10:00 AM
The Grand House: Franco-Provençal between Education, Art, and Intimacy
Conversation with
Bertolo Boniface Liliana, Historical Linguistic Minorities Award recipient in Italy
Curated by: Flavio Giacchero
Franco-Provençal Language
Biography
Liliana Bertolo Boniface was born in Aosta on 25 December 1948, into a family where the languages of communication were Franco-Provençal and Italian.
In 1966, she obtained her teaching diploma and taught in elementary schools in the Aosta Valley until 1985.
She is Franco-Provençal teacher since 1995, teaching courses about oral communication, writing, short full-immersion courses, singing courses in patois, extracurricular courses for children focused on playful learning, and conducting activities in schools in the Autonomous Region of Aosta Valley and in Savoie.
She conducts numerous training courses for Franco-Provençal teachers, covering methodology, didactics, and handwriting.
She is a co-author of “Patois à petits pas” (a method for teaching Franco-Provençal), published in 1999.
She has been a member of the Regional Commission for Franco-Provençal.
She is still collaborating with the regional linguistic office for translations into patois.
In the same office, she worked on language research and contributed to the publication, in 2018, of a book that collects some of the works from the Concours Cerlogne about children’s games.
She has written and continues to write numerous texts for educational songs used in schools and to support activities both in the Concours Cerlogne program and in Franco-Provençal à l’école. A first CD, “Mé lamo le conte, conta-nèn euncò,” was published in 2008, and a second one, “Dévouidzet,” in 2018.
She wrote a fairy tale for children published in an audiobook, “Conta le conte…de la semaine,” released in 2009.
She translated the full text of “Pinocchio” by C. Collodi into Franco-Provençal, which was presented in preschools across the region with animations’ form in patois .
For over ten years, she leads a program in patois called “La fisella” (The string) at the regional headquarters of Rai.
She is interpreter of family music group Trouveur Valdotèn, performing songs in Franco-Provençal and French.
In collaboration with her family, she conceived the Ététrad festival, which has hosted and continues to host groups from various linguistic minorities around the world.
Motivation for the Historical Linguistic Minorities Prize in Italy
Since 2006, the Chambra d’Oc, in collaboration with the Piedmont Region, has been committed to promoting the Franco-Provençal language on multiple fronts. It’s with great pleasure that this year the Prize is granted to a representative of this language,to someone who’s not only a witness but who loves, speaks, sings and teaches.
The Ostana 2020 Prize is awarded to Liliana Bertolo Boniface for her dedication and constant work in promoting, protecting, and disseminating the Franco-Provençal language in all areas: in research, education, and cultural revival. This commitment and work are inseparable from her daily life, representing an important resource for society, and the Prize also acknowledges her activities with her entire family, as well as the Trouveur Valdotèn musical group and the Aosta Valley community.
Liliana Bertolo Boniface also has an artistic history worthy of recognition and reward.
It’is to be hoped that this Prize will contribute to raising awareness and promoting the consciousness of Franco-Provençal in its places of origin.
PARTNERS
Comune di Ostana
The Ostana Prize celebrates the international support received
from the UNESCO International Decade of Indigenous Languages, and from two reference institutions in the linguistic field: the ELEN network (European Language Equality Network) and the NPLD network (Network to Promote Linguistic Diversity).
