Abstract:

In this talk I will reflect on complex experiences of Indigenous and minoritized language speakers including, on the one hand, a sense of harm and exposure to discrimination, and on the other, self-determination grounded in community members' sense of well-being and happiness. On the one hand, I plan to discuss specific examples of long-term colonial and nation-state strategies designed to stigmatize speakers of minoritized languages and have been applied almost universally across different cultural and geographical contexts. On the other hand, I wish to challenge Western-centric and academic approaches to well-being and emphasize the fundamental importance of Indigenous epistemologies to re-approaching the profound connection between heritage language and different aspects of well-being. While identifying continuing sources of traumatization and ill-being in the context of minoritized language use, such as painful generational ruptures in communication and ways of shaming into silence, it is necessary to bring into a sharper focus relational community-based notions of well-being and their role in fostering resilience to assimilation, loss, and harm. Departing from specific case studies, I will also reflect on the possible solutions and societal changes aimed at maximizing the positive effects of the relationship between language and well-being.

Bio:

Justyna Olko is a professor at the University of Warsaw's Faculty of “Artes Liberales,” director of its Center for Research and Practice in Cultural Continuity, and a guest researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig. Her main areas of research include Indigenous history and sociolinguistics, multilingualism, linguistic and cultural diversity, language revitalization and decolonial research practices. Justyna has long-term experience in leading team projects that are both multidisciplinary and socially engaged. She received the ERC Starting and Consolidator Grants and was the first woman and representative of the humanities in Poland to be awarded the grant twice; currently she coordinates a pan-European project "Fostering Linguistic Capital: A Roadmap for Reversing the Diversity Crisis and Activating Societal Benefits in Europe". In 2020 she became a winner of the Falling Walls Science Breakthrough of the Year for “Breaking the walls between academy and local communities in favor of linguistic diversity”.