Minority cultures

This paper looks at the effectiveness of the policy of non-discrimination towards minorities in the preservation of minority cultural heritage,  constructing a case study within Albania. After defining the key terms used, this paper examines the legal framework of non-discrimination towards minorities in its historical development and looks into the state of preservation of minority cultural heritage on the ground throughout the 2010s combining extensive field-work with interviews with key representatives of ethnic minorities in Albania. The poor state of preservation of minority cultural heritage is mostly attributed to under-financing and the insufficient policy of non-discrimination. As I demonstrate, in the case of minorities with a kin-state in the region, most notably Greece, as well as the heritage claimed by neighbouring states, primarily Turkey, the policy of non-discrimination and the practice of under-financing paves the way for external involvement in the protection of cultural heritage, in pursuit of international political agendas. The paper concludes that more needs to be done for the protection of minority cultural heritage in Albania.

In Hungary, the Roma emancipatory and cultural movement emerged in the 1970s and one of the most significant spaces of this start was a peripheral youth club in the 15th district of Budapest. This writing seeks to retrace the history of the Rom Som Gipsy club between 1972 and 1980 and in parallel, aims to integrate the story of this specific place into the frame of minority heritage studies. By presenting the birth and the functioning of the Rom Som band playing authentic Gipsy music, the Rom Som journal publishing literary texts in Romani language, we are stressing on the innovative and progressive character of the Gipsy club.

Culture can play a significant role in creating, reinforcing and enhancing ethic community. The paper discusses that issue by focusing on use of a minor language in a literary translation. Use of a minor language – not only in public discourse or in literature, but also in translation, is a political act, especially while considering postcolonial approach. Similar issues are taken into account regarding minor group’s narratives / subaltern narratives in major/dominant language. The Author describes this processes of politicizing translation on the example of Upper-Silesian translations published after 1989.

Cruel Tormentor or Good Neighbour? Stereotype of the Turk and Bulgarian State Policy Towards the Muslim Minority in 1878–1912, „Slavonic Review”, 2017, no. 2, s. 261–284. I The paper presents the problem of the influence of positive and negative stereotypes of the Turk on the Bulgarian state’s policy towards the Muslim minority in 1878–1912. The first part of the text analyses the evolution of the negative stereotype of the Turk as the “cruel tormentor” and the positive one of the “good neighbour” in Bulgarian culture from the beginning of the Ottoman period to the turn of the 20th century. The second part focuses on the discriminative aspects of Bulgarian minority policy towards the Muslim population that was mostly implemented at the end of the 1870s and the beginning of 1880s. Part three presents examples of the tolerant attitude of Bulgarian authorities that dominated Sofia’s policy towards the Muslims from the Union from 1885 to the outbreak of the Balkan Wars..

Minority and majority have become very sensitive issues lately, in the life of the nation and the state, minority and majority issues are often misused to attack and corner a group, organization or religion. This study tries to highlight the minority and majority in Islam and place them according to the Al-Qur'an and As-Sunnah. Islam has provided guidance for the Muslim community both as a majority and as a minority. So it is hoped that in social life a Muslim can still practice his religion and at the same time still be able to do justice to others. The results of this study indicate that when Muslims become the majority, they must still be fair to other groups or religions. Likewise, when Muslims become a minority, they must still be treated fairly, so that they can carry out their religious obligations. Abstrak: Minoritas dan mayoritas menjadi isu yang sangat sensitip akhir-akhir ini, dalam kehidupan berbangsa dan bernegara isu minoritas dan mayoritas sering disalah gunakan untuk menyerang dan menyudutkan suatu kelompok, organisasi atau agama. Studi ini mencoba menyoroti minoritas dan mayoritas dalam Islam dan mendudukkannya menurut Al-Qur'an dan As-Sunnah. Islam telah memberikan panduan bagi masyarakat Muslim baik dia sebagai mayoritas maupun minoritas. Sehingga diharapkan dalam kehidupan bermasyarakat seorang Muslim tetap bisa menjalankan agamanya dan sekaligus tetap bisa berbuat adil terhadap orang lain. Hasil dari studi ini menunjukkan bahwa ketika kaum Muslimin menjadi mayoritas, maka dia harus tetap berlaku adil kepada kelompok atau agama lain. Demikian juga ketika kaum Muslimin menjadi minoritas, maka harus tetap diperlakukan secara adil, sehingga bisa menjalankan kewajiba-kewajiban agamanya.

Galicia is inseparable from the experience of migration and exile, and as has been extensively examined, mobility has played a major role in Galician culture and society. Most studies have identified the Galician diaspora with Latin America, but other locations such as London have only recently begun to receive critical attention. The aim of this article is to contribute to the development of a new understanding of this phenomenon by focusing on the literary representation of Galician migration in New York, and by taking as a case study Claudio Rodríguez Fer’s short story ‘A muller loba’([1993] 2011). Rodríguez Fer’s text updates the myth of the werewolf (which has a prominent presence in Galician literature) not only by taking this legend to New York, but also by subverting the submissive role played by women in this tradition. Ruth (the protagonist) represents an independent and rebellious femininity, which simultaneously challenges patriarchy, and therefore an essentialist view of the nation, and embodies the resistance of local identities in the global age. By paying special attention to the tension between the local and the global as it is reflected in this short story, and following recent and innovative studies such as those by Colmeiro (2009; 2017), Hooper (2011) and Romero (2012), this article will suggest a more extensive approach to the experience of displacement in the context of Galician migration.

http://www.galicia21journal.org/G/index.php