Announcement and invitation
“The Balkan Gaze” is the working title of a research project in development, focusing on the interplay of alphabet, language, and community in the broader Balkan region.
The Balkans claim an exceptionally deep history of overlapping identities, competing concepts of belonging, and cultural/political associations. These encapsulate the tension between ideas of modernity and renewal, and the role of heritage and patrimonial narratives in identity building. The discourse during these periods prioritises the visible form of language, through the four scripts in use, the forms of letters and diacritic marks, the rules of composition, the numerous variations in “official” and vernacular implementations, and relevant educational models. The evidence for this discourse is typographic: texts in books, posters, flyers, official and vernacular documents, and so on.
The project will provide a framework for recording, contextualising, and analysing letterforms, typefaces, and documents across genres. This framework will make a connection between the the discourse on visible forms of language and notions of identity building. It will build on existing approaches in our research community across a range of scripts, and will thread in emerging thinking about the utilisation of other disciplines in sociotechnical Typographic research. By working from primary sources, and considering the authoring and production environments for texts, the Balkan Gaze project aims to include and reframe the role of local, migratory, and diasporic communities in shaping visible language. This returns focus and agency to the local communities, and revisits the relationship with European and broader international poles of influence.
After several months of preliminary discussions and a launch meeting on 24 June, we are looking to open up the discussion. We aim to shape the scope of this project, and seek input on research questions. To facilitate this, we will be holding two online meetings, on Wednesday 31 July and Wednesday 7 August. If you would like to contribute, please get in touch and we will send further information and the meeting links.