WALSERSPRACHE - The four main objectives of the Alpine Space ...

Enrico Rizzi
tutto a quanto ne sarebbero felici quei dimenticati “pionieri” al cui lavoro
silenzioso, in anni lontani, privi di qualsiasi aiuto, si deve oggi se la
lingua e la cultura Walser possono dirsi salve e se l’impegno futuro per
tenerle in vita potrà non essere uno sforzo sterile. Penso in particolare ai
compianti Angela Bacher e Renzo Mortarotti. E qui in Val d’Aosta, da sempre
laboratorio di iniziative feconde, non posso dimenticare i tenaci e
appassionati fondatori del Walserkultur Zentrum di Gressoney, alcuni dei
quali sono scomparsi: come Bruno Favre, Alys Barell, Enrico Welf. A loro
va il mio grazie affettuoso e un pensiero commosso.
“Long Live the Walser Language!? Great is my joy in seeing gathered here today the
foremost representatives and renowned scholars in a common endeavour, that of saving
the language of the Walsers in this most critical juncture in the lives of minority populations.
This is an undertaking prompted by idealism and it will bear fruits in due time.
Luckily, these are no longer the days of thoughtful but isolated thinkers. People at large
are becoming aware of these endangered values, along with public bodies. It is becoming
a common effort to save this language on the brink of extinction. Is it too late? Too bad
this awareness came to ripeness so late. If Bill 482 on minority languages had been passed
some thirty years ago, if we had been able then to take advantage of this national, regional
and local reawakening, or had we been able to reap the advantage of an Interregional
Project like the one sheltering the Alpine heritage nowadays, it would have been to so
much more avail! But some thirty years ago we practically worked underground. Some of
us ended up being enquired by central intelligence, as if we had been plotting to overthrow
the country. Public opinion was overwhelmingly cold toward these issues. In Rome
it was the General Branch for the Defence of National Boundaries which had been placed
in charge of keeping the problem of language minorities well under control. Today the
General Branch for the Protection of Linguistic Minorities at the Home Affairs Ministry is
constructively taking care of them, whilst another bureau at the Presidency of the Council
of Ministers is acting as a watch dog for the enactment of Bill 482. Bill 482, passed in
1999, places historical minorities under the State’s protective wing. It has a lengthy background.
By the time of its passing some languages had already been placed under special
tutorship owing to local political circumstances. I am not referring to languages in the
Aosta Valley and German in South Tyrol, since these are protected by the Italian
Constitution, but to other minorities, like Slovenians, Ladins, and Mochens. If Bill 482 was
tables and passed it was thanks to M.P.s from the Aosta Valley, and to Luciano Caveri
above all. Bill 482 is of paramount importance in fostering the Walsers’ ancient language.
In some communities “language wickets” have been available for some time already, and
they have become the forefront of cultural and linguistic initiatives. It is quite important to
underscore the fact that Walser youths speaking their ancestral tongue may now find a job
47
***