Italští Arbrešové: krátký nástin jejich historie a současného postavení
Italy’s Old Albanians: a Brief Outline of their History and Current Status

Summary/Abstract: This contribution concerns the Old Albanian community (Arbëreshë) in southern Italy, usually mentioned in relation with the 19th-century Albanian National Awakening and the beginnings of Romanticism in Albanian literature. The article attempts to outline the situation of that community in the 20th century and today. It focuses on the journey that led to the recognition of historical and linguistic minorities by the Italian State in 1999, and at the same time, it surveys the impact that the Law on the Protection of Historic Linguistic Minorities had on the Old Albanian community in southern Italy. The article’s conclusion describes some of their current problems and the relation between the Arbëresh dialects and literary Albanian.

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