Session
Language and Culture
Description
Multiculturalism is a doctrine under which several cultures interact in a common context. In these societies each group differentiates for its civilization, mentality and language. However, the definition of multiculturalism depends mainly on the social, political, cultural and sociolinguistic context. In multicultural societies it is expected that there are social groups which carry out their cultural values such as the language. However, are the multicultural societies always multilingual, too? The insistence of building a monolingual ideology in a multicultural and multiethnic country will always fail because the role of the language in these societies is not only to establish mutual communication but to save national identity, too. In different geo-political contexts, when there are two languages in contact, it often happens one of them to be considered of a first category and it is expected from the others to obey the first one. This approach leads to the feeling of a lack of confidence and loss of identity for individuals who belong to one of the other category groups. This paper aims to reflect on the loss of collective identity in multicultural, multiethnic and multilingual societies. Republic of North Macedonia is a country created in the '90s of the last century, which in the political aspect is faced with a denial of its history, language and church, whereas with the interior politics it hardly accepts the existence of other languages and cultures. It is a multicultural society where cultural and lingual diversity instead of representing values, they are experienced as a clash of cultures.
Keywords:
language, culture, multilingualism, identity
Proceedings Editor
Edmond Hajrizi
ISBN
978-9951-437-96-7
First Page
72
Last Page
75
Location
Lipjan, Kosovo
Start Date
10-2020 12:00 AM
End Date
10-2020 12:00 AM
DOI
10.33107/ubt-ic.2020.543
Recommended Citation
Toci, Arta, "Approaches and Treatment of Languages in Multiethnic Societies. Case Study: Republic of North Macedonia" (2020). UBT International Conference. 1.
https://knowledgecenter.ubt-uni.net/conference/2020/lc/1
Included in
Approaches and Treatment of Languages in Multiethnic Societies. Case Study: Republic of North Macedonia
Lipjan, Kosovo
Multiculturalism is a doctrine under which several cultures interact in a common context. In these societies each group differentiates for its civilization, mentality and language. However, the definition of multiculturalism depends mainly on the social, political, cultural and sociolinguistic context. In multicultural societies it is expected that there are social groups which carry out their cultural values such as the language. However, are the multicultural societies always multilingual, too? The insistence of building a monolingual ideology in a multicultural and multiethnic country will always fail because the role of the language in these societies is not only to establish mutual communication but to save national identity, too. In different geo-political contexts, when there are two languages in contact, it often happens one of them to be considered of a first category and it is expected from the others to obey the first one. This approach leads to the feeling of a lack of confidence and loss of identity for individuals who belong to one of the other category groups. This paper aims to reflect on the loss of collective identity in multicultural, multiethnic and multilingual societies. Republic of North Macedonia is a country created in the '90s of the last century, which in the political aspect is faced with a denial of its history, language and church, whereas with the interior politics it hardly accepts the existence of other languages and cultures. It is a multicultural society where cultural and lingual diversity instead of representing values, they are experienced as a clash of cultures.