Using theatre to bring endangered languages to life

An academic at the University of South Wales (USW) has returned to her hometown in Greece to explore how minority communities are using theatre to celebrate their cultural heritage and help protect endangered languages.

Dr Christina Papagiannouli, Research Fellow in Performance and Interactive & Immersive Technology, visited Veria, a small town in Central Macedonia, to undertake research into endangered-language heritage performance.

Despite its small size, Veria embraces a variety of subcultures and sublanguages, including Vlach and Pontic Greek. It was the second most significant town during ancient Macedonian history and the third most important city of the Byzantine Empire, after Constantinople (Istanbul) and Thessaloniki.

Christina’s visit was funded by Taith, a Welsh Government led international learning exchange programme which offers researchers the opportunity to travel as part of their work, while promoting Wales and the Welsh language and culture.

During her time in Veria, she worked with both Vlach and Pontic Greek communities, observing their work and participating in heritage performances. This helped Christina to learn not only about the communities’ cultural heritage, but also her own.

She said: “I managed to build deep and meaningful connections with the Vlach Folklore Association of Veria (VFAoV) and the Euxeinos Pontic Club of Veria (EPCoV), who gave me a warm welcome and allowed me to explore their facilities, archives and heritage displays and observe their workshops, rehearsals and events. Most importantly, they invited me to become part of their communities and participate in their rehearsals and performances.

“As a result, I actively impacted on their cultural heritage performance strategies, supporting them to transmit and preserve the endangered languages in question. Moreover, I had meaningful discussions with community leaders and key stakeholders, allowing knowledge sharing and exchange.

“I informed both communities about the Welsh Language Standards, and the importance of the Welsh Government’s support for its preservation and growth, as well as shared strategies of bilingual websites to promote and preserve endangered languages.”