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Organizers

• Sanita Lazdiņa
  Rēzekne University, Tallin University
  sanita.lazdina@ru.lv
• Ilga Šuplinska
  Rēzekne University
  ilga.suplinska@ru.lv

Description

It has been 10 years since the Baltic countries joined the European Union. During this time, geo-political and socio-economic changes have influenced linguistic and cultural contacts, and evoked changes in attitudes to languages, language hierarchies and similar. Under these circumstances, the English language has often been described as hegemonic and even metaphorically as a panacea, as well as a pandemic (Phillipson 2009). However, also processes have been enhanced which point to the opposite direction and which have contributed to the competitiveness of smaller national as well as regional languages and cultures. This glocal nature of contemporary socio-political life is reflected in the attempt to connect global processes with the strengthening of local identity. It starts with raising awareness of one’s mother tongue and with a cultural identification of local practices within the context of global developments. In this context, Bell (2013) is of the opinion that we cannot talk without giving ourselves away socially, ethnically, geographically.

In this workshop we present a variety of views on the region of Latgale, with the aim to discuss the interaction between bigger and smaller languages and cultures in the 21st century (Latvian, Polish, Russian, English, German and relations with other languages). Particular attention will be paid to the Latgalian language and processes of cultural development in the regional, national and European context, based on the UNESCO working group "methodology for assessing language vitality and endangerment" (UNESCO 2003). Of the nine criteria developed by UNESCO in order to determine the vitality of a language, we will focus on four criteria in order to discuss the situation of Latgalian language and culture:

• the availability of materials for language education and literacy;
• the response to new domains and media;
• shifts in domains of language use;
• and community member`s attitudes towards their own language.

We would very much like to invite also researchers working on other regional languages and cultures to our workshop, in order to outline similarities and differences in the research of this field in the Baltic States and of Europe as a whole. The UNESCO model may in this context help to reveal attitudes concerning small languages in different parts of Europe, in particular regarding their value and the need to preserve them. As UNESCO summarizes, each and every language embodies the unique cultural wisdom. The loss of any language is thus a loss for all humanity (UNESCO 2003).

References

Bell, Allan (2013). The Guidebook to Sociolinguistics. Wiley-Blackwell.

Phillipson, Robert (2009). Linguistic Imperialism Continued. New York and London: Routledge.

UNESCO (2003). UNESCO Ad Hoc Expert Group on Endangered Languages. Language Vitality and Endangerment.

Accepted papers

Click on the title to read the abstract. 

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