Name and Surname
Elona Gjata
Affiliation
Albanian Institute of Cultural Studies (NGO), Pristina, Kosovo
E-mail Address
elonagjata2@gmail.com
Short Biography
Elona Gjata is a linguist with a Doctor of Sciences in Linguistics from the University of Tirana. Her research combines linguistics 0and cultural anthropology, focusing on society and its problems in different regions.
Dr. Gjata worked as a project coordinator in Berlin at the OASA organization from 2021 to 2022. The project was called “We Remember! The Third Generation Tells” and focused on the rescue of Jews from Albanian families during the Holocaust. In 2023, she coordinated the “Kosovo in 100 Photos” project and authored a book with the same title.
In 2019, Dr. Gjata was the recipient of an Erasmus scholarship student and PhD researcher at Humboldt University in Berlin. During her doctoral studies, she was a lecturer in the Albanian Language Department at the University of Elbasan and Tirana.
In 2021, she studied the Goran community in Albania and Kosovo, published in Innovative Paths of Albanology, Peter Lang, Berlin 2023. She is now preparing for postdoctoral studies in Germany.
She is currently interested in researching the Croatian community in the village of Janjevo, Kosovo.
Elona Gjata heads the NGO “Albanian Institute of Cultural Studies” in Pristina. Through her projects, she aims to bring a unique perspective to the cultural diversity of various communities in Kosovo.
Research Abstract
Bilingualism: An Instrument for Destroying the Line of Nationalism in Albanian Community of North Macedonia as a Case of Study
This study will examine the role of bilingualism in multicultural societies and its impact on forming ethnic and regional identities. Referring to the analysis of the use of bilingualism in the Albanian community in North Macedonia, we will reflect a clear picture of how this linguistic phenomenon can be used as an instrument for improving identity and how it has influenced the breaking of the line of nationalism in relationships with other social factors. Also, during the study, we will discover the influence of bilingualism in the transformation of the traditional concept of nationalism or the cases where bilingualism is used as a tool for adaptation and affirmation of the identity of the Albanian community, with a particular emphasis on the new generation. In order to give a more explicit result on the role of bilingualism in this environment, this study will refer at the same time to various historical and social developments—moreover, language policies related to the Albanian community in North Macedonia.
Keywords: bilingualism, nationalism, community, ethnic and regional identity, multicultural environment, language policies etc.