Universidad del SalvadorFacultad de Filosofía, Historia y Letras - Escuela de Lenguas Modernas

Año I - Número 1

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USALRector Dr. JuanAlejandroTobíasFacultad de Filosofía, Historia y LetrasDecano Esc. Juan C. Lucero SchmidtSecretaria Académica Prof. Stella M. PalermoEscuela de Lenguas ModernasDirector Dr. HéctorValenciaCoordinadora Lic. Silvia Paredes

MARIANA ALONSO es egresada de la Escuela deLenguas Modernas (USAL).La profesora MALVINA ISABEL APARICIO es tesistadel Doctorado en Lenguas Modernas y titularde Literatura Inglesa, Norteamericana yPoscolonial (USAL).INÉSGARCÍA BOTANA es egresada de la Escuela deLenguas Modernas (USAL).ANA JULIA BRASSARA es egresada de la Escuela deLenguas Modernas (USAL).ANA LÚCIA BUOGO es alumna del Doctorado enLenguas Modernas (USAL).MARINA CARRILLO era alumna de 5º año de laEscuela Argentina Modelo de Buenos Airescuando su cuento «Inspired By Dumas» obtuvounamención especial en elConcursodeCuentoCortoparaEscuelas Secundarias organizadoporla Escuela de Lenguas Modernas.El doctor JORGE CONVERSO es profesor deTraducción Literaria (Escuela de LenguasModernas, USAL).La traductora ROSA MARÍA DONATI es profesorade Lengua Inglesa (Escuela de LenguasModernas, USAL).SOFÍA ESTÉVEZ es alumna de 3er. año (Escuela deLenguas Modernas, USAL).La licenciada MARÍA DEL CARMEN GAGLIARDI esalumna del Doctorado en Lenguas Modernas yprofesora deLengua Inglesa (Escuela deLenguasModernas,USAL).

ALENKA HALL es egresada de la Escuela deLenguas Modernas (USAL).NADISLAVAL.LAHARNARes alumnadelDoctoradoen Lenguas Modernas (USAL).ROXANAG.MANSILLA es profesora deTraducciónEspecializada (Escuela de Lenguas Modernas,USAL).MARÍA ESTERMORENO es alumna del Doctoradoen Lenguas Modernas y profesora de LenguaInglesa (Escuela de Lenguas Modernas, USAL).SABRINA STANIC es alumna de 3er. año (Escuelade Lenguas Modernas, USAL).SOFÍA FERNÁNDEZ VALANI era alumna de 5º añodelColegio deBotánica deBuenosAires cuandosucuento«TheGoldenRoom»obtuvoelprimerpremio en el Concurso de Cuento Corto paraEscuelas Secundarias organizado por la Escuelade LenguasModernas.El doctor HÉCTOR VALENCIA es director de laEscuela de Lenguas Modernas, director delDoctorado, asesor lingüístico del Rectorado, ytitular de cátedras en la USAL.MERCEDES DE VERGARA es alumna de 4° año(Escuela de Lenguas Modernas, USAL).NORMELIO ZANOTTO es alumno del Doctoradoen LenguasModernas (USAL).

IDEASDirector Dr. HéctorValenciaEditora Prof. Mirta MeyerDiseño Nuria Gómez Belart

ColaboradoresColaboradoresColaboradoresColaboradoresColaboradores

AutoridadesAutoridadesAutoridadesAutoridadesAutoridades

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gan Tas ni eus yn nev, Bennigysre bo dha Hanow. Re dheffodha Wlaskor, Dha vodh re bogwrys, yn nor kepar hag y nev.

LORDS PRAYERCornish VersionBrythonic Celtic

Ro dhyn ni hedhyw agan bara pub dydholl; Ha gav dhyn agan kammweyth,Kepar dell avyr nini dhen re na eus owkammwul er agan pynn ni; Ha na wraagan gorra yn temtashon, Mes delyrv nidiworth drog. Rag dhiso jy yw anwlaskor, han galloes, han gordhyans, Bysvykken ha bynari.Amen

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ÍndiceÍndiceÍndiceÍndiceÍndice

HÉCTORVALENCIAEl español como lengua internacional o lengua franca _______________________ 7

SOFÍA FERNÁNDEZVALANIThe Golden Room - Fiction ________________________________________ 12

MALVINA ISABEL APARICIOThe Metaphor of the Classroom inTwo Contemporary British Plays ____________ 13

PAUL AUSTERThe Locked Room (fragmento) - Traducción de Sofía Estévez ___________________ 19

NADISLAVA L. LAHARNARThe Balkans - A Mosaic ___________________________________________ 21

INÉS GARCÍA BOTANAThe Metamorphosis - Fiction _______________________________________ 39

ALDOUS HUXLEYMusic at Night (fragmento) - Traducción de Mariana Alonso ____________________ 41

MARÍA DEL CARMEN GAGLIARDISecond LanguageAcquisition _______________________________________ 43

ANA JULIA BRASSARAComposition - Fiction ____________________________________________ 58

ROSA MARÍA DONATIThe Short Story:ATool for English LanguageTeaching _____________________ 59

MARINA CARRILLOInspired by Dumas - Fiction ________________________________________ 61

The Old and the New Universidad del Salvador: Its Continuity in the Jesuitic SpiritAccording to Jorge Mario Bergoglio, SJ. Provincial ________________________ 65

ANA LÚCIA BUOGOBidialetalismo e estigmatização lingüística ______________________________ 68

ANN PACHETTBel Canto (fragmento) - Traducción de Mercedes deVergara _____________________ 83

ROXANA G. MANSILLAThe Increasing Use of the CalqueAs aTranslation Resource inTechnical andScientificTexts _________________________________________________ 85

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ALENKA HALLTheTrain Ride - Fiction ___________________________________________ 87

JORGE CONVERSOAre English Cats Different FromArgentine Cats? _________________________ 89

MARÍA ESTER MORENOLanguage Processing: Is Language an Organ? ____________________________ 91

HENRY MORTON ROBINSONThe Cardinal (fragmento) - Traducción de Sabrina Stanic_____________________ 100

NORMELIO ZANOTTOA formação do léxico do português do Brasil:Termos do vocabulário gastronômico provenientes de dialetos italianos _________ 101

NETSOURCES ____________________________________________________ 108

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Hasta hace muy poco tiempo, el objetivoprincipal de la enseñanza del español era podercomunicarse lo más perfectamente posiblecon los hablantes nativos, quienes eranconsiderados como los dueños de la lengua,los guardianes de sus estándares y los únicoscapaces de aceptar las normas pedagógicas.Esta era la situación sin importar si el españolera lengua extranjera o segunda lengua, o seael español enseñado a aquellos para los queéste no iba a tener una función interactiva enLengua 1, ya que no se encontraban en unpaís hispanoparlante, ni como segunda lengua,enseñado para aquellos que sí la iban a tenero para aquellos que inmigraban a un paíshispanoparlante. Para cumplir con susobjetivos se consideraba esencial que loshablantes no nativos se aproximaran lo másposible a los estándares de un nativo,especialmente con respecto a la pronunciación.Sin embargo, en los últimos años, debido alos desarrollos políticos y económicosmundiales, esta enseñanza comenzó aenfrentarse con un serio reto, teniendo encuenta el uso del español y sus roles yconsecuentemente los objetivos de supedagogía. La lengua española enseñada comosegunda comenzó a metamorfosearse con lalengua española vista desde un punto de vistamás pragmático, de pura comunicación, sinperfección, o seudoperfección; es lo que sedio en llamar español como lenguainternacional, o sea que ninguno de losintercomunicados la poseen como Lengua 1o lengua madre. Su uso se da especialmentecon objetivos comerciales, de allí sureferencia, a veces, como lengua franca. Porsupuesto que no será como la lengua inglesa,que es en estos momentos la lengua franca

por excelencia, pero dado el uso cada vezmayor del español en el mundo, aun en elanglosajón, le sigue en importancia comolengua comercial o lengua franca.Y cuandonos referíamos al mundo anglosajón,aludíamos especialmente a la situación deEstadosUnidos,donde el porcentaje de latinosva in crecendo y se espera un 60 por cientomás para dentro de treinta o cuarenta años.De a poco están tratando de pasar de un usointerno a un uso internacional del español queles permita poder comunicarse con paísesdonde se niegan a hablar inglés y prefieren elespañol; me refiero principalmente a paísesde Oriente y Oriente Medio. Lasnegociaciones deben continuar y esto no losva a tocar en su orgullo.También debemos destacar que prácti-camente la enseñanza a distancia de la lenguacorresponde, casi por naturaleza, a la lenguainternacional y no a ninguno de los otros dosmodelos, y no me refiero tanto a la partesintáctica o semántica como a la fonológica,donde es tan difícil controlar si se logra o nouna pronunciación casi nativa, como lorequieren los modelos mencionados.Todo este movimiento, por supuesto, estáalterando a algunos pedagogos y lingüistasmásortodoxos que ya han comenzado a cuestionarel aceptar el uso «incorrecto» del español ycomenzaron a cuestionar el derecho depropiedad del mismo y decir quiénes son losque deben marcar los estándares correctospara ser enseñados y en consecuencia usados,al margen de la circunstancia y los propósitosespecíficos del destinatario. Nadie les niegael derecho a los parlantes nativos a establecersus propios estándares para el uso de unainteracción con otro nativo, y aún más, con

Héctor Valencia

El español como lengua internacional o lengua francaEl español como lengua internacional o lengua francaEl español como lengua internacional o lengua francaEl español como lengua internacional o lengua francaEl español como lengua internacional o lengua franca

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parlantes no nativos. Sin embargo, la cuestiónmás importante acá es: ¿quién debe tomar lasdecisiones para una intercomunicacióntotalmente entre parlantes no nativos, es decirlo que se dio en llamar Español como LenguaInternacional?La aseveración de que el hablante nativo noes dueño de la Lengua Internacional no esnueva.Ya en 1976 en relación con la enseñanzadel inglés como Segunda Lengua, Smithdeclaró que «El inglés pertenece al mundo[] No es tuyo (no importa quién seas) nimío (no importa quién sea yo)». Másrecientemente, Brumfit afirma: «Nosolamente el inglés se volvió internacional enla últimamitad del siglo, sino que la enseñanzatambién se internacionalizó, el dueño de lalengua inglesa se ha internacionalizado. Nosomosmás una comunidad lingüística que estáasociada con una comunidad nacional o conun grupo de naciones, como lo pretendía elaún llamado Commonwealth. Somos unacomunidad internacional».Me gustaría citar a Widdowson, que aunsiendo el iniciador del método comunicativopara la enseñanza de una lengua extranjera,tiene una posición más enfática sobre estetema y explica precisamente por qué el ingléses ahora una lengua internacional: «Sirve a ungran número de comunidades diferentes y suspropósitos internacionales, y eso trasciendelas fronteras tradicionalmente comunales yculturales».Continúa oponiéndose al controltotal del hablante nativo: «El desarrollo delinglés en el mundo no es problema de ningúnhablante nativo de Inglaterra, América delNorte o cualquier otro lugar. No tienen nadaque decir en este asunto, no tienen derecho aintervenir ni a juzgar absolutamente nada. Sonirrelevantes. El hecho de que el inglés sea unalengua internacional significa que ningunanación tiene su custodia. Otorgarles talcustodia de la lengua requeriría parar sudesarrollo y socavar su status internacional.

Es cuestión de orgullo y de satisfacción paralos nativos que su lengua sirva como mediointernacional de comunicación. Pero el puntoradica en que es internacional al punto de queno es más su lengua. No es una posesión queellos otorgan a otros.Otra gente ya la posee».Estos puntos de vista están lentamenteganando adeptos entre los estudiosos,especialmente entre los españoles, ya quemuyrecientemente se empezó a hablar sobre ello.Dentro de la comunidad de la enseñanza delidioma como lengua extranjera son loslingüistas nativos los que comenzaron aexaminar críticamente la construcción delnativo y cuestionar su autoridad y lo apropiadode sus normas. Los principales detractores deesta teoría son los hablantes no nativos de lalengua, especialmente en la comunidad dedocentes de lengua, quienes sostienen arajatabla que la lengua debe ser la variedadque habla el nativo.Ciertas opiniones sugierenque se debe apuntar a la adquisición fonológicamás cercana a la producción de un nativo. Seha llegado a decir que el ideal es imitar alnativo de una lengua estándar tanaproximadamente como sea posible.El hablaruna lengua no es estar ligado a la identidadcultural de esa lengua. Es en realidad unexponente de nuestras propias habilidadesacadémicas y lingüísticas. No consideran unhalago decirle a una persona que su lenguatiene un marcado acento o un dejo deinterferencia de su lengua materna.Simplemente implicaría que la adquisición dela lengua está lejos de ser la deseada.Este punto de vista no es solamente unconcepto universal, sino algo sostenido porprofesores y futuros profesores.En este puntoestoy totalmente de acuerdo. Si uno quiereser docente, debe ser modelo, y para sermodelo es preciso aproximarse a la realidaden la mayor medida posible. No se puedepermitir cualquier versión del manejo de lalengua,pues sería caótico.Se debe estandarizar

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para que no se transforme en un verdaderoembrollo de distintas versiones de la mismalengua.Acá soy inflexible. En cuanto al resto,habría que ver las necesidades de cada una delas personas que la están aprendiendo.También me gustaría referirme a lasetiquetas usadas para los hablantes de unalengua: es completamente inapropiado,y hastaofensivo, el hacer la diferencia entre nativo yno nativo. Hay hablantes no nativos que hanllegado a dominar la lengua, ya sea siguiendolas metodologías utilizadas como extranjera osegunda, de unamanera que se han ganado bienel calificativo de bilingües, por su fluidez y sumanejo en general. Esta dicotomía nativo/nonativo causa percepciones negativas y falta deseguridad en los docentes.Esto lleva a que seanrechazadas publicaciones perfectamenteredactadas y con alto contenido académico,queno se les acepten artículos en revistas deprestigio internacional por no ser nativos. Lamayoría de las veces esgrimen como razón lacantidad de errores en que puede incurrir unno nativo, y no se refieren específicamente aerrores sintácticos o gramaticales en general,si no a errores de la cultura propia de la lengua.Esta es una idea simplista que constituye en síun error y además que marca deficiencias enlos programas que se utilizan para examinar alos receptores, ya que de ser así, se hanmedidocon parámetros totalmente alejados de larealidad e irrelevantes. Esta dicotomíadesaparecería volviendo a usar el viejo términode bilingüe en vez de no nativos.Podríamos cerrar el concepto diciendo quetal lengua es una lengua internacional y que espropiedad de todos aquellos que la usen, sinimportar si son o no son nativos.

Metodología sugerida para unalengua internacionalMe gustaría mencionar ahora algunas pautassugeridas para el tratamiento de la enseñanzade una lengua como lengua internacional, y

luego presentar algunas demis consideracionessobre cómo enseñar una lengua, ya sea con laetiqueta de extranjera, segunda, internacionalo lengua franca.Cabe destacar que éstas son etiquetas,maneras de enfocar cualquier metodología delas que andanpor allí dando vueltas.Nada nuevohay bajo el sol. Las metodologías no sonespecíficas de una lengua extranjera, segundao internacional, sino que sirven para cualquieracon pequeñas variaciones, sobre todo en laparte práctica.Queda claro que estos nombresno tienen nada que ver con los métodos,adecuados o no, efectivos o no. No fueron niserán inventados para alguna de ellas enespecial, aunque a veces eso se pretende.Comencemos con lo último en cuanto altratamiento de una lengua con carácterinternacional.Las dos cuestiones principales que sepresentan en la enseñanza de la lengua son,primeramente, si es necesario insistir en laimitación de la pronunciación exacta de unhablante nativo, especialmente cuando pocasvan a ser las posibilidades de tener contactocon uno de ellos; y en segundo lugar, cómo sepuede promover la inteligibilidad internacionalante las grandes cantidades de variaciones quese hablan en esa lengua. En otras palabras,¿cómo se identifican, por razonesmetodológicas, los estándares mínimos deinteligibilidad mutua, sin recurrir a algúnmodelo de la lengua 1?Después de varias propuestas, las que seríalargo mencionar, se concluyó en un cambio delas actitudes pedagógicas; por ejemplo, ya nose espera que los estudiantes adquieranautomáticamente el bagaje cultural de la lengua2, junto con la competencia lingüística ycomunicativa,y se les permite adaptar la lenguaa sus propias normas culturales. En clases másavanzadas hasta se les permite lo que se da enllamar «competencia intercultural». Esto selogra, por ejemplo, por medio de trabajos

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comparativos,exposición a las distintas culturasy el uso de literatura y obras de teatro. Losestudiantes desarrollan la capacidad receptivade darse cuenta de las diferencias en las normasculturales de las dos lenguas, lo que les permiteir incorporando las de la lengua 2 en sus propiasnormas.El objetivo principal de la enseñanza de lapronunciación de la lengua como extranjera esimitar a los nativos lomás precisamente posible.Este objetivo se considera perimido einapropiado cuando se trata de la producciónoral en la enseñanza de la lengua internacional,argumento sustentado con trabajos deinvestigación en psicología social, los quedemostraron claramente la íntima relaciónentre los rasgos segmentales ysuprasegmentales tanto con la identidadpersonal como con la identidad grupal. Sinembargo, las actitudes populares en laenseñanza relacionadas con la producción oraly el acento son,como lo demuestra la literaturasociopsicológica, firmemente resistidos ydemasiado lentos para el cambio. Se hademostrado que las personas con marcadoacento materno son discriminadas alpresentarse a un pedido de trabajo. Lo mismoocurre con aquellas que tienen un claro acentode clase trabajadora baja, tanto que se lesrecomienda que traten de mejorarlo. Porsupuesto,me estoy refiriendo exclusivamentea países desarrollados o con un avanzadoporcentaje de desarrollo y no al nuestro,dondehay otros desvalores que cuentan sobre el flujodel habla.Acá el propio nativo con todas estascaracterísticas llega a rangos muy altos.En países como Inglaterra este fenómeno tanmarcado está desapareciendo de a poco; no asíen España, donde todavía persiste debido a unproblema de política inmigratoria.Si es lento el cambio en el hablante de unalengua madre, mucho más lento lo es en el deuna segunda lengua o lengua extranjera.Aunque en los últimos años uno de los más

significantes e interesantes desarrollosfonológicos ha sido el incremento en la antipatíade un pequeño pero creciente grupo defonólogos, sociólogos y aun tutores de unalengua extranjera o segunda, quienes defiendenla postura de la enseñanza de la lengua comointernacional.En el campo de la psicología social,encontramos una actitud desfavorable de partede algunos docentes en el uso de la imitacióncasi perfecta del nativo. Además se estacomenzando a enfrentar, especialmente con elespañol, el uso de una variación neutra, parapoder ganar puestos de trabajo.Esto ocurre condocentes nativos; el problema del docenteconsiderado no nativo esmuchomás candente.Ellos saben,por experiencia del aprendizaje deuna lengua 2, la importancia que tiene lapronunciación en la inteligibilidad productivay receptiva,y por lo tanto endurecen su posturade libertad en la oralidad mucho más que losdocentes nativos.Ellos insisten,por experienciapersonal, en lograr un grado de correcciónsuperior al del propio nativo.Si consideramos ahora a la persona que estaentrenándose en una lengua 2, no podemosolvidarnos de la íntima relación entre lengua eidentidad. Cualquier intento de reducir unalengua a un medio enteramente neutro decomunicación falla porque inmediatamenteaparece el factor humano; la lengua crece,cambia,varía, se vuelve sujeto de identificaciónde las necesidades básicas de los hablantes,quienes tratan de expresar su propia identidad.Como ya dijimos, el acento está particular eíntimamente relacionado tanto con la identidadpersonal como con la grupal.Aun las personas a quienes se atribuye undominio muy elevado de la lengua 2frecuentemente retienen un porcentaje de lascaracterísticas fonológicas de su lengua madreo lengua 1. Esto se debe a que tienen unperfecto control motriz en la producción peroel factor identidad es el elemento más

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sobresaliente de todos. Ciertos autoresextremistas sostienen que imponer a unapersona las normas de la lengua en estudioequivale a imponerles la pérdida parcial de suidentidad. Algunos, mucho más románticos,llegan a sugerir que «los sonidos, los ritmos yla entonación de nuestra lengua madre evitanel corte del cordónumbilical que nos ata a ella».Por último, me gustaría agregar que tambiénla identidad desempeña un rol importante enuna clase enteramente monolingüe o en unaclasemultilingüe.Daré mi humilde opinión, la cualdespuésde casi treinta años de enseñar español aextranjeros, quisiera creer tiene algo devalidez. Para mí la teoría presentada no estádel todomal; lo que estámal es querer aplicarlaen cualquier circunstancia.Primeramente,seríalamentable que los profesorados otraductorados adoptaran esta postura. Comohe dicho anteriormente, somos y debemos serejemplos, o sea que el imitar lo más que sepueda a un hablante nativo es importantísimo,aunque nunca tengamos la posibilidad deenfrentarnos a uno de ellos, cosa que en estosmomentos de la historia considero casiimposible.Todos tratan de tener contacto connativos y la inteligibilidad productiva y auditivaes de trascendental importancia. Esto quedamuy claro. En estas circunstancias, estoytotalmente en contra.Además mi especialidades la fonología comparada, y me cuesta muchomás aceptar los conceptos que expuseanteriormente. Podría estar de acuerdo con elobjetivo de la llamada lengua internacional siéste se limitara exclusivamente a lograr lacomunicación entre hablantes de distintaslenguas, es decir, cuando ninguno de los dos esnativo de la lengua 2.Paramí la lengua entoncespasa a ser un simple instrumento decomunicación, pero hay que tener en cuentaque la inteligibilidad también está en juego.Nopodemos desprendernos de la propia identidad,pero ésta puede atentar contra el objetivo de

la comunicación,y las negociaciones para la quefue propuesta esta versión de lengua puedenllegar a ser un fracaso. Debemos ser muycuidadosos y no ser extremistas. Un justomedio podría llevarnos al triunfo.Para comenzar con mis recomendacionesmetodológicas para cualquiera de estosmodelos, me gustaría que quede en claro cadauno de ellos:Lengua extranjera:Cuando se estudia en un paísdonde la lengua madre no es precisamente lalengua 2, como es el caso del inglés o francésen la Argentina. El contacto con el nativo esesporádico.Segunda lengua: Cuando se estudia en el paísal que se emigró, o sea que la lengua 2 es allí lalengua 1. Caso del latino que emigra a un paísangloparlante. El contacto con el nativo esconstante.Lengua internacional: Cuando se estudia sinimitar a ningún nativo, ya que se va a utilizarexclusivamente (y eso es un error) entre nonativos. Caso de un argentino y un japonés.

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He was alone.He felt so apart from the whole society, as of that family of his. I dont deservethis, he complained once and again.His life had no meaning.His life was a routine.Always thesame. He felt undervalued, humiliated. He thought everyone discriminated him for one oranother reason. Not even could he be his own breadwinner.Set apart from the wild but real world and finding not even a coherent explanation about it,everyday he tried to recover his own strength to go on. Everyday he stayed alone in that goldenroom as someone said, without any communication. His life was full up of sadness.Spending the whole day to-ing and fro-ing, ceaselessly,with no knowledge of time.Nobody toshare his feelings with. No friends. No companions. No acquaintances. Nobody. He felt like aprisoner. Freedom? No, he couldnt find it. However, no matter how much he liked ithethought he would never have that pleasant possibility again.During the day,he used towhile away the time thinking about freedom. It was his only pastimedeluding himself that any distraction of the person who cleaned his place would allow him theopportunity to leave his golden room. In spite of it all, he would never give it up.However, at night and after pecking at his birdseed, he usually jumped into the small stick ofbranch at the top of the gloomy cage and fell sound asleep until the rebirth of the new day.

Sofía Fernández Valani

The Golden RoomThe Golden RoomThe Golden RoomThe Golden RoomThe Golden RoomFiction

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Malvina Isabel Aparicio

The Metaphor of the Classroom in Two Contemporary British PlaysThe Metaphor of the Classroom in Two Contemporary British PlaysThe Metaphor of the Classroom in Two Contemporary British PlaysThe Metaphor of the Classroom in Two Contemporary British PlaysThe Metaphor of the Classroom in Two Contemporary British Plays

Well, its all trivial anywayValentine, Arcadia, II: 5

Within a span of twenty yearsTom Stoppard(Arcadia,1993) andTrevorGriffiths (Comedians,1975) took their audiences back to school foran exercise of reflection that success fullymixedlaughter, varying degrees of emotion and agenuine sense of entertainment. We arereferring to the plays mentioned betweenparentheseswhich have it in common that bothmade of the classroom their setting, thusturning some or all of the characters into pupilsand/or teachers.That the classroom offers dramaticpotentialities is fairly obvious as is the fact thatsuch a choice for a setting raises not a fewquestions related to its capacity for sense-making in our own time, a time when theschool as we have known it is on the verge ofextinction. For example, in the case ofStoppards play,why has he used the metaphorof the classroomwhen hismain concern seemsto be rather the garden image with all itscomponents: the gazebo, the lawn, the lake,the trees, Hannahs research, the serpentarchitect, the apple (leaf), the changing ofmuddy shoes, Hodge the hermit, the gardenparty,the tent,etc; inwhichway can Stoppardsand Griffithss fundamentally differentclassrooms illuminate each other? And, at thebottom of it all, what meaning is producedthrough this metaphor? Which are itsimplications and how do they work in theseplays?It seems convenient to start by the lastquestions. The figure of the classroomimmediately brings to mind a definite type ofrelationship,marked by hierarchywhereby one

part takes the place/role of authority and theother submits to it (or not). In Arcadia we seesome such relationship but we fail to perceivewhere authority exactly lays, if there is actuallyany behind the traditional roles of tutor-pupil.Septimus, the tutor, offers in II:7 a descriptionof his role to Augustus, his pupils brother, anEtonian,who has questions him on the subject,I do not rule here, my lord. I inspire by reverencefor learning & the exaltation of knowledgeWhereby man may approach God.

after which he adds, in typical Stoppardianmanner, There will be a shilling for the bestconepyramiddrawn in silence under-mining thus the respect he was beginning tocreate with his words. His lack of authority isfurther corroborated by the lack of any visual/gestual indication of it in the setting or in theproxemics. He and Lady Thomasina, his 14-year-old pupil, are sitting at a large table,perhaps at either end (no specifical direction)on high-backed chairswhich are signs of periodand status (early nineteenth century in a statelyhome of a noble family) rather than index ofroles.In Comedians instead, the situation revolvesaround half a dozen students; the classroomshows the traditional arrangement for teachersdominance in the form of a dais where he isexpected to stand and where EddieWaters infact does stand, a position that will go almostunchallenged until nearly the end of the play.His authority seems legitimated by his abilityto control his group, his expertise on thesubject he teaches, and his experience,acknowledged even by his rival, suggestivelynamed Challenor, the showbiz agent.Whatseems rather at odds with the banality of thiscontemporary, Manchester-based working-

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class evening school for adults is the subject ofstudy: comedy.As if it could be taught!While Eddie Waters appears to be a verycompetent teacher in every way, SeptimusHodge, the tutor of Arcadia, strikes us as a verydoubtful one. He seems to be a scientistthrough his Cambridge background butwhereas we have for Waters other peoplesreferences (Challenor reckons you could havebeen greatyou just stoppedwanting it, saysstudent Gethin Price in the third act of theplay), for Septimus there is only a letter of self-recommendation (Hannah, I:2). We neverreally hear him expounding his theories as wedowith the character ofWaters in the first act,who lectures on jokes.We do not either seehim leading Thomasina expertly into anyserious, systematic work, i.e. an equivalent toEddieWaters drills and exercises. And whenhe thinks he is checking her mistakes itinevitably turns out he had not in factunderstood her equation! (See the rabbitequation in II:7.) In Comedians, the teacherunerringly makes his point when he rebukeshis pet student on the subject of thelimerickthatwas offensive towomen.Yet Septimus doeshold some sort of intellectual sway overThomasina as when he fences her questions onthe subject of the carnal embrace bycontrasting itsmeaningwith Fermats theorem!A dishonest stratagem really that Thomasinawill tackle with her characteristic directness,thereby raising the vital question,If you do not teach me the true meanings of things,who will?

The same question pops up ratherunexpectedly in the first act of Comedians,prompted by the teacher bymeans of a tongue-twister, The traitor distrusts truth, whichstudents are supposed to practise with andwhich only his best student, Gethin Price, canproduce effortlessly and at speed accordingto directionsbecause he does not care formeaning? Because he believes in what he says?

Does?then, to dispel doubts, very levelly,measuredly at Watersthe confrontation hasbegun, the challenge to authority.The teacherhas been sensing it all along. He replies by along tirade made up of all the stereotypes thatprejudice creates tomock truth and lovewhichare the stock-in-trade of stand-up comedy:Irish, Jews, women, blacks, etc ending up inthe same the tongue-twister, now slightlyaltered,the traitor destroys the truth.Nobodyexcept Price seems to understand the outburst.Griffiths himself comments on this part,they think that Eddie Waters is a racist and hescoming clean just like everybody else. Whatsinteresting is that another sector of the audiencewill take issue with the first sectors reception andquite frequently, in struggling to become anaudience, the audience will show itself as a numberof audiences1

That human relationship should be based ontruth is a commonplace and also an ideal butthat the teacher-pupil relationship be based ontruth is a conditio sine qua non of its veryexistence. Hence Thomasinas violence whenshe discovers Septimus has deceived her on thesubject of the Cleopatra translation. She callshim cheat and flees from the classroom withan ominous I hope you die in tears of rageaccording to directions (I:3).Of course she hasnot yet attained that degree of maturity or ofindifference which can make allowances forironic or weary tutorsYet it would altogether unfair to pin all theresponsibility of the truth upon the teacher.WhenThomasina asks, Am I the first personto have thought of this?, echoed by ChlöesValentine, do you think Im the first personto think of this? in II:7, the feeling is that ofchildish arrogance or pride, and the questionhas little of the passion for knowledge expectedin a good pupil. Indeed Chlöe can be forgivenon account of her not being a student at all,

1 Martin Cinnamond talks to Trevor Griffiths, LyricsHammersmith Playbill, July 1993.

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not so Bernard, the Oxford don, who actsexactly as if he were the first to have thoughtof that namely, the discovery of Chater, thepoet alreadystudiedanddismissed the centurybefore, and his shady connections with LordByron over an adulterous love affair.A classroom is, or should be, basically atesting-ground, a place to make mistakes in,and to enjoy the rare pleasure of starting anewevery time.At the end of Comedians one of thestudentswho failed,GedMurray,wants to takethe course all over again.Thomasina, after theangry outburst with Septimus, is seenworkingagain with the same zest and sweetness asbefore. In a classroom nothing begins or endsforever. Friendships, hates, hopes, plans,failures, successes all are temporary states andboth plays provide plenty of examples that thisis so. The schoolroom of Arcadia itself hasbecome in time a mere place of passage in avery physical sense, the way to the nearesttoilet to quote Bernard (I: 2).Another way for the classroom to be is theplacewhere questions are asked and answered.The manner in which these answers are foundmake all the difference. In the Comediansclassroom, EddieWaters the teacher seems tohave these answers all ready.And to be willingand anxious to pass them on. But not all of hisstudents identify with them. Either becausethey hurt their hearts (Price) or their pockets(Samuels). Septimus, if he has any answer, isalways reluctant to share it or is too busy tocare: he is constantly receiving & answeringletters, reading other stuff or fending offtrouble,mainly related to his inordinate sexuallife or satirical disposition.A classroom is also a place for revelation: fordiscovery and self-discovery which does notnecessarily relate to a specific field ofknowledge, although it may start there. In arealistic approach, such as that of TrevorGriffiths, the examples abound, especially inthe third act, in the fiery confrontation between

Price and his teacher, but also in the Murraybrothers bitter split, in Price & Samuelsrivalry. In Arcadia, revelations are not always ofsuch crucial importance, and the classroomteems with the gossip of Septimuss escapadeswithMrs Chater or Lord Byrons indiscretionsat breakfast time to name but a few. It alsoechoes with Bernards rehearsal of the lecturehe will deliver in London on his sensationaldiscoverywhich is no discovery at all.Thomasina literally lives in her classroom,from age 13 to 17, through her concern withthe Fermats theorem and her first sex inquiryon through her piano lessons, her Latintranslations, her philosophical speculations,gallantly onwards to her graduation, thewaltz-dancingwith her tutor.She has iteratedher life as she did the apple leaf: to the limit ofher possibilities (Cf I have no room to extendit II:7, p. 78).Yet, within those bounds, arecontained all the possibilities thatValentinewill,almost two centuries after, display on thecomputer to thewonder ofHannah, in the sameroom.Thomasina had, in fact, gone beyond thequestioning when she, in front of Lady Croomher mother, had taunted Septimus with,Theres another geometry which I am engaged indiscovering by trial & error, am I not, Septimus?2

Septimus seems to understand or to admitthiswhen he not only danceswith her but lightsher candle, the one that is going to burn her todeath. Its a melancholy note that Stoppardstrikes when, by letting us know of her earlytragical death some sequences before its actualoccurrence, he puts in Septimuss mouth thewarning lines Be careful with the flame as agoodnight gesture, with all the ambiguity thatflame is capable of evoking in us, all thepossibilities of meaning the word has beencollecting through the ages.

2Tom Stoppard. Arcadia (London: Faber & Faber, 1993),II:7, p. 84.

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In Comedians the classroom is central frombeginning to end, just as the teacher remains adominant figure: the students gather there, getready, depart from & come back to again.TheBingo Club where they perform is only anexamination room.Physically, this classroomis a cluttered space in a 1947 two-storeyedhouse with its suggestion of wartime drabnessand poverty. Arcadias, on the contrary, is analmost bare room: what elegance there is, isarchitectural and nothing is impressive but thescale.The windows are open to a bright butsunless morning. By contrast, they seem toacquire a symbolical meaning. Indeed Arcadiasschoolroom is an out-of-the-way affair; evenin Septimuss &Thomasinas times the centreis elsewhere, in the parkwhere the unseenLordCroom goes shooting, in the gazebo wherethere is carnal embrace galore; in the Musicroom where Lady Croom & the Polish CountZelinsky play together the piano, with longpausesin London, where Bernard deliversthe lecture that will in his expectations makehim famous, or outdoors, in the new gardendesigned by Noakes where a great charity ballunder a tent is going on and fromwhichHannahflees towards the room in search of shelter.And yet, this margin has become the centre, aswe shall see later on.Indeed, as we have said, classroomrelationships are governed by the traditionalnotion of authority.While in Comedians this isclearly shown, in Arcadia the notion has becomesomewhat blurred.The Comedians teacher stillstakes claims for a kind of truth which for himis compassion but this is challenged by some ofthe students.The Arcadia teacher instead is allthe time concealing the truth, avoiding it, ordelaying it until cornered by Thomasina intoacceptance. Within the framework of themetaphor, this has to do with learning orlanguage.GethinPrice complains to his teacher,well, then why dont you listen to what Imsaying, Eddie?, shouting, according to

directions, in the third act. In Arcadia, toBernards exasperated You cant stick Byronshead into your laptop! Genius isnt like youraverage grouse, Valentine replies casually thatWell, its all trivial, anyway, in an utterancewheretrivial serves to exemplify just how farlanguage has gone, from meaning so manythings, into squaremeaninglessness for Bernardis made furious by the uptake (first meaning ofthe word) whileValentine was referring to thespecialized,mathematical sense of having zerovalue for all the variables of the solutions of aset of homogeneous equation as his next replydemonstrates,The questions youre asking dont matterwhatmatters is the calculus. Scientific Progress.Knowledge.3

So when Stoppard insists in his directionsnothing much need beseen of the exteriorbeyond, the stress is heavily laid on the text,on what we come to learn through thecharacters discourse. His play is a feat oflanguage, and language has been the traditionalmanner of communicating learning. TrevorGriffiths, a teacher himself, also relies heavilyon language for the unfolding of hisideologically-marked drama, firmly inscribedin the modernistic tradition of thought, itssystems of ideas and beliefs which havecharacterized most of the twentieth century.When Eddie, the humanist teacher, calls hisstudents gentlemen or Mr Price,MrMurray,he is prompting them to respect & to self-respect, to the fundamental seriousnessunderpinning the joke-cracking business. Buthe can also be fatherly encouraging and friendly,persuasive too, by calling them by their firstnames or nicknames occasionally. Stoppardsuse of language, on the other hand, is anythingbut realistic: it tends to de-personalise hischaracters as in Hannahs reply toValentine I

3 Ibid., II:5, pp. 6061.

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dont knowwhen Ive received amore unusualproposal, little time after Lady Crooms I donot knowwhen I have received amore unusualcompliment,Mr Hodge, making it thereforeimpossible for us to identify characters throughtheir language as we would with Shakespearesometimes. Let us remember that this is theauthor of Rosenkrantz and Guildenstern are Deadwho thus proceeds. His treatment of languagein Arcadia helps explain the curious flatness ofthe plays characters, a fact that makes theminterchangeable. Also, this makes for thecancellation of the historical perspective,visually expressed by the accumulation ofobjects on the table,or by the Regency clothessported by the contemporary Crooms at theend of the play for the mask ball.As when thesilent Gus who, according to directions,takes[the audience] a moment to realise that he isnot Lord Augustus comes to Hannah withThomasinas final drawing of Septimus, thehermit, and hands it to her, a drawing whichhad actually been given toAugustus before.Thedécor, the furniture, are investedwith a doublemeaning: in the scenes taking place earlynineteenth century they can be consideredmodern or fashionable, and as such anindication to the audience of the time whenthe action takes place,with all its connotations.In the contemporary ones, they becomeperiod pieces, valuable not only intrinsicallythrough thematerial and art employed in theirmaking, but also as antiques, and thereforenow become an indication of wealth,refinement, and status. And yet, whencontemporary Gus appears dressed as LordAugustus of the 1800s, you are baffled. Andwhen you see on the table Lady Thomasinasobject next to those of his descendantValentine,you do not knowwhere you are anymore, fromthe perspective of Time! And yet, you senseyou are evaluating actually that very dimension,and what it makes to the concept of meaningand knowledge, in fact you become to

question the very possibilities of such a thingto exist. Because Bernard, the Oxford don, ispresenting as results of his research on Byronto Byron London Society a carefully arguedreport which we, the audience, know, in ourrole as witnesses, to be fundamentally wrong.Or,on aminor key,sweeter too,whenValentinefeeds the turtle on the table which he callsSpeed, we are tempted to think, on the basisof the cliché that turtles live long,whether it isnot really Plautus, the turtle of Septimus, fromtwo centuries before!!The classroom relationship in Arcadia isfurther stylized into a dance first, into anamorous embrace then.ThatThomasina lovedher tutor there is little doubt; Septimus insteadis a character far more difficult to assess. Hehad sexwiththeChaterwoman, he appearedto be hopelessly in love with Thomasinasmother, a matter Thomasina herself wouldwillingly discuss with him if only she wereallowed to.Yet, there are hints that point intothat direction, i.e. allow us to study his lovefor Lady Croom as a probable displacement ofhis real interest. He knew better than fell forhis teen lady charge. But he seems to be goingtowards her through time& space all along thedevelopment of the play with the Chaterwoman and Lady Croom as steps towards herand beyond her, into nonsense, an incalculableidea.Some think the end of the play to besentimental. Hannah says in I:2 p. 28, I dontlike sentimentality.Elsewhere she says she doesnot like dancing.Yet there she is, dancing andbeing sentimental, against all the NewtonianLaws of possibilitygestures that transcendlanguage, language that transcends learning.Themetaphor of the classroom receives thusfrom Stoppard a postmodernistic handling inthat it is taken up only to be discarded, left onthe table as yet another token of the old times,of forgotten rhetorics, a quaint reminder ofother codes, like that of courtesy, dropped

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since. As when he contrasts for instance theelegant witty repartees (of Shavian flavour) inthe lady Thomasinas period with the grossvulgar exchanges among Hannah, Bernard,Valentine in our own; in Griffiths, althoughchallenged, themetaphor of the classroomwasstill functioning, as when he benevolentlyreceives the application of the Paqui studentfor the following term at the end of the play, ametaphor still very much alive as theirreplaceable tool/place for things otherwiseleft unsaid or unsayable.

BibliographyBentley, Eric, ed. TheTheory of the Modern Stage. PenguinBooks, 1976

Elam, Keir. The Semiotics of Theatre & Drama. London:Routledge, 1980

Griffiths,Trevor.Comedians. London:Faber & Faber, 1976Innes, Christopher. Modern British Drama 18901990.Cambridge University Press, 1992

Stoppard, Tom. Arcadia. London: Samuel French, 1993(and version mentioned in second footnote; Stoppardis said to correct his plays continually as they are inperformance)

VideographyAuthors home recording of the TV (shortened) versionof Comedians, BBC, 1980

NationalTheatres recording of their 1993 performance(available at theTheatre Museum,Covent Garden, byappointment only)

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November, I received a letter from a womannamed Sophie Fanshawe. You dont knowme, the letter began, and I apologize forwriting to you like this out of the blue. Butthings have happened, and under thecircumstances I dont have much choice. Itturned out that she was Fanshawes wife. Sheknew that I had grown up with her husband,and she also knew that I lived in NewYork,since she had read many of the articles I hadpublished in magazines.The explanation came in the secondparagraph, very bluntly, without anypreamble. Fanshawe had disappeared, shewrote, and it was more than six months since

Paul Auster

The Locked RoomThe Locked RoomThe Locked RoomThe Locked RoomThe Locked Room(fragmento)Traducción de Sofía Estévez

En noviembre hará siete años que recibí unacarta de una mujer llamada Sophie Fanshawe.«Usted no me conoce», comenzaba la carta,«y le pido disculpas por escribirle taninesperadamente. Pero algo ha ocurrido, ydadas las circunstancias no tengo opción.»Resultó ser la esposa de Fanshawe. Ella sabíaque yo había crecido junto a su esposo, ytambién que yo vivía en NuevaYork, ya quehabía leído muchos de mis artículospublicados en revistas.Lo explicaba todo en el segundo párrafo, demodo brusco y sin preámbulos. Decía queFanshawe había desaparecido, y que ya habíanpasado más de seis meses desde la última vez

levantaba la mirada.Pero esto fue hace muchotiempo. Crecimos, tomamosrumbos diferentes, nosdistanciamos.Pienso que nada deeso es extraño. La vida nos llevapor caminos que no podemoscontrolar, y casi nada permanececon nosotros. Muere connosotros, y lamuerte es algo quenos sucede cada día.

But that was a long time ago.We grew up, went off todifferent places, drifted apart.None of that is very strange, Ithink. Our lives carry us alongin ways we cannot control, andalmost nothing stays with us. Itdies when we do, and death issomething that happens to usevery day.Seven years ago this

It seems to me now that Fanshawe wasalways there. He is the place whereeverything begins for me, and without him Iwould hardly knowwho I am.Wemet beforewe could talk, babies crawling through thegrass in diapers, and by the time we wereseven we had pricked our fingers with pinsand made ourselves blood brothers for life.Whenever I think of my childhood now, Isee Fanshawe.He was the one who was withme, the one who shared my thoughts, theone I saw whenever I looked up frommyself.

Ahora me parece que Fanshawe siempreestuvo allí. Él es el lugar donde todo comienzapara mí, y sin él apenas sabría quién soy. Nosconocimos antes de que aprendiéramos ahablar, bebés en pañales gateando por elcésped, y a los siete años ya nos habíamospinchado los dedos con alfileres y noshabíamos conver tido para siempre enhermanos de sangre. Ahora, cada vez querecuerdo mi infancia, veo a Fanshawe. Él erael que me acompañaba, con quien compartíamis pensamientos, el que veía siempre cuando

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she had last seen him. Not a word in all thattime, not the slightest clue as to where hemight be.The police had found no trace ofhim, and the private detective she hired tolook for him had come up empty-handed.Nothing was sure, but the facts seemed tospeak for themselves: Fanshawewas probablydead; it was pointless to think he would becoming back. In the light of all this, therewas something important she needed todiscuss with me, and she wondered if I wouldagree to see her.

que lo había visto. Hasta ese momento nohabía recibido ni una palabra, ni siquiera unapista de dónde podría estar.La policía no habíaencontrado rastro alguno, y el detectiveprivado que ella había contratado tambiénhabía terminado con las manos vacías.Todavíano era seguro, pero las pruebas hablaban porsí solas: era muy probable que Fanshaweestuviera muerto;no tenía sentido pensar queél regresaría. En vista de todo esto, necesitabahablar conmigo de algo importante, y queríasaber si yo aceptaría reunirme con ella.

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IntroductionIn The Cambridge Encyclopaedia of Language,chapter dealing with Ethnic and NationalIdentity, p. 37, nº 13, about the Balkan States,David Crystal says that current information onthe minority languages in the states formerlycomprisingYugoslavia, is unavailable due to thechanging political situation in the area since1991.Varieties of Serbo-Croatian, the formerUnion language, are still used, but thedifferences between Serbian and Croatian arenow strongly emphasized.In truth, there is also Slovenian, spoken inSlovenia, and Macedonian, spoken inMacedonia, both of them former Yugoslavrepublics, situated in the north and south ofthe country respectively. Moreover, Albanianhas an official status in the AutonomousProvince of Kosovo, and Hungarian is aminority language inVoivodina, the borderlandon the Danube.In addition, Bosnia-Hercegovina makes thepicture of ethnic and linguistic identities stillmore complex, on account of a certainsuperposition and interference of ethnic andlinguistic differences and similarities in a smallarea.The puzzling reality requires some basicclarification from the geographical, historical,ethnic and linguistic point of view.

The Balkans or Balkan StatesThe Balkans or Balkan States are occupyingthe Balkan Peninsula, the most eastern of thethree southern European peninsulas.The Balkan Peninsula is bounded by the riversDanube and Sava in the north-east. It issurrounded by the Adriatic, the Aegean, theMediterranean, the Sea of Marmara and the

Black Sea.Named after the range of the BalkanMountains crossing Bulgaria, parallel to theDanube, from theYugoslav border to the BlackSea, it includes Albania, Macedonia, Greece,Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Romania and theEuropeanTurkey.Consequently, it is the hometo various ethnic groups with differentlanguages and cultures.Geography apart, when we think of theBalkans, we associate the term with an idea ofinstability, unrest and conflicting interests,particularly in certain areas of the formerYugoslavia.On the other hand,we dont thinkof Greece as a Balkan country, although it ispart of the same peninsula.Neither dowe thinkof Slovenia and Croatia as of Balkan countries,because they both belong culturally to CentralEurope. Many of their leading personalitiesstudied at the universities of Prague andViennaor in Italy, and were culturally active whilelivingwithin the frameof theAustro-HungarianEmpire.The whole of the peninsula is, in fact, anethnic, linguistic and cultural mosaic,produced by migrations and invasions ofpeoples of different racial origin, by the riseand fall of empires, by the ebb and flow ofnational awareness and inspired leadership aswell as by the changing context of contactsor isolation.

Who is who?At times, it might be convenient to turn ourthought away from the contemporary state ofthings we know but do not quite understand,back to the past, in search of clarification.As a matter of fact, there were threeYugoslavias altogether. Croatia and Sloveniawere part of the first two.

Nadislava L. Laharnar

The Balkans A MosaicThe Balkans A MosaicThe Balkans A MosaicThe Balkans A MosaicThe Balkans A Mosaic

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The firstYugoslavia was a kingdom, createdafter the First World War, in 1918, by anagreement of three Slavic nations, Serbia,Croatia and Slovenia, to be ruled by the SerbianHouse of Karadjordjevich, from the SerbianCapital Belgrade.The original name of the newcountrywas the Kingdomof Serbs,Croats andSlovenes. In 1929, it was changed toYugoslavia, meaning The Land of SouthernSlavs.The secondYugoslaviawas a restoration of thefirst, after the SecondWorldWar, in 1945.Withonly slight territorial corrections, it became aunion of six socialist republics. That is to saythat on the same territory, the number ofconstituent republics was doubled, whenBosnia, Montenegro and Macedonia wereofficially recognized their individual identitieswithin the Federal State ofYugoslavia.In the 1990s, this second Yugoslavia wasdismembered and survived nominally in thethird Yugoslavia, comprising only Serbia,Montenegro and theTerritory of Kosovo.Therest of the former Yugoslav republics gainedtheir independence and now they enjoy thestatus of fully independent nation-states. Butthe latest change has taken place on February4th this year.After long considerations, Serbiaand Montenegro decided to call their Unionsimply Serbia andMontenegro, for a greaterflexibility. And it is the end of the thirdYugoslavia.Southern Slavswere separated from themainbody of the large Slavic language family by theHuns who wedged themselves between thenorth-eastern and south-western Slavic branch.Coming from the Black Sea, the Huns hadoverrun much of Europe under Attila, in themiddle of the fifth century and later on, untilthey settled, by 896, in the modern Hungary,known as Hungarians or Magyars.Yugoslavia had been devised to unite andprotect the southern Slavs in accordance withthe saying that Union is Strength. But the

separatist tendencieswere strong from the verybeginning.Centripetal forces created Yugoslavia,centrifugal forces destroyed it. Consanguinitycertainly worked in favour, while culturalcontext worked against the acceptance ofcontingencies of living under the same roof.The breakdown of the centennial Austro-Hungarian imperial frame had changed thepolitical map of Europe providing conditionsfor totally new options. Right or wrong,decisions had to be taken in one sense oranother, although they were in many aspects amatter of opinion, in an uncertain atmosphere.

Serbo-CroatianAs far as language is concerned,the compoundSerbo-Croatian was adopted as name for thecompulsory subjectmatter in secondary schooleducation throughout the new country,according to the principle of homogeneity:onenation-stateone language. But ideas cannotbe imposed on people.The sole existence of a Serbo-Croatianlanguage was questionable, not so much onaccount of mutual intelligibility, whichcertainly existed to a high degree, in spite ofdifferences in grammar and vocabulary. It wasarousingmistrust because there existed a strongfeeling against it. Most of the population feltthat they spoke a Slavic language of their own,not a dialect, and many people did not evenspeak Serbian or Croatian. So, reason,sentiment and a sense of reality, were oftenpushing in opposite directions. And what ismore, the identity process of differentiation hadalready culminated in important languagedocumentation and in highly qualified literarytradition.Besides, there was a powerful visual reasonin thewritten language,which split the formulaSerbo-Croatian, on account of a differentalphabet Serbians and Croatians used. TheCroatian alphabet is Latin or Roman,while the

23

Serbian is Cyrillic. The use of differentcharacters was a barrier in itself; they had tobe learnt previous to reading andunderstanding. On the other side, even thesame alphabet has to be adapted to the sound-system of every particular language. So, theCyrillic alphabet,used byRussians,Bulgarians,Macedonians and Serbs is not exactly the same,either in the shape of individual letters or inthe number of characters.TheCyrillic alphabet is named after St.Cyril,but it was actually derived from the Greekalphabet in the ninth century, by two highlyeducated Greek brothers from Salonica, Sts.Cyril and Methodius, calledApostles of Slavs.Broadly speaking, theCyrillic alphabet has beenadopted by the eastern Slavic nations,belongingto the Orthodox Church, and Latin alphabetby those belonging to the Roman Church, intheWest.

Ancient IllyriansThe presence of numerous Illyrian tribes inthe Balkans and on theAdriatic Sea, long beforethe arrival of Slavs and other newcomers in thearea, is a historical fact of significance for abetter understanding of the early Europeanhistory.Although they left no written recordsabout themselves, other ancient authors,inscriptions and archaeological finds arepointing at the Indo-European origin of theIllyrian peoples. Coming from the East, theyoccupied the lands between the Danube, Savaand Drava rivers and the Adriatic Sea, fromFiume (Rijeka) to Durrës (Dyrrachium) in theSouth. Some of them even migrated over landor sea into Italy. In the North, in what is nowSlovenia, on one side, andVeneto,on the otherside, they came into contact and mingled withCelts.Clear traces of Celtic influence have beendiscoveredwithin the territory of the Japodes,an Illyrio-Celtic tribe,who once occupied partof Slovenia and the Croatian Lika.

TheVenetis Illyrian origin is still controversialsinceVenetic language and proper names bearlittle resemblance to their Balkan counterparts.There is, however, sufficient archaeologicalevidence for Illyrianmigrations into Italy.Thereis also a close resemblance between the nameof the Iapyges, neighbours of the ItalianMessapi, and the Iapodes of the north-westernBalkans.In the South,Thracians andMacedonianswereprobably of the same Illyric stock, but theywere strongly influenced by the Greek, whoestablished a number of trading colonies in theirregion. The present day city of Durrës,developed from theGreek colony Epidamnos,founded in the seventh century BC. Anotherfamous Greek colony and cultural center onthe coast wasApollonia.The Illyrian inward boundaries were neverclearly defined, but they included part of themodern Slovenia, Dalmatia, Bosnia,Montenegro, part of Serbia,Albania and partof Greece.Due to the loose tribal organizationand lack of a central authority,the Illyrianswereunable to create a strong national State.Chieftains,chosen by the councils of elders usedto extend their rule over the neighbouringtribes and establish short-lived kingdoms.Agriculture, warfare and piracy were thecharacteristic features of the Illyrianway of life,but they were by no means totally uncouth.Illyrian friezes have been discovered near thepresent day Slovenian Capital, Liubliana,representing ritual sacrifices, battles andsporting events.The Illyrian culture is characterized by thearchaeological remains, representative of aperiod of transition from the Bronze Age tothe Iron Age, towards the end of the secondmillennium BC, comparable to the Hallstattculture in Central Europe, usually associatedwith the Celtic population.The arrival of the Illyrians in the Balkans, inthe thirteenth century BC, is coincident with

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the fall of Troy and a large-scale westwardmigration movement of peoples from theeastern Mediterranean, by the end of theBronzeAge.Evidence of Illyrian migration from AsiaMinor is found in several ancient texts. InHomers Iliad, Dardanian allies were fightingalongsidewith theTroyans,against theAchaeans(Greek), at the time of theTroyanWar.Therewere no other people named Dardanians butthe tribe of Illyria.They could have been akinto theTroyans orTroyans straightforward, sinceDardanuswas themythical founder ofTroy andancestor to theDardanians,as stated in the Iliad.In addition, archaeological finds in the vicinityof the ancient Troy have been recognized asIllyrian prototype.A piece of an ancient Egyptian hieroglyphicwriting also supports the idea of the Illyrianorigin inAsia Minor. In the thirteenth centuryBC, Ramses the Great of Egypt fought a battlewith the Hittites and their allies, recorded bythe Egyptians as Drdny.Again, there were noother people with a similar name except forthe Dardanians of Illyria.Moreover, a connection has been discoveredbetween the language of the ancient PhrygiansinAsiaMinor and the Illyrian language. So, theBryges, an ancient Illyrio-Thracian tribe ofMacedonia orThrace, and the Phrygianswouldbe essentially the same people.

Illyrian tribesAmong the numerous Illyrian tribes onlythose will be mentioned in particular, whoinhabited the western part of the Balkanpeninsula for over two thousand years and leftbehind their names in the local geography orin the collective memory of their Slavic heirs.The Liburnians once occupied part of theHistrian peninsula (Istra), the northernAdriaticand its islands.They were skilful seafarers andsoon becamemasters of theAdriatic Sea.Theirswift sailing craft were eventually adopted by

the Romans and named after them liburniae, in Latin. The Liburnian trading vesselstravelled both Adriatic coasts, but they werealso engaged in piracy and their raids provokedtheGreek and the Romans alike. In the earliestconflict, recorded by Strabo, the Liburnianswere turned out of the island of Corcyra(Corfu), off the Albanian coast, by theCorinthians. In the war with Rome, on theother hand, they were forced into submissionto the rising Roman power.The Dalmatae or Dalmatians occupied theCroatian coast.Their territory was part of thekingdom of Illyria until 180 BC when theydeclared themselves independent of Gentius,the King of Illyria. The Dalmatians were thelast of the Illyric tribes to be subdued by theRomans, in 9 AD,under the EmperorTiberius,when they joined the Pannonians in revoltagainst Rome.The Ardiaeans, once an inland tribe,established themselves on the Montenegrincoast. In the third century BC, they were oneof the most powerful Illyrian tribes. In 168,however, they were driven back inland wherethey disappeared.The Dardani or Dardanians of Kosovo andsouthern Serbia, lived in constantwarfarewiththeMacedonians, from the fourth to the secondcentury BC. They were subdued first by theArdiaeans and afterwards by the Romans.In the South, in the present dayAlbania, Illyriaremained a powerful kingdomwith its Capitalat Scodra (Skadar), until 180 BC, the year inwhich the Dalmatians declared theirindependence.The Kingdom of Illyria had been created byBardhyllus (385358 BC), a Dardanian whonearly destroyed the Kingdom of Macedonia.He was succeeded by members of the royalhouses of theArdiaeans and Dardanians.The Romans fought three so-called Illyrianor Macedonian wars. In the days of Teuta,Queen Regent in behalf of the minor Pinnes,

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the unruly chieftains got all the freedom theywanted.As a result, theAdriatic and the IonianSea were plundered by the Illyrian pirates.TheGreek asked Rome for help and in 229 BC itprovoked the first IllyrianWar in whichTeutahad to accept theRomanpeace terms.Ten yearslater,Demetrius,disregarding the treaty, sidedwith the Macedonians against the Romans. In219 it caused the Second IllyrianWar, endingwith the Illyrian retreat. In the second century,Gentius, the last Illyrian King (180168 BC)made the same mistake. He renewed theassociationwithMacedonians againstRome andprovoked the third IllyrianWar. In the battle ofPydna, in 168 BC, both Illyrians andMacedonians were forced to surrender and itmeant the end of the Illyrian and Macedonianindependence.For the Romans, the victory removed anobstacle to their territorial expansion in theEast. Gentius and his family were takenprisoners to Rome and Illyria became part ofthe Roman Province of Illyricum.With thesubjugation of the Dalmatians in 9 AD, all ofIllyria was united in the Province of Illyricum.The boundaries and the size of Illyricumwereoften changed.Before 10 AD, it extended fromthe river Danube to the Macedonian borderand the Adriatic Sea. In 10 AD the Pannonianterritory was separated from Illyricum and anew province of Pannonia was created for theprotection of the Danubian border. Soonafterwards, the name of Dalmatia was given tothe ancient part of Illyricum.The lands of theancient Illyria were divided among theprovinces of Dalmatia,Macedonia and Epirus.

Under the Roman ruleThe Roman rule brought prosperity andcultural development to the Illyrian population.The Illyrian clansmen had to pledge allegianceto the emperor, but they retained their localauthority. The Romans, on their part,established numerous military camps and

colonies on the coast, they built aqueducts andmilitary and trade routes. Via Egnatia, forinstance, connected the ports of Dyrrhachiumand Apollonia with Thessalonike andByzantium.The Greek city of Byzantium wasmade the Capital of the Byzantine Empire byConstantine the Great. It was renamedConstantinople in his honour. Later on, in1453,when it was captured by theTurks, theycalled it Istanbul.By the end of the second century AD, theHellenistic ideal of Paideia and Humanismceased to influence the Roman life. Currentsof mystic oriental teachings were spreadingmore and more from the lower social classesto the higher strata of society until the RomanHellenistic world got notably orientalized.Theresult was a cosmopolitical equality with theRomans, of all the nationalities within theempire. It brought over a denationalization andhastened the end of theWestern Empire.Although the idea of the government by thesenate had still been maintained, thePraetorians in Rome and the legions in theprovinces started proclaiming emperors theirnon-Italic commanders. The vigorousbarbarouspeople in the romanized provinceswere taking over the political and militaryleadership from the weakened Italo-Romanfamilies.The province ofAfrica was the first to reachits highpoint under the dynasty of SeptimiusSeverus,calledtheAfrican.Severus,governorof the upper Pannonia, was proclaimedEmperor by his troops and governed from 193to 211 AD.He secured the Roman rule in Syriaand took Byzantium on his way to Moesia.Athens also lost its independence at that time,and it presaged the end of theHellenic spiritualsupremacy over the Romans.Severus was not conditioned by the Romantradition in his quest of power. So, religionbecame centered on the divine cult of theEmperor,the autonomyofRomewas destroyed

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and theCity put under an Imperial Procurator.When people of the provinceswere given thesame rights as those enjoyed by the Italicpopulation, Illyrian,Asian andAfrican soldierscould rank up in the legions.After twenty-fiveyears of service most of them, especially thoserooted on the border, remained in touch withtheir legions, sending their sons to the samegarrison. Severus dissolved the Praetoriancohorts and created a newGuardwith soldiersof barbaric origin from the Danube. Theopposition between theRomanPraetorians andthe provincial legions disappeared and thepassage to the Praetorian élite corpsrepresented an advancement. It had, however,harmful effects on the combativeness of theItalic men who had to face the defence of Italyand Rome against the northern Germanicinvaders, soon afterwards.The year 238, with four emperors and aCivilWar, is seen as the beginning of a large-scale Germanic pressure on the RomanEmpire.Gothic tribes were pushing forwardson the Rhine, they also crossed the Danubeand occupied the northern Moesia. Anotherthreat was the growth of the new PersianEmpire. So the Romans had to fightsimultaneously on two fronts. It could havebrought a collapse to the Roman power in ashort run, hadDiocletian not created amobilearmy corps needed for the simultaneousdefence against two foes.

Illyrian emperorsThewarlike Illyrians distinguished themselvesas soldiers in the Roman legions and theywerealso a significant part of the Praetorian Guard.Their allegiance to Rome allowed them tomove up ranks rather quickly and eventuallythey acceded to the throne in the Roman aswell as in the Byzantine Empire. ProclaimedEmperors by their soldiers, several of themwere also assassinatedby the same soldiers,aftera short rule.

In difficult circumstances, the army on theDanube made emperor the Pannonian Decius(249251) who opens the line of the Illyrianemperors. Trying to block the retreat of theGoths over the Danube, he fell in his attempt,together with his son, in 251.Claudius, the Gothicus (268270), a Romanofficer in the army, was proclaimed emperorat the death of the emperor Gallenius.Hewonseveral victories over the Gothic invaders.Aurelian (270275),born inMoesia,dedicatedhis life to the restoration of the Empire and tothe general walfare of the people. He alsostarted building a newwall around the City ofRome, most of which is still standing. It wascompleted by his successor Probus.Probus (276282),born in thePannonian townof Sirmium (Mitrovica), continued Aurelianswork.He did not only lead successful militarycampaigns against theGermanic tribes but alsomade his soldiers contribute to the generalwelfare with public works, such as draining ofmarshy lands and introducing viticulture.Warprisoners and subdued tribes were resettled ascolonists. These works of peace irritated themilitary and Probus was killed in spite of hisprobity which had inspired his proclamationby the soldierswhowere seeing in hima brave,pious, restrained,merciful and upright man, so that he had been unanimously acclaimed:Probe,Auguste,dii te servent! (Probus, Emperor,may Gods protectThee!).Diocletian (284305), a Dalmatian by birth,changed his name Diokles into Diocletianus.He saved the Empire from disintegration,introducing profound institutional reforms.Hisconfidants were made joint emperors or sub-emperors, calledAugusti.The system workedfor some time, then it led to internal strife.Rome ceased to be the Emperors residencesince the joint rulewas determined on the basisof geographical division,with a local capital foreach ruler. Diocletian himself exercised theunifying supreme authority. He chose

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Nicomedia for his capital to keep back both,the Goths and the Persians. After a lifelongindefatigable activity, Diocletian fell seriouslyill. In 305, he resigned the throne and retiredto this palace in Salonia (modern Split), inDalmatia, where he died in 313.Constantine the Great (324337) acceptedChristianity and defeated the other Augusti.Therewere four at that time.In 312,he enteredRome with his army bearing the emblem ofthe Cross on their shields. Immediately, heissued hisMilan Edict ofTolerance, introducingreligious freedom. The Imperial Capital wastransferred fromRome toByzantium,renamedafter him, Constantinople.Justin I (518527),born ofDardanian parents,was elected to the throne at the age of seventy.In his reign, the Slavs began to settle on theEmpires northern border.Justinian (527565) was probably also ofIllyrian descent.He recapturedmost of the lostterritory from theGermanic invaders and keptthe Slavs at bay. Unlike his illiterate Illyrianpredecessors, he had acquired an earlyeducation at Constantinople. He codified theRoman Civil Law into what is known as theJustinian Code. He also built the famousByzantine church Hagia Sophia inConstantinople.

Albania, the last of IllyriaAlbania, a small mountainous country in thesouth-western Balkans, between Greece andYugoslavia, is of difficult access from the East.In theWest, it is facing the port of Brindisi onthe Italian side of the Strait of Otranto.Albanian, the native language of itsinhabitants, is closely related to the Illyrian, anindoeuropean language, spoken in the ancientIllyria all along theAdriatic Sea.The Kingdomof Illyria conquered by the Romans in 168 BC,was only the southern part of the regionoccupied by the Illyrians. Broadly speaking, itwas the present dayAlbania. Incorporated into

the Roman province of Illyricum it was part ofthe Roman and later of the Byzantine Empirefar into the fifth century AD. Then it wasconquered successively by the Goths, Slavs,Normans and Turks. It remained under theTurkish rule until 1912, when it was declaredindependent. During the First WorldWar, itwas occupied by French, Italian and Serbiantroops.Recognized a sovereign State in 1920, itwas invaded once more and annexed to Italy.During the SecondWorldWar it was occupiedby theGreek and theGermanuntil itwas finallyliberated by theAllied forces in 1944.The sole list of invasions and invaders provesthat a timely documentation of the Albanianlanguage was of impossible achievement untilrecently. A dictionary and a grammar writtendown in a chosen alphabet are,nevertheless, thevery basic factors in themaking of a nation.Theofficial Albanian alphabet was introduced onlyin 1909, using the Roman or Latin characters.The troubled history of the country isunavoidably reflected in the language.As a resultof consecutive invasions and longperiodsof alienrule, a great deal of foreign vocabulary, mostlyTurkish, has been definitely incorporated intotheAlbanian lexicon.Modern Albanian is an example of therevitalization of a language. The Albanianlanguage is now studied intensively at theUniversity ofTirana, the Albanian Capital, andin Italy, where many Albanians live. They co-operate in the Studia Illyrica, aiming at a unifiednational language,madeof twodialects,theGhegin the North and the Tosk in the South of thecountry. Much of the original vocabulary andstructure is certainly lost or changed, but newvocabulary and new uses are being developed,in consonance with the modern needs ofcommunication.And the ruling class are proudof being Shiptars (Albanians) as they callthemselves.The explanation of the Illyrian name is stillcontroversial.There seems to be a connection

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between the Illyrian name and the ancientmythological serpent known to the Hittities.And, in Greek, the root word in the Illyrianname means to wind. But the Albanianscholars find their own interpretation moresatisfactory. They argue that the root in theAlbanian Ileret is I-lir which means free, so the meaning of the name Illyrians would beFree men and the meaning of Illyria is theland of the free.

Two powerful neighboursOneof the Illyrian branches in the northweremost probably Veneti or Venetians whoestablished themselves on the north Adriaticcoast and in Istra.Venice, seaport and capital of the Venetoregion, gained control of the Adraitic Sea andexpanded its trade between Europe and Asia.At its height, the Venetian power extendedalong the Dalmatian coast as far as Dubrovnik(Ragusa).Dubrovnikwas founded in the 7th century andprospered to the point of rivalingVenice. Soonafterwards,bothVenice andDubrovnik sufferedfrom theTurkish competition. Dubrovnik hadto pay Turkey a tribute in gold coins, calledducats, current at that time in Europe, inexchange for its autonomy.Venetian power inits turn was weakened in the struggle with theTurks, from 1453 to 1718. Venice fell toNapoleon Bonaparte in 1797, and became partof Italy in 1868, together with her possessionsalong the Dalmatian coast. That is why theVenetian lion, symbol of theVenetian rule, canstill be seen on ancient public buildings alongthe EasternAdriatic.The Ottoman or Turkish Empirewas a MoslemState, founded in 1288, by Osman I, in AsiaMinor. It expanded through Asia Minor andthrough the Balkans toThrace, in 1345.Afterthe victory at Kosovo, in 1389, theTurks tookSerbia and Bulgaria. In 1453 they capturedConstantinople.They even reachedVienna in

1529 and 1683, but failed to conquer it. IanSobiesky, King of Poland, relieved the Citywhen it was besieged in 1683.TheTurks weredefinitely defeated to return never again.

Serbia and KosovoIn the battle of Kosovo Polje (the Field ofKosovo), in1389,theTurksdefeated a combinedarmyof Serbs,Albanians,Bosnians,MotenegrinsandBulgarians,breaking thepowerof Serbia andBulgaria. Serbia became first a vassal state andthen part of the Ottoman Empire. It recoveredindependence four centuries later underKaradjordje, in 1828.After the FirstWorldWarit became the core of the Kingdom of Serbs,Croats and Slovenes, in 1918.Serbia emerged as a principality in the 9thcentury, subject to the Byzantine Empire. In1227 the Serbs crowned their ownKing,Underthe Czar Dusan the Powerful (13311335),Serbia became the dominant power in theBalkans. But it was overthrown at Kosovo.The battle of Kosovo is of great significance inthe History of Serbia. It is felt as a nationaltragedy with its epic heroes and a SerbianAntigona in the battlefield. Kosovo is now anautonomous province of Serbia, with largelyAlbanian population. Its Capital is Pristina.Serbiawouldhaveno access to the sea if itwerenot throughMontenegrinports.BokaKotorska,Budva and Ulcinj belonging to Montenegro.Ulcinj, built on a promontory between twobays, is the oldest town on the Adriatic Sea.According to the tradition, it had been foundedby the Colchidians in the fifth century BC, but itoften changed its name andmasters. Itwas onceruled by Teuta, Queen of Illyria. The Illyrianswere succeeded by the Greek, the Romans andByzantines,Venice andOttomanTurks.TheTurksturned the town into their stronghold and heldit for three centuries.Maritime tradition of Boka Kotorska beganin the Illyrian and Roman times.The natives ofthe Bay of Kotor used to see the seafarers off

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(and still do so)wishing them to have a safe voyageand a rough sea.

Bosnia-HercegovinaA mountainous country, cut by deep valleysand covered with forests is situated betweenthe river Sava and theAdriatic.From 1463 it was a Turkish province until1878, when it became part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was a Croatian provincein the firstYugoslavia, a federated republic inthe second Yugoslavia, and is now anindependent state.In fact, its inhabitants,Bosnians,Croatians andSerbs, are finding some difficulty in livingpeacefully together,without a clear territorialdivision, impossible of achievement;professingthe Islamic, Catholic or Orthodox religion;divided ethnically, culturally and often facingproblems of identity as members of mixedfamilies.Sarajevo, the Capital and cultural center ofBosnia and Hercegovina, retains a strongIslamic character. The name of the city isassociated with the assassination, in 1914, ofthe Archduke Franz Ferdinand, AustrianCrown Prince. The unfor tunate eventtriggered off theWorldWar I.Medjugorje,too, is part of Bosnia.Not so longago, it was a small place amidst mountains.This is the meaning of the placename Medju-gorje. Nowadays, people from far and near,Moslems included, are coming on pilgrimageto kneel before the Lady of Peaceeven in thecontext of a recurrent civil war.

CroatiaEastern Adriatic is nowadays actuallyCroatian, from the Istrian Peninsula andRijeka(Fiume), in theNorth, to the extreme southernDalmatian island of Lokrum. The Croatianculture, in its turn, is an integral part of theCentro-European culture and its farthermostextended southern branch.

The contemporary Republic of Croatia is themeeting place of the European East andWestand a link between the Central Europe and theMediterranean. In the past, its eastern borderwas the dividing line between theWestern andthe Eastern Roman Empire, after theirseparation in the fourth century.Ever since theeleventh century it has been the boundarybetween the western Catholicism and theeastern Orthodoxy. For nearly half amillennium, from the 15th to the 19th century,it was also a military borderland betweenChristianity and Islam, studdedwith fortressesfor the defence of the country and the rest ofEurope against theTurks.TheCroatian land and shores have been, fromtimes immemorial, an important place ofcontact for different peoples, their languagesand cultures, such as the Illyrian Liburnians andancient Greek and Romans. Prehistory andHistory can be read from the archaeologicalremains of the cities, monuments and worksof art, belonging to distant periods of humansettlements, long before the arrival of theCroats in the 7th century. The prominentcharacteristic of Croatia is its urban culture.The number and density of Croatian towns isfar superior to other south European countries.The origin of Croatian cities is mainly Greekand Roman or Medieval. Each one haspreserved its own character, in accordancewithits particular period of foundation.The heritageof the ancient Greek colonization and theRoman urbanization, received by the Croatiansettlers, is truly noteworthy.The Greek colonization of the East-Adriaticcoast and its islands dates from the 4th to the2nd century BC. Commerce had brought theancient Greek to Dalmatia, where theyestablished numerous colonies,Korcula amongthem.The Roman period has left a strong mark onthe city of Pula, in Istra. Its magnificentamphitheatre, built in the 2nd century AD is the

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best preserved architectonic shell in Europe.The late-antique architectural complex ofDiocletians Palace is the core of the medievalSplit. It is unique by the way in whichsubsequent centuries were transforming theEmperors Palace into a city. The Palace wasbuilt in the fourth century AD.Within a peristyleofRoman columns and archades,Romanesque,Gothic,Rembaissance and Baroque houses andpalaces have been built.Diocletians octogonalMausoleum has been turned into a cathedraland a Romanesque bell tower has been addedto it, providing the city with a vertical axis.

The Republic of DubrovnikThe beginning ofDubrovnik as a planned citygoes back to the 13th century. Itswell preservedcity walls and towers were built between the14th and the 16th centuries.The city emergedas an independent state thanks to its geographicalposition and to the diplomatic ability of itsleadership. In possession of an importantmerchant fleet, it was able to compete with themore powerful Mediterranean cities and stopthe Ottoman advances. From the 14th to thebeginning of the 19th century it was the capitalof a free Croatian State, the Republic ofDubrovnik, now the Croatian Province or, inCroatian,Zupanija of Dubrovnik-Neretva.Dubrovnik, ancient Ragusa, is the lastsouthernDalmatian port protected by islands.In stormy weather it could give refuge totravellers on their way to Constantinople orto the Holy Land.Freshwaterhas alwaysbeenof vital importancein a regionmade totallyof calcareous rock.Stoneis omnipresent in the area. It is part of thepanoramic view of the country and used asbuildingmaterial of humble homes as well as ofarchitecturalmasterpieces. In olden days, itwasa blessing and an evident sign of wealth to find afountain at the city entrance. Not evenVenicecould enjoy such a luxury in spite of itsprominence on the Adriatic Sea. On the

neighbouring island of Korcula, under theVenetian rule,peoplehad touse cisterns for theirwater supply, while abundant fresh water wasbrought from inland sources by aqueduct toDubrovnik and fresh water irrigated the fertiledelta of the river Neretva.For these reasons the small city of Dubrovnikgrew into the only serious rival and localcounterpoise toVenice.Its 1940metres long andup to 6 metres wide city walls enclose therenowned public buildings on its main street,called Stradun. But for a traveller, the best ofDubrovnik is that its churches, museums andpalaces, including the Ducal Palace, symbol ofits independence, are in walking distance andyou may walk along the city wall with its 20towers and fortresses.The city was repeatedly devastated byearthquakes, fire and acts of war. Thus, therestoration has become a permanentresponsibility of the government. SinceDubrovnik has been declared Property ofMankind, strict rules have been established forthe respect of its truly unique image, harmonyand homogeneity. If any restoration is needed,only traditional techniques and traditionalmaterials, such as stone,wood and tiles, have tobe employed.

KorculaIn the strife for power, the island of Korculaplayed a particular role. Its Capital, the city ofKorcula, was strategically located on thenarrowest passage between the island and thepeninsula of Peljesac. The old city, an ancientGreek colony, was founded on a smallpromontory to control the maritime traffic. Inpossession ofVenice, the passage of galleys andsailing shipswas easily checked from itsmassivewalls and winding byways.Both, Korcula and Dubrovnik were built onscarp,protecting their excellent ports.While inKorcula the narrow streets lead up to the belfryof St.Marks,on the top,inDubrovnik the streets

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descend from the scarp to the main street andto St. Blasess, Dubrovnik Patron SaintsCathedral. Korculas Patron Saint is obviouslySt. Mark the Evangelist, whose emblem, awinged lion, is the eponymous of St.Marks inVenice and the symbol of the Venetiandomination abroad.Korcula is the largest green island on theAdriatic. Its forests supplied with wood theancient shipbuilding industry and helped itseconomicdevelopment.As early as in the secondmillennium BC, maritime traffic had beenestablished with the Mediterranean.Ancient architects used the famous stone froma tiny islandVrnik, off the coast of Korcula, inthe construction of Dalmatian cities.The samestone has also been used in several modernbuildings, e.g. the Basilica Hagía Sophía inIstanbul and theHouse of Parliament inVienna.The city of Korcula itself was built of this stone.Korculas fortifications maintain at present thesame attraction power as they exerted on themedieval writers about travels.According to the local tradition, Marco Polo(12541324) had been born in Korcula andstarted on his journey to China from his nativetown.True or not, he was a Venetian anyway,since Korcula was aVenetian possession at thattime.

Romania or RumaniaThe history of the Romanian civilization isintimately connected with and conditioned byits geographical position as a crossroads.Thecountry is bordering Hungary,Ukrain, Serbia,Bulgaria and the Black Sea. The CarpathianMountains cross the southern Bukovina anddivide Moldavia in the East fromTransylvaniain theWest.The large Romanian oil wells arelocated in the lower Carpathians.Theonly part ofRomania south of theDanubeis Dobrudja, a narrow low-lying coastal strip,extended into Bulgaria.The river Danube is animportant waterway, connecting Romania,

upstream with the Central Europe, anddownstream, through a large delta, with theBlack Sea,which, in its turn,opens forRomaniaa maritime access through Bosphorus, to theMediterranean and the rest of the world. Nowonder that the whole region was an object ofpermanent interest for three large empires, theOttoman, the Habsburg and that of the Czars.The struggle for independence is therefore aconstant feature in the Romanian history, fromthe ancient times to the present. Herodotuswrote in 514 BC that the Getae (Dacians), theautochtonous ancestors of todays Romanians,were the most valiant and just of all theThracians; the only ones who dared standagainst King Dareus of Persia.TheTurks entered Europe in 1353.Graduallythey conquered most of the Balkans and evenreached Vienna. Thus, five countries of theRomanian history are marked by the struggleagainst theTurks, inwhichWallachia,Moldaviaand Transylvania, the three RomanianPrincipalitieswere engaged.Their territory hadnever been conquered, but they retained theirautonomy and the right to choose their ownprinces, in exchange for an annual tribute.Thefact is that they were holding the Turks backfrom advancing towards the Central Europe.In the 17th century the power of theOttomanEmpire was declining and the influence of theHabsburg and theCzarist Empireswas growing.Romanians found themselves in the center ofnew threats.The modern Romanian National State wasconstituted, in an initial stage, by the union ofthe three Romanian Principalities,Wallachia,Moldavia andTransylvania, in 1859, when thenew statewas namedRomania,but the presentday frontiers were established only in 1946.

Trajans ColumnA world-renowned monument on TrajansForum in Rome is considered by theRomanians their sui generis Birth Certificate.

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The Emperor Trajan had erected this whitemarble column to record his conquest of Daciain 106 AD. It is over 40 metres high andembellishedwith relief sculptures,displayed ina spiral stripe, presumably suggested byTrajanhimself. One hundred and fifty-five scenescover the surface of the column, representinga chronicle of theRoman campaigns against theDacians.With great realism and every detail,they are showing the passage of the Danube ona pontoon bridge, the two commanders,Trajanand Decibal, their armies, armour and stores,but there is no text.In 117, a golden urn with the ashes of thegreat Emperor was laid in the socle of thecolumn.Another monument,Trajans Tropaion, wasset up in the conquered land in Dobrudja orDobrogea, in 109.A third monument to be mentioned in thiscontext is the stone bridge across the Danubewhere it is 1, 127 metres wide. It was builtjust before the campaign began, to provide afaster and safer access toDacia. Its remains canstill be seen.

GreeceThe ancient Greek were not the originalinhabitants of Greece or Hellas as it has beencalled from theAntiquity ever since.They camefrom the North-East, towards the end of thethirdmillennium BC.Thracians, followed by theIllyrians, were pushing them south. ButThracians and Illyrians never came into contactwith the Mediterranean culture. The Greek,on the contrary, were strongly influenced byits superior level, compared to the northernpart of the peninsula.The local inhabitantswerepermanent settlers, living in towns, inorganized communities.While the Tessalianswere still living in the StoneAge,people in theSouth already used bronze.The Greek did not annihilate either peopleor their culture which they gradually

assimilated.The transition is reflected in theirvocabulary.They incorporated not only namesof places, riv