătălin Mamali, Anna-Christine Weirich, Ewa Nowicka, Daniela-Carmen Stoica, Mircea Măran, Zvjezdana Vrzic, and Monica Huțanu.
Review Quotes: "The added value of this volume lies in the fact that the essays are written by scholars with various scientific backgrounds and approaches in the field of humanities and social sciences that successfully demonstrate the complex relationship between language and identity of the Romance-speaking communities in the Balkans, groups that often can be regarded as hidden and/or marginalized. [...]
I warmly recommend this volume to all who are interested in the scientific community, especially to those in the field of (Romance) linguistics and sociolinguistics. However, this book is not just for them, as it provides a valuable contribution to the topic of language and identity in a much wider context. I am sure that the larger public will also find interest in this attention-grabbing topic."
-Petar Radosavljevic, Ph.D., University of Zagreb, in Hiperboreea 8/1 (2021): 155-158.
"I believe that this volume will be of particular use to all scholars and students interested in issues of linguistic diversity in the Balkans, not only to experts in Romance languages, but also to those who wish to explore the fascinating issues of multilingualism and minority languages in various urban and non-urban "post-imperial" contexts, with meaningful links to other communities in the wider Eurasian space. Moreover, I think it sets an important precedent and example that can inspire other experts to work on a similar project focusing on the languages of further minority groups in the Balkans in a transnational perspective."
-Giustina Selvelli, University Ca' Foscari of Venice, in Linguist List, 32.3626, Tue, Nov 16, 2021