Tag: language

Episode 49: Alexandra Philbin on Irish and Catalan Language Research & Revitalization

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A photo of Alexandra with her partner, Miguel, at a protest in València in June 2023 against the expansion of the city’s port and the environmental destruction it would cause. Both hold signs in Valencian made by local activists, with the sign Alexandra is holding calling for people to support local business. The artichoke references the cultivation of fruit and vegetables in the area surrounding the city.

This episode is with  Alexandra Philbin. Alexandra is originally from Dublin, Ireland, and now lives in València, Spain. She is carrying out doctoral research in the Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology at the University of València. Her research focuses on the experiences of urban speakers of minoritized languages, particularly Irish speakers in Dublin and Valencian (Catalan) speakers in València. Before moving to València, she completed an undergraduate degree in World Languages at University College Cork, and a master’s degree in Linguistic Anthropology at Maynooth University. She also taught Irish to adult learners and carried out research on Irish-medium education on behalf of the Irish government. As well as completing her PhD research, Alexandra teaches Irish and works as a Language Revitalization Mentor with the Endangered Languages Project, offering free, online support to those working to promote Indigenous and minoritized languages around the world. 

A piece of urban part spotted by Alexandra in March 2023 in the neighbourhood of El Carme in València. An issue of huge concern in the city, particularly in this area, is how many apartments are being bought by investors and changed from local housing to AirBnBs for tourists. This piece references this, as a speech bubble appears between two faded characters reading, in Valencian, ‘Now we can’t ask the neighbours in apartment 5 for salt’.

Things mentioned in this episode 

Days after an anti-immigrant riot in the centre of Baile Átha Cliath (Dublin) in November 2023, Alexandra saw stickers that had been stuck around the same area of the city in response welcoming refugees and immigrants. Here, a sticker on a pole in Irish that reads ‘A hundred thousand welcomes’.

Listen to this episode here, or on your favorite podcast app! Field Notes is available on Apple Podcasts app (iPhone), Google Play Music (Android), Google Podcasts app (Android), Stitcher, Spotify, Podbean, Podcast Republic, Castbox, Player FM, and several other apps via RSS.