Post by Windischer on Jun 1, 2020 13:27:55 GMT -5
I wasn't sure where to put this, but since Italy is part of Southern Europe, let it be here ... 
The Alps hide many beautiful valleys. In many ways, one is like every other, yet every one is unique. Resia is like many other valleys nearby, yet its people make it unique in many ways. For starters, it has many names. Resia in Italian, because it lies in Italy. Rezija in Slovene, since it's right on the border with Slovenia. Resie in Friulan, as Friulans live to the West of it. And Resije in the local dialect, which is pretty much criptic to everyone else.
Resia is a glacial valley in the Julian Alps in North Eastern Italy. Only about 1000 people live there, yet they have a very distinct and unique culture and language. They speak an archaic dialect of Slovene, which is very interesting for linguists. In its earlier stages it was a variety of Carinthian Slovene, similar to the dialects of Ziljska dolina/Gailtal, which are still spoken some 20 km further North. Later Resian received influences from other Littoral dialects of Slovene to the South. The valley is open to the West, towards Friuli, but in the East it is closed by Mount Kanin, which separates it from Slovenia. To the Southeast lies its only connection to other Slovene speakers via the Karnica pass. Because of this isolation Resian has retained many archaic features and developped some unique inovations. Today it is largely uncomprehensible to most Slovene speakers, including myself. This isolation has also shaped the perception of the Resians. Linguistically it is proven that Resian is, although peculiar, still a dialect of Slovene. Slovenia sees Resians as part of the Slovene minority in Italy, as does Italy. Many Resians though wouldn't agree. They see themselves as their own people, neither Italian, Fruilan or Slovene. They do not call themselves Slovene and interestingly enough, neither do they call Slovenes Slovene. They call their language "rozajanski" (Resian) and Slovene they call "tabuški", meaning "the one from Bovec", which is the first town you encounter on the other side of Kanin. I guess the anti Slovene and anti Slavic sentiment, which was widespread in Italy in the times of irredentism, fascism and communism in Yugoslavia, helped foster a wish of the Resians to distance themselves from other Slovenes. Because of Italian politics in the last 150 years Resians today largely have italianised surnames, similar to what the situation is like in Slavia Veneta (now largely called Slavia Friulana, still known as Beneška Slovenija in Slovene). They do, however, paralelly still keep and use their old Slavic family name system. Resian can be written down in several ways, I think there are some three orthographies that can be used. One is based on Italian, another on Slovene and I guess their use depends on the political views of each person.
Sign in both Italian and Resian.
Lord's Prayer in Resian, the orthography is based more on Italian in this one.
Language is not the only thing archaic and special in Resia. Their music is too. Music and dance are a great part of Resian identity and they are very proud of it. The music features a distinct style of two fiddles and a cello type of bass string instrument. In each song they switch bach and forth between two intonations, the fillers also stamp their feet to the ground in two different ways, which provide for different sounds. The music is often accompanied by singing in Resian and dancing, which is perhaps the easiest archaic feature to spot. Resian dancers namely do not touch each other. They turn around each other and switch places, occassionally stomp their foot.
Around their culture, Resians have developed many associations. The oldest is without their folklore group Val Resia. Its first performance can be dated to 1838, when its members performed in Udine for the visit of Austrian Emperor Ferdinand I. They are the ones who represent Resian music and dance abroad, but they are far from the only ones keeping the tradition alive, since pretty much every Resian grows up with their music, they all dance and sing to it. It is a way of socialising. Resian dances are often performed also by folkloristic groups in Slovenia and Slovene choirs like to sing Resian songs, arranged in various, often quite modern ways. I got the impression that some Resians are annoyed by this and view it as copycats presenting Resian heritage as their own. I can assure you that is not the intention. We are just intrigued by it and in the end this interest helps preserving it as well.
Other cultural institutions include Rozajanski Dum (Resian Home), a group of female singers Rože Majave (Flowers of May) and Muzej rezijanskih ljudi (The Museum of Resian People).
Here are some photographs of the folklore group in Resian folk costumes (1930s iirc) and examples of their music and cances.
Here are some photographs of the folklore group in Resian folk costumes (1930s iirc) and examples of their music and cances.