Prof. Krassimir Stantchev: Language can be used for any purpose, from promoting peace to declaring war

It is literally talk of saving Bulgarian language teaching in Europe, says the researcher

published on 7/9/24 2:10 PM

Professor Krassimir Stantchev

Photo: BTA

"The dying fire is often rekindled thanks to a few remaining embers." With these warm words, Slavic philology professor Krassimir Stantchev inspires hope that the fading interest in the Bulgarian alphabet, the Bulgarian language and Bulgarian culture abroad will one day rekindle its glow.

At a recent international conference on Cyrillic, held in Sofia and Plovdiv with the participation of scholars from eleven countries, the participants acknowledged a disturbing fact: the number of Bulgarian studies lectures abroad is decreasing with each passing year, and today there are only twenty-nine.

The situation is so serious, according to a professor at Italy's Roma Tre University, that there is literally talk of saving the teaching of Bulgarian in Europe.

"After the fall of the Iron Curtain and Bulgaria's accession to the European Union, interest in studying not only Bulgarian, but Slavic languages in general has declined," says Prof Stantchev.

"Until recently, perhaps the exception was Russian, which is also losing popularity in favour of Ukrainian, for obvious reasons. But let's not forget that people are also looking at the economic aspect and want to learn something they can make a living from. Unfortunately, this is the harsh reality, and the decline of Slavic studies began in a country that for decades had a leading role in Europe - Germany".

At the moment, there are three Bulgarian language lectureships in Italy, but in practice only the one in Naples is actively functioning, adds the scholar.

Professor Krassimir Stantchev believes that saving Bulgarian-language teaching posts abroad is not only a matter of funding, because Bulgaria already allocates funds - even in places where two or three students are taught. "I'm afraid that the Bulgarian state cannot do anything. We just need people on the ground who have both scientific and organisational standing," he stresses.

"I am very happy that younger colleagues are absolutely convinced that Bulgarian should be studied in Italy and beyond, because of Slavic philology itself," the professor continues. "Students mainly enrol in Russian language courses, and later they become interested in Bulgarian or Polish. Unfortunately, interest in Czech has almost disappeared in Italy, so it really depends on the work of the teachers. Typically, young people exchange information among themselves about professors - who's charismatic, whose lectures are captivating. This process is somewhat uncontrollable, but so far the study of the Bulgarian language has not disappeared and I hope it will continue".

Alphabet, language and identity - these key words of the conference in Sofia and Plovdiv will continue to bring together Bulgarian scholars from different countries and arouse interest in the humanitarian heritage of our country, believes Professor Krassimir Stantchev.

Unfortunately, the language in which we write, communicate and convey our messages can be a symbol of peace, but also a dangerous weapon that can overturn the lives of entire nations. How can we use it to detect hybrid attacks and protect ourselves?

"Indeed, language can be used for all sorts of purposes - from the most peaceful communication to the most violent confrontation," replies Professor Krassimir Stantchev.

"The declaration of war is also done with language, unless it is a completely treacherous attack from behind. So this is a difficult question, because it involves conscience, not just language. In my opinion, aggression and propaganda can be neutralised by spreading the truth in schools.

Unfortunately, however, there is a great deal of "backwardness" in school teaching when it comes to scientific facts about the alphabet, about language, about history, facts that scientists continue to establish.

There are new discoveries, new interesting moments, and all of this should be presented to students in an engaging and interesting way, but not through TikTok and other smartphone entertainment. Of course, there are people who close their eyes to the truth, and I'm afraid there's nothing you can do about that.

There are currently around 300 million people in the world who write in Cyrillic, and all of them - along with Bulgarian language teachers - can be called its ambassadors.

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Prof. Krassimir Stantchev: Language can be used for any purpose, from promoting peace to declaring war

It is literally talk of saving Bulgarian language teaching in Europe, says the researcher

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