Day of the Zheyanski language 2015

01.08.2015.

The Day of the Zheyanski language was held for the seventh time in Žejane on Saturday, August 1, 2015, in the premises of the former Žejane school. This year’s event included two talks and the presentation of the music video Pipa in Zheyanski.

In the first part of the program, Tomislav Augustinčić, an ethnology and cultural anthropology student from the University of Zagreb, gave a talk including a cultural-anthropological overview of the issue of language, identity and the representation of speakers of the Zheyanski language, focusing on the texts Juva-j pulju and Ćeš ga ku tijake published on the webpage of the project Očuvanje vlaškog i žejanskog jezika (Preservation of the Vlashki and Zheyanski Language) and interviews with their authors. His work had been nominated for the Rector’s prize of the University of Zagreb in the academic year 2013/2014. The next talk was given by Robert Doričić, the president of the Association “Žejane”, who presented the work and activities of the association to date. The Association was founded in 2010, and, along with special projects dealing with the local history, its members participated in conducting activities of the project Očuvanje vlaškog i žejanskog jezika (Preservation of the Vlashki and Zheyanski Language).

The music video Pipa in Zheyanski, published on a DVD, was presented in the second part of the program. Adrijana Gabriš talked about the making of the video and the publishing of the DVD. She also translated the song Pipa, written by the Chakavian Croatian dialectal poet Drago Gervais, into the Zheyanski language. In the music video, the children attending the Children’s language playgroup “Žejančići” sang and acted in the Zheyanski language and contributed their drawings for the design of the DVD. Bruno Krajcar wrote the music, while the arrangement was prepared by David Trkulja. Art Film produced the video. The Playgroup teacher told the story of how the song Pipa came into being in the Zheyanski language – from the moment when she translated it, through recitals and the play, and finally filming of the music video. This entire journey was presented in a very emotional way, and particularly interesting was the moment when Adrijana Gabriš introduced one of Gervais’s living relatives, Mrs. Nada Križan, who couldn’t hide her enthusiasm and gratitude. After this, the music video was played and DVDs were handed out to the children, their parents and other guests.

After the presentation of the video and the DVD, guests continued socialising in the yard of the former school.