Language Attitudes, Collective Memory and (Trans)National Identity Construction Among the Armenian Diaspora in Bulgaria

• Format: eBook
• Language: English
• Published: Bern Peter Lang International Academic Publishers 2024
• Series: Studies on Language and Culture in Central and Eastern Europe
• Subjects: Armenian; Armenian Alphabet; Armenian Genocide; Attitudes; Benjamin; Bulgaria; Christian; Collective; Collective Identity; Construction; Diaspora; Ethnosymbolism; Giustina; Identity; Kloss; Language; Lost Homeland; Memory; Practices; Selvelli; thema EDItEUR::2 Language qualifiers::2A Indo-European languages::2AJ Baltic and other Indo-European languages::2AJK Other Indo-European languages::2AJKR Armenian; thema EDItEUR::C Language and Linguistics::CF Linguistics; thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DS Literature: history and criticism::DSB Literary studies: general; thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBC Cultural and media studies::JBCC Cultural studies; thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBS Social groups, communities and identities::JBSL Ethnic studies::JBSL1 Ethnic groups and multicultural studies; thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHT History: specific events and topics::NHTZ Genocide and ethnic cleansing; TransNational
• Online Access: Open Access: DOAB: description of the publication; Open Access: DOAB, download the publication

 This book examines the processes of symbolic cultivation of identity promoted by Armenian cultural elites in the Bulgarian city of Plovdiv, focusing on the transmission of positive language ideologies and emotional elements related to collective memory. Drawing on extensive ethnographic fieldwork, interviews, and a range of primary materials, this work sheds light on the role of the Armenian alphabet in legitimizing collective visions of 'distinctiveness' and of the Armenian Genocide remembrance in shaping non-exclusive, transnational patterns of belonging. While contributing to the study of the complex dynamics and challenges of 'Armenian survival' across space and time, it situates the issue in the unique context of Bulgaria, analyzing, moreover, the impact of proximity to Turkey.