The conference aims to delve into the unique evolution of Romanian as a Romance language positioned at the "edge" of the Romance linguistic family. It will explore how Romanian has developed in response to its geographic and cultural borders, focusing on linguistic and cultural shifts within diaspora communities in Western Romance-speaking countries such as Italy, Spain, Portugal, and France. Comparative analyses with other Romance languages in migration contexts will provide insights into shared challenges and adaptations. Themes include the interplay between Romanian and neighbouring languages, the resilience of the Romanian language in multicultural environments, and its relationship with other Eastern Romance languages, such as Aromanian, Istro-Romanian, and Megleno-Romanian. These lesser-studied Eastern Romance languages offer a rich perspective on the broader dynamics of language evolution, preservation, and identity within the Romance family.
In addition to linguistic aspects, the conference will examine how geographic and cultural borders influence Romanian identity, literature, and arts. Special sessions will focus on Romanian literary works translated into other Romance languages, as well as into non-Romance languages like Finnish. Discussions might cover cultural exchanges through mediums such as film, music, and art, alongside representations of borders in Romanian creative works. Moreover, the role of digital media in bridging linguistic and cultural gaps will offer a contemporary perspective on transcending traditional boundaries.
The conference will also examine how interactions with minority communities within Romania—such as Hungarians, Germans, Turks, Greeks, the Slavic groups or Roma—have influenced the development of the Romanian language and enriched its cultural and linguistic diversity.
Potential Areas: Sociolinguistics, diaspora studies, comparative linguistics, language preservation, literary and translation studies, media studies, intercultural communication, and identity studies.
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The conference invites specialists in Romance and Romanian studies both from Finland, Romania and other countries so as to cover the topic of borders in language, culture, identity, literature, migration, cinema, etc.
The event will be organized in collaboration with the Romanian Language Institute (Bucharest, Romania), the Romanian Cultural Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, and Sivuvalo Platform (Helsinki, Finland).
LITERARY SESSION:
- VARUJAN VOSGANIAN, Romanian-Armenian writer, President of the Romanian Writers’s Union
- JOSE RICO, Sivuvalo Platform, Helsinki, writer and translator
- CRISTINA SANDU, Finnish writer and translator
GUEST LECTURES:
- DAIANA CUIBUS, Director of the Romanian Language Institute, Bucharest,/ Babes-Bolyai University Cluj-Napoca, Romania
- TOMASZ KLIMKOWSKI, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland
- NICOLETA NEȘU, Sapienza University, Italy/ Babes-Bolyai University Cluj-Napoca/Romanian Language Institute, Bucharest, Romania
The papers presented during the conference will be published in the winter issue of HEROS Journal (About the Journal | Helsinki Romanian Studies Journal) (December 2025)
Send your proposal (see the attached form) in Romanian or English to the following email address: emilia.ivancu@helsinki.fi by 5th April 2025. Notification of acceptance: 10th April.
Organizers:
Emilia Ivancu
Lecturer of Romanian Language and Culture,
University of Helsinki
Mattia Retta,
Doctoral researcher in Language Studies
In collaboration with:
Comparing and Contrasting Languages and Cultures (CoCoLaC), University of Helsinki
Romanian Language Institute, Romania
Romanian Cultural Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
Sivuvalo Platform, Helsinki