a new generation turns to its authentic heritage
ItalyDaily - An Albanian enclave looks to its roots
a new generation turns to its authentic heritage
i especially love these quotes
Even after the rise of television and the subsequent fading of dialects across the country, most of the residents of these communities still speak Albaresh.
Whereas in the average Italian village only the elderly can speak fluent dialect, the opposite soon will be true here.
This fall, schools around the diocese are hosting Albaresh-language courses for the first time, as are the schools in Italy's other Albanian diocese, located in Sicily. The nation got a good look at this new ethnic enthusiasm last month, when Miss Calabria, raised in the region's Albanian townships, asked to speak at the Miss Italia pageant in her ancient tongue.
but there is a close feeling between the two communities. There is a motto here, he says:
Distant blood is never forgotten.
"Sorry, but could you repeat that in Albaresh? We don't speak Italian here."
Albaresh is passed down as an oral tradition. "Unfortunately, they never taught it in schools, so we don't know how to read or write it," says Cingone. "Only now they're starting to teach it."
ItalyDaily - An Albanian ehttp://www.italydaily.it/Art_e_culture/Features/2003/Albanesi.shtmlnclave looks to its roots