LANGUAGE IS THE MOST VIVID IMAGE OF A PEOPLE AND ITS CULTURE
Skopje, November 22, 2023 – Today, the Faculty of Humanities at Mother Teresa University in Skopje, in honor of November 22, Albanian Alphabet Day, organized the 4. Scientific Conference on Language, Literature and Intercultural Communication.
At the conference opening, the president of the organizing council, Lecturer Mustafa Ibrahimi, Ph.D., presented a paper on the topic of “Ecolinguistics vs Interculturality in a Multilingual Society” as he introduced us to “linguistic ecology” with its research goal of the relationship between “big” and “small” languages and the risk of extinction of the small languages.
MTU Rector, Lecturer Izet Zeqiri, Ph.D., stated that this year, in honor of November 22, the Albanian Alphabet Day, the conference is being held in the new campus of Mother Teresa University, and organized by the Faculty of Humanities, established just a few months ago.
The Conference’s guest of honor was the Minister of Education and Science, Mr. Jeton Shaqiri, who stated that language is not only a means of communication, but a symbol of national identity, history, and cultural heritage of a nation, as well:
“To us, the Albanian language is sacred and preserves our traditions and values through generations, therefore we must learn, preserve, develop, and spread it. Today is the day when we must remember this, and for this very point, the role of the Ministry of Education and Science is crucial”.
At the conference, Lecturer Teuta Arifi, Ph.D., presented her paper on the topic of “Interculturalism as a Value and Concept of Our National Renaissance”, while the first rector of MTU, Lecturer Azis Pollozhani, Ph.D., presented his paper on the topic of “Interculturalism, a New Paradigm of Multi-Ethnic Societies”, which emphasized that the term “multiculturalism” has a range of meanings in the context of sociology, political philosophy, and general usage because the discourse of the debate about this phenomenon until the years before this century was mostly positive, yet, over time, it has been perceived as a way to institutionalize differences through autonomous cultural discourses.
Lecturer Zeqirja Neziri, Ph.D., presented his paper on the topic of “Fate of the Speech of the Albanians from Zara” since their migration in 1720 from present-day Montenegro and the efforts of the Albanians to nurture and preserve their Albanian language. “Intercultural and Interlinguistic Lexicon in the Urban Speech of Struga” is the work of Lecturer Ajtene Hajdari-Qamili, Ph.D., from the Department of Albanian Language and Literature at Blaze Koneski Faculty of Philology – Skopje.
Nico Qafoku from the USA, Laslo Marácz from the Netherlands, Goran Bandov from Croatia, Mario De Matteis from Austria, Emil Lafe, Nexhip Mërkuri, Ali Jashari, Abdulla Ballhysa, and Agron Xhagolli from Albania, Hysen Matoshi, Shpresa Hoxha, Xhafer Beqiraj, Begzad Baliu, and Nevrije Ismaili from Kosovo, Zeqirja Neziri, Marijan Markovikj, Vebi Bexheti, Rubin Zemon, and Izaim Murtezani from Skopje also presented their papers. From MTU, Lecturer Izer Maksuti, Ph.D., Lecturer Qatip Arifi, Ph.D., Ass. Prof. Rilind Mahmuti, Ph.D., Ass. Prof. Arta Bekteshi, Ph.D., and Ass. Prof. Edona Vinca, Ph.D.
The scientific papers presented at the Conference are to be published in the fourth issue of the Interculture magazine published by Mother Teresa University in Skopje.
