Transcript Undertaking narrative inquiry bilingually against a

Leah Davcheva & Richard Fay
Paper for the 1st Global Erensya Platform Summit
September 19th-21st 2011
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The researchers
 Leah - Bulgarian, Sephardic, Ladino-memories from
childhood, largely field-based, ‘insider’ vis-à-vis researched
context
 Richard Fay – non-Bulgarian, non-Jewish, no Ladino
memories, largely desk-based, research experience,
‘insider’ to Spanish, Spain, and the Spanish speaking world,
hispanophile
 Shared – intercultural expertise, narrative and Balkan
interests (incl. history, music, culture, politics) and
research experiences
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Richard (in Las Alpujarras, southern Spain)
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Briefly about the research study
 In the spirit of the oral history tradition, we want to
preserve for posterity the linguistic history and experiences
of Sephardic Jews in Bulgaria.
 An exploration of the understandings of middle-aged and
elderly Sephardic Jews in Bulgaria regarding the language
they tend to call Judesmo (but which is also known as
Judæo-Spanish and Ladino)
 14 storytellers aged between 43 and 92 (who we will introduce
shortly).
 Multilingual – research about one language (Ladino), through
stories told largely in another (Bulgarian) as analysed and
(re)presented in a third (English)
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Meet some of the storytellers
Ivette Anavi
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Elli Anavi
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David Cohen
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Reina Lidgi
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Aron Balli
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Solomon Balli
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Sophy Danon
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Sami Frances
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Erensya: supporting the relations between Spain and
the Sephardic Diaspora
 Ours is a study of the Ladino speaking experiences of
Bulgarian Jews, giving rise to insights about their closeness
to Spain, the Spanish language and the Spanish speaking
world
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Six emergent themes
 Naming the language
 Spanish - Ladino interaction
 Felt links with Spanish speakers globally
 Participation in / identification with Sephardic
diaspora
 Felt links with Spain
 Participation in Ladino / Sephardic revival activities
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a) Naming the language
 At home they spoke Spanish and this was the most natural
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thing in the world for me. Our whole life then was run in
Spanish. [Andrey]
I call this language Judesmo-Espanyol. I cannot be
absolutely sure what the difference is between the various
names of this language, but that is how I call it. [Elli]
We lived with my maternal grandparents. … They spoke to
me in Spanyol. [Gredi]
When I was a child we called it Spanyolit. [Sophi]
She must have been a good ‘teacher’ because in less than
three months, I was able to communicate with her in
Ladino. [Reina]
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b) Spanish-Ladino interaction (1)
 My developing relationship with Reyes and the exaltation
from mutually understanding each other (mind you, my
Ladino was far from perfect), inspired me to register on a
course to learn Spanish. At the time, I thought I could
understand almost anything that was said in Spanish and
decided to go straight for 2nd year classes. But I didn’t take
my limited knowledge of Spanish grammar into account. It
turned out to be a mistake because there was no solid
foundation I could step on. In the end, however, I made up
for all that. Soon after I completed the course, I was able to
speak contemporary Spanish. Ladino helped a lot but
surprisingly, it also got in the way to some extent. [Reina]
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b) Spanish-Ladino interaction (2)
 Every time I hear somebody speak Spanish now, I get a general idea of
what is being said. I wouldn’t be able to repeat any of the words or
sentences, or say anything myself, but I imagine I can capture the
general sense of the conversation. I rarely get this general idea wrong
and this makes me think that Ladino is part of my ‘basic programming’.
[Solomon]
 The younger Jews here do not speak proper Judesmo any more. For
them, Judesmo is a foreign language. If they tell you they understand
Judesmo, it is because they have studied Spanish. The Spanish they
have learned interferes with their Judesmo and in many ways harms it.
Pronunciation changes, as well as the usage of some words. Judesmo
does not sound authentic when they speak it. I liken their way of
speaking Ladino to a joke, it is not serious. [Maxim]
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b) Spanish-Ladino interaction (3)
 When I opened my mouth to speak to them in Spanish,
their first question would be, “Where does your Spanish
come from?” I always responded by first saying „Lo aprendi
de mi abuaela, que avlava de Ladino”, meaning that I could
speak Spanish thanks to the Ladino which I had learned
from my Grandma. A long conversation about Ladino then
followed. When they heard me speak Ladino, they would
say one of two things – either that my Ladino sounded like
the language of Cervantes, or that I spoke the Castilian
dialect which is considered to be the basis of modern
Spanish. We, the Sephardic Jews, have actually preserved
that ancient language when we were expelled from Spain in
1492. [Reina]
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c) Felt links with Spanish speakers globally (1)
 Have you ever heard Cubans speak Spanish? They tend to
swallow their consonants and it’s hard to understand them.
For a whole week I kept my mouth shut and did not dare
speak. By and by, I gathered courage and would put in a
word here and a word there. …
… the response of the Cubans was twofold. First, they
thought they heard somebody who had risen from their
grave. So obsolete was the language I produced. They were
enormously delighted and would make me repeat what I
said, time and time again. [Aron]
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c) Felt links with Spanish speakers globally (2)
 I have not got too many specific memories connected with
Ladino but one thing I do know – I have always been keen
to establish common ground between myself and other
speakers of Spanish. I have actively sought out such
contacts. Take, for example, something that happened
during a trade fair in Frankfurt. … [Aron]
 So, I was greatly encouraged by the way I managed to get
along with my Spanyol in Argentina. I spoke it in the
streets, in the shops, and with my relatives, some of whom
were born there, my cousin’s daughter, for example. I
bought myself a Spanish textbook. [Itsko]
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c) Felt links with Spanish speakers globally (3)
 Another fine Ladino episode in my life is related to my friendship with
a Cuban singer. His name was Jorge Frances. I first met him in the
opera canteen ... One day, I heard somebody asking for a glass of water
in Spanish but the canteen ladies could not quite catch what this man
was saying. I went closer and helped him get want he wanted. By and
by, we became good friends. Jorge spoke Ladino with my mother and,
from time to time, comic situations arose. We laughed a lot together.
One day Jorge came to visit … In one part of the room my mother was
talking with a friend of hers, in Ladino, and in the other part of the
room I was talking with the two Cuban men. All of a sudden, we heard
my mother say to her friend, “Mi sta comiendo las tripas!” The two
Cubans burst out laughing - this wasn’t a phrase they would ever use in
Spanish. Its literal meaning is ‘let him eat my guts’, and figuratively, it
meant “He is getting on my nerves”.
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c) Participation in / identification with Sephardic
diaspora (1)
 I have been using Ladino as an international language and
I have a whole range of experiences to share. Time ago, a
group of French Jews visited and with two of them, I
communicated in Ladino. Another example is when I was
in Israel and set out to see a Holocaust museum. It
happened to be on a non-working day and the museum
was closed. I wanted to find out about the working hours
and came across a man from Egypt who spoke Spanyol. He
said to me, “If you walk a bit further, you’ll find a guy who
can also speak Spanyol.”
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c) Participation in / identification with Sephardic
diaspora (2)
 Five or six years ago she [my mother] designed a beginner
course in Judesmo. She compiled the course textbook
basing it on a French textbook written by Marie-Christine
Varol. My mother not only translated from the original, she
also wrote new material. The publication came out with
pictures from our family album. [Elli]
 If I could speak Ladino, I could easily communicate with
people in Greece and Turkey, and elsewhere, especially
with the elderly. I would have been very well positioned,
exactly because of that. But even as it is, I am being wellpositioned and accepted now. [Solomon]
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c) Participation in / identification with Sephardic
diaspora (3)
 … we became ‘Bulgarian Jews’ only 70-80 yrs ago. Before
that, we used to be Balkan Jews. Should we find ourselves
among Jews from other Balkan countries, there would
hardly be anything to make us inherently different from
each other – except for the language of our passports. We
behave in similar ways. Everywhere on the Balkans I feel at
home. My great Grandad was born in what is now Turkey.
What was he? What kind of Jew was he exactly? My
Grandma used to tell me about her family -they came from
what today is Serbia and Macedonia.[Solomon]
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d) Felt links with Spain (1)
 I remember my first visit to Spain. It was quite an
emotional experience. I felt completely comfortable in the
Spanish speaking context and was pleasantly excited by
listening to the people around me and actually, being able
to understand. Although I was not at home and not in my
own country, I still had this amazing sense of being in a
linguistically familiar context. I must have sounded
ridiculous and primitive because I had never specially
studied Judesmo, but what I said was very well received.
People applauded me. I did a presentation at the Chamber
of Commerce in Barcelona and I said my last couple of
sentences in Judesmo-Espanyol. … I felt at home and an
insider. [Elli]
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d) Felt links with Spain (2)
 I have a sense of Spain being a motherland to me. … . I
now remember something and I think you would like
to hear it. It happened on 24th May. I was invited to the
residence of the now ex-president of Bulgaria Zhelev.
He was hosting a reception to celebrate the Bulgarian
alphabet and literacy achievements. I asked to be
introduced to Juan Carlos, king of Spain, who was also
present at the reception. And indeed I was. I spoke to
him in Spanyol. [Itsko]
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d) Felt links with Spain (3)
 [he] was keen to hear the language which he had never
heard anybody speak before. The time we spent together
made me aware of the special attitude the Spanish have for
us, Sephardic Jews: they find it truly amazing that not only
have we preserved Ladino for five centuries but we also
cherish the warmest sentiments for Spain itself. [Reina]
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f) Participation in Ladino/Sephardic revival
activities (1)
 But it might be that Ladino is a like a live coal hidden
among the ashes – it might spark off a fire. [Aron]
 I became a member of the Dulce Canto choir. My time is
already gone, but it was a beautiful experience singing in
that choir. Dulce Canto is one example of how we tried to
preserve and revive Ladino. [Aron]
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f) Participation in Ladino/Sephardic revival
activities (2)
 All of this has inevitably shaped our worldview and has
made us distinctive. Through Ladino I can trace a
connection with one of the most progressive civilisations in
Europe of those times. And now, all of this is disappearing.
Whether it will disappear for good, I don’t know. I wish it
could stay alive, and deep down I believe it will be here
forever. From something which used to be practical, usable
and indispensable, Ladino is now turning into a kind of
intellectual brooch. And you know how it is with brooches
– you wear and enjoy them if you have them, but you can
very well manage without them. Brooches are somewhat
eccentric but on the other hand, what would life be without
a certain dose of eccentricity. [Solomon]
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f) Participation in Ladino/Sephardic revival
activities (3)
 But look at me, in spite of everything that I can see happening, I keep
being interested in this language. I have collected more proverbs – 400
of them … I realise that this language is an important part of our
evolving culture. Our ancestors took it with them and went on
speaking it … for a long time. It is worth the effort to help preserve
some written traces of it. This is not only because of its spoken order
structures. You can follow the traces of so many other languages - the
languages of the peoples with whom the Jews had lived when they left
Spain, for example Portuguese, Italian, Turkish, Bulgarian and maybe
others. Ladino is an unbelievable mixture and our ancestors have
spoken it while communicating with each other, when trading, making
love, singing their songs. To cut it short, Ladino has preserved many
diverse aspects of the lives we had lived in the past. It is part of the
history of a big branch of the Jewish people – those who once lived in
Spain. [David]
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Contact:
[email protected]
[email protected]
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