Minority Right Legislation in the Inter-War Period, a Prologue to the Present-Day European Convention and Charter of Minority Rights

Author(s): Pieter Van der Plank / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The evaluation of the state of the nation regarding linguistic minority rights, under protection of the European Charter, has to point out some important weaknesses, such as the multi-interpretable concept of minority, the flexible – let alone the manipulative – implementations of minority rights by the contracting states, the vague obligations imposed upon them to correct abuses, and a legal deficiency making juridical examination impossible. It is evident that the minority right is a right by intention, not by law, and therefore sensitive to many interpretations and misinterpretations, and, of course, political interests damaging the interests of the minorities. Consistent rules of control and correction can only be derived from laws, and it is evident that in this respect the Charter is nothing but a framework and gaps still have to be filled up in order to make it a foundation in the protection of minorities. To add some more aspects of imperfection, we state the following problems: who is entitled to ask for minority rights: individual citizens or representing organizations too, in which case further questions have to be put about what and who these organizations represent both in relation to the minority and to the state. Some European states, such as France, or Greece, resolved some of these problems in a drastic way by only recognizing individual members of minorities in their quality as citizens. This may reduce the problem in restricting minority rights to individual subjects, entitled to ask personal rights to practise their cultural peculiarities in private. On the contrary, other states, such as Belgium, deny individuals a collective minority status, not to undermine the precious conflict-reducing bi-territorial administrative settlements. In other words, the arrangements in which each of the state constituting nationalities, the Flemings and the Walloons, are obliged to exclusive language usage in their own federal part of the country, which denies their language a legal status in the federal part of the other nationality. The Catalonian autonomous region in Spain is another example being a semi-national territory with the administrative usage of the regional language above the national one. It looks like a matter of course that these states signed but did not ratify the ‘European-made’ minority rights laid down in the Charter. The Charter needs improvement by accommodating these differences. However, when it comes to a revision, allowing uniform European directives, we have to ask ourselves if it is profitable for the minorities, as a European regulation, denying differences between the European nations and their traditions, too, often results in resistance against and undermining the contemplated goals. My proposed conference contribution wants to attune to history, directing attention to the first European-wide minority legislature as drafted in the Peace Treaties concluding World War I. The League of Nations, the unhappy predecessor of the present-day United Nations, appointed itself with the task to implementing minority rights in the constitutions of the newly erected nation states. However, its minority protecting system collapsed dramatically and could not prevent the outbreak of a second World War. When Marácz suggests a European bench marking as the pivot of the minority legislature, we should like to take advantage by pointing out the importance of public report and discussion, because, between 1920 and 1940, just these were severely wanting by the failing system of the League. International law lost its authority and could not resolve or even relax the tensions between the state and its minorities any longer, leaving Central Europe to become a chimera in the struggle between peoples and nations: a struggle within and between nation-states, fighting against their minorities, privileging their own nation and supporting this nation as a minority in neighbouring states. This was due to unsolved and, at that time, unsolvable questions. The United Europe eliminated some of these questions, but others still need a solution; so what do we have to learn from the inter-war mistakes in order to make the Charter a foundation for European legislation?

Annotations on Lexical Innovations

Author(s): Maria Laura Rus / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Vocabulary is the most susceptible compartment of language to be subjected to different changes. The lexical units that were subject to these changes of form and/or meaning, representing lexical innovations, can be underlined in so far as they are seen diachronically, because once generalized, they become historical categories. The changes in vocabulary determine its quantitative growth, based on words and variants that already exist in language or adaptation and endorsement of words, forms, meanings from other languages. The paper presents different linguistic phenomena that lexical innovations are based on: lexical analogy, hypercorrectness, popular etymology, contamination. Illustrative examples for each of these phenomena are brought into our discussion.

Les ambiguïtés terminologiques dans la traduction spécialisée: le cas de quelques termes économiques

Author(s): Corina Dâmbean Bozedean / Language(s): French Publication Year: 0

Les ambiguïtés terminologiques que le traducteur rencontre dans la traduction spécialisée sont loin d’être éclairées par les dictionnaires ou les glossaires bilingues ou monolingues du domaine. C’est pourquoi dans le passage d’un terme d’une langue à l’autre, le traducteur doit maîtriser à la fois des connaissances linguistiques et extra-linguistiques. Or, l’hétérogénéité des textes à traduire sur le marché du travail, empêche souvent le traducteur de se spécialiser dans un seul domaine. Dans ce contexte, les ressources terminologiques devraient montrer une plus grande adéquation aux exigences de la traduction spécialisée, en éclaircissant plus précisément certains aspects terminologiques fondamentaux, dont celui de la synonymie, qui peut occasionner des confusions. Tel est le cas des termes « frais », « dépenses », « charges » ou bien « taxes » et « droits », dont l’étroite parenté rend difficile leur choix correct dans la traduction.

The Role of Translation in Teaching a Foreign Language

Author(s): Andreea Năznean / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

This article aims at presenting different arguments for and against translation in teaching a foreign language. It also recommends translation as one of many possibilities of relating English to students’ own languages. It also considers the different uses and roles of translation and bilingualism for different stages of learning and for different purposes. My intention is also to suggest ways in which translation might be incorporated into textbooks and curriculum development.

The Effects of the EU’s Language Policy on Revitalizing Endangered Languages

Author(s): Noémi Gál / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The revitalization of endangered languages has recently become a very popular topic in sociolinguistic research. As it is an extremely complex phenomenon, very many factors influence its outcomes. In my presentation I aim to outline the general linguistic context of the EU, as well as its possible effects on revitalizing endangered or potentially endangered languages, with a special regard to a few case-studies.

Mai bun decât originalul – Jobb, mint az eredeti

Author(s): Sándor-István Nagy / Language(s): Romanian Publication Year: 0

The research takes account of several aspects of translation based on the experience gained within the Romanian-Hungarian translation course of our department, which has been carried out in cooperation with the Romanian Language and Literature Department of the University. Beside the translations of literary texts, the study notably focuses on works with historical content. Starting from the edifying examples of the historical text – related to the history of Transylvania, our goal is to present several linguistic characteristics that are specific to the process of translation from the Romanian language into Hungarian.

Explicitation Strategies in the Translation of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights

Author(s): Melinda Balázs / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Explicitation is considered an inherent feature of the process of translation irrespective of the languages involved. Other potential translation universals include disambiguation, simplification, use of conventional grammar, etc. Since translations are regarded as having a language of their own, the study of translation universals enables us to find out more about this ‘third code.’ My presentation is aimed at investigating how explicitation is realized in two different translations of Emily Brontë’s classic novel, Wuthering Heights.

Herztier – Aspecte ale traducerii literare

Author(s): Orsolya Nagy-Szilveszter / Language(s): Romanian Publication Year: 0

Literary translation is not just a simple transposal of a discourse from a language into another, it is a form of creation, an embodiment of intercultural dialogue. The translator involved in the translation of literary texts has to confront a multitude of decisions in the process of recreating a literary work in another language and culture. This paper aims at highlighting and analysing several aspects of translating a literary text into the target language, focusing on examples drawn from Herta Müller’s novel entitled Herztier, its translation into Romanian by Nora Iuga – Animalul inimii – and into Hungarian by Nádori Lídia – Szívjószág.

The Culture Specific Element – A Mark of the National Feature

Author(s): Bianca Oana Han / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The present article intends to shed light upon certain aspects regarding the literary translation from Romanian into English, focusing upon the issues implied by the intercultural and interlinguistic transfer of those terms that preserve the local and national atmosphere, thus constituting the specific of a language, the so-called ‘culture specific elements,’ CSEs.

A NAPLÓ MINT AZ EMLÉKEZÉS GESZTUSA ÉS INTÉZMÉNYE

Author(s): József Havasréti / Language(s): Hungarian Publication Year: 0

Analyzing the journal of the writer Antal Szerb, I concentrate upon the premises of literary history and literary criticism behind the editor’s gesture. I investigate some questions and problems of literary life that are linked to the publishing of this journal. Publishing a text documenting the writer’s personal life presupposes that this is of public interest. This gesture is an unequivocal sign of canonization and classicization. In the case of Antal Szerb, the journal also documents the reality-forming power of discrimination/exclusion and double identity.

ÖNREFLEXIÓ ÉS ÉLETTÖRTÉNET SZÉCHENYI MŰVEIBEN

Author(s): Rita Pletl / Language(s): Hungarian Publication Year: 0

In Széchenyi’s definition, self-reflection is the intellectual effort by which the self, in a process of self-interpretation and self-correction, creates its particular identity. The practice of self-interpretation, thus, is the base of the interpretation of being, because this is how one can form a picture about himself and the world. This way, he recreates himself and the world, narratively. The series of symbols that follow through his walk of life, present us the formation of Széchenyi’s ideas. The differences in their meanings show the differences in the formation of his worldview. In my paper I follow the formation of a motive of a story of remorse, on the base of the journals and their sequence, the confessions from Döbling.

NARRATÍV IDENTITÁS BODOR ÁDÁM SINISTRA KÖRZET CÍMŰ MŰVÉBEN

Author(s): Enikő Balog / Language(s): Hungarian Publication Year: 0

When understanding a text, we always become one with the tradition in which it was born. But understanding also means posing questions that will dynamize the text. Ádám Bodor’s novel describes a world which might be easy to be recognized by us, who live in post-dictatorial countries. What is the element that makes a difference between this novel and others that concern the same theme? In this paper I ask what conception of a community is formed in those living in the environment described in the he novel, and how it can be compared to primitive cultures. How is the identity of these people built up, how is it connected to their names, or nicknames, how does, if it does, a change of identity occur, and how does the protagonist speak about all these.

A NARRATÍVÁK SZEREPE A NYELVOKTATÁSBAN

Author(s): Imola Katalin Nagy / Language(s): Hungarian Publication Year: 0

The topic of this paper is the role of the narratives in the teaching of foreign languages. From this point of view the concept of narrative refers mainly to texts and the work with different types of texts during language classes. After the presentation of the theoretical background of the topic, several types of texts are presented with emphasis on the practical aspects of their use in the teaching process. The main focus of the paper is the presentation of a set of exercise types, with reference to the key features of each type, to the language games which are used to reinforce certain grammar points or to practice certain structures, using texts, fragments of longer or shorter narratives.

A moldvai csángómagyar oktatási program kutatása és támogatása vizuális módszerekkel

Author(s): Petteri Laihonen / Language(s): Hungarian Publication Year: 0

The study and support of the Moldavian Csángó Educational Program is a multi-year project including fieldwork carried out in 30 Moldavian sites between 2017 and 2019. During the fieldwork, several visual and digital methods are introduced, and the materials generated form a large multimodal database. In this article, I present some visual methods that have proved successful so far, with particular reference to answering the following research questions: In what situations and how do the participants in the Educational Program identify themselves? What is the language repertoire of the participants in the Educational Program and how does it evolve? How do the participants in the Educational Program relate to literacy? How do the participants in the Educational Program vision their linguistic future? What kind of language or language varieties are used in the Program? I mention the following preliminary results: The pupils in the Educational Program were dominantly Romanians, but most often Hungarian language was viewed as the language of identity. With regards to spoken language, the Program is characterized by language tolerance. However, due to the large distance between Hungarian varieties in Moldavia and the Hungarian standard, standard Hungarian orthography is hard to learn for the participants. The activation of oral language knowledge serves the maintenance of Hungarian varieties in Moldavia, while teaching Hungarian literacy serves further studies in Hungarian medium education available beyond Moldavia.

Az orosz nyelv (újra)megjelenése Kárpátalja magyarok lakta településeinek nyelvi tájképében

Author(s): István Csernicskó / Language(s): Hungarian Publication Year: 0

The study examines the linguistic landscape of the territories of Transcarpathia (Ukraine) which are mostly inhabited by Hungarians in the context of language and economy. It will be presented how an economically prestigious world language, Russian, is displayed in this region. We show that economic realities suppress the nationalism of a minority. We note that a language policy espousing the language support of a national minority cannot be successful if it is not related to the development of the economy.

Etűd az irodalom oktatásához. Dialogikus olvasás a „beszélgető kultúra” folytonosságáért

Author(s): Gyöngyi Orbán / Language(s): Hungarian Publication Year: 0

In order to determine the purpose of teaching literature, one should be aware of the major transformation of the culture of knowledge in the digital society as well as of the contradiction between the developmental level of our communication technologies and the basic problems of understanding in all areas of life. The function of literature in interpreting can be ensured if the literary work is not treated as a mere object to be analysed, but the dialogical relationship between the literary work and the recipient as the condition of experiential reading is allowed and helped along to come about. The dialogical encounter with the literary work as an eminent text also eminently imposes the practice of the competences that are essential to any kind of dialogue and understanding such as turning towards the other, thorough consideration, lingering, questioning, fresh vision, and self-understanding as well as an essential linguistic competence: the ability to participate in the meanings created through the dialogical relationship.

A magyar mondattan néhány tanítási nehézsége

Author(s): Réka Pupp / Language(s): Hungarian Publication Year: 0

The essence of teaching and learning a foreign language lies primarily in the contrast and transferability of the person learning the language. The teacher should be aware of the difficulties faced by students in learning Hungarian. That is why s/he needs to see from an objective vantage point what is obvious to the native speaker. The rules that we provide our students with are not just about describing the form but about giving them the key to forming sentences, using the language. There is a great need for the teacher to have a general picture of the pupils’ language so that they can compare the similarities and differences with the Hungarian. This will make it more accurate for him/her, what s/he should actually teach and how to do it. In this paper, I discuss the sentence and the learning problems that I experience when working with Romanian students in Bucharest.

UNIVERSUL ISTRATIAN – AUTOBIOGRAFIE SAU AUTOFICŢIUNE?

Author(s): Eliza-Maria Biţă / Language(s): Romanian Publication Year: 0

Starting from the premise that Panait Istrati’s work has mistakenly been assessed according to the critical trends of Romanticism, we shall prove that this modern writer deserves an analysis from the viewpoint of the century-turn avant-garde criticism and of New Criticism, putting aside the author’s biography while reading and focusing instead on the message of the text. Therefore, based on the literary theory of French narratologists P. Lejeune, P. Gasparini, S. Doubrovsky, and L. Jenny on autobiography and autofiction, we shall introduce and examine two examples of erroneous presentation of Istrati’s work as an autobiography but also pro-autobiographical and pro-autofictional arguments, as the author of an autobiography is at least superficial and due to the writer’s marginalization in Romanian literature and that such classification demands to be nuanced on the grounds of the new critical tendencies that emerged in the 19th and the 20th centuries in Western-European and North-American literary theory, according to which Istrati’s work (universe) appears to be a series of autobiographical novels resulting from a pacte romanesque with autobiographical hints. To support the new definition, we shall present and examine several analyses by modern French, British, and American narratologists and by ancient Greek philosophers as to why and how literature is written and interpreted, along with adequate quotations from Panait Istrati’s fictional work and truly autobiographical writings of the author. Hence, we shall see that Istrati’s work is not an autobiography but an engaged writing, whose purpose is political in order to influence the masses.

Abstracts

Author(s): / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Rezumate

Author(s): / Language(s): Romanian Publication Year: 0